What Happened?

How you eat a drink day before ride is important also.the redbull and the coffee probly help dehydrate you and the fruit juice was probly not much help.
you should drink an electrolyte drink with a 6-8% carb soultion to it on the bike, sounds like you bonked.

chisa1234 said:

man, i have had a hell of a day today.

i went out cycling at about 1.30pm. the ride was 30 miles over very hilly terrain.

i have just given up smoking so i had a nicotine patch on. the temp was about 27 degrees celcius.

i had a cereal breakfast at about 1030 followed by a banana at 2pm. i took 1.5 litres water during the ride with a red bull and a coffee and a fruit drink at a stop.

about 20 miles into the ride i just went totally. no strength in my legs at all. feeling really weak and unstable. i barely managed to make it back. when i got back i immediately went to sleep for 2 hours - there was nothing i could do about it.

what the hell has just happened to me. heat, dehydration, over training, sun stroke? i would like to know so i can avoid it again.

One of a hundred things. Blood sugar,O2 level , chemcal imbalance such as thyroid (which regulate your whole body),previous exhaustion,age. Hey !I am am old enough I had all this [censored] but it is hard to say without knowing your history. I had a thyroid disorder brought on by stress at one time that put me on my back but went away in a couple of weeks. If it persists see a doctor if not chalk it up to bad "Bio Rymthyns" whatever that is.

Chow!

chisa1234 said:

i went out cycling at about 1.30pm. the ride was 30 miles over very hilly terrain.

i have just given up smoking so i had a nicotine patch on. the temp was about 27 degrees celcius.

i had a cereal breakfast at about 1030 followed by a banana at 2pm. i took 1.5 litres water during the ride with a red bull and a coffee and a fruit drink at a stop.

about 20 miles into the ride i just went totally. no strength in my legs at all. feeling really weak and unstable. i barely managed to make it back. when i got back i immediately went to sleep for 2 hours - there was nothing i could do about it.

what the hell has just happened to me. heat, dehydration, over training, sun stroke? i would like to know so i can avoid it again.

Hard to know. 27C isn't that hot, and it sounds like you took plenty of water. Though early afternoon on even a moderately warm day, the sun can cause problems for me - maybe you too?

Was this hillier than you're used to? Or, depending on how much your 'cereal breakfast' was, you may not have eaten enough to undertake a hilly ride. Or maybe the nicotine patch affected things somehow - I have no experience with them.

I spent some time in the Peak District several years ago, and it's a gorgeous area, though as a fair-to-poor climber, I'm not sure how I'd do riding around there. :o

Rob

chisa1234 said:

man, i have had a hell of a day today.

i went out cycling at about 1.30pm. the ride was 30 miles over very hilly terrain.

i have just given up smoking so i had a nicotine patch on. the temp was about 27 degrees celcius.

i had a cereal breakfast at about 1030 followed by a banana at 2pm. i took 1.5 litres water during the ride with a red bull and a coffee and a fruit drink at a stop.

about 20 miles into the ride i just went totally. no strength in my legs at all. feeling really weak and unstable. i barely managed to make it back. when i got back i immediately went to sleep for 2 hours - there was nothing i could do about it.

what the hell has just happened to me. heat, dehydration, over training, sun stroke? i would like to know so i can avoid it again.

If you had an HRM, I'll bet you were near redline for much of the ride....you "blew up". Your heart needed to divert a lot of blood for cooling, so less was available to supply the working legs.

27C isn't really hot for us here, but sun and high humidity make a huge diff also. The heat and sun will push your HR higher, even with adequate hydration. I've found my HR runs up about 5-10 bpm higher when the temps are 33-35C and the sun is strong.

And the nicotine patch, Red Bull, and coffee seem to be a dangerous combination of stimulants, especially in the heat. These all raise HR and blood pressure, probably much higher than they should safely be.

Best advice for your (short) summer would be to go out early in the morning, finish your riding by 9 or 10 rather than during the hottest part of the day. Use plenty of sunscreen, avoid the caffeine and Red Bull. Last, slowing down a couple of mph, and staying in the aerobic zone on the hills as much as possible will allow your heart to keep everything cooler.

Cheers for the advice guys. as for 27 celcius not being that hot, for someone from the north of england i can tell you to me it's VERY hot. i also noticed the sun was really strong and could actually feel it buring me especially when i was at the top of the hills (about 2000 feet above sea level). i am gonna get a heart rate monitor - even before this i wanted one, now i really want one. i think i may have been overdoing it a bit. i haven't cycled for about 10 months until the past few weeks and now i am averaging over 150 miles a week. still not sure exactly what happened but i really don't want it to happen again - especially at the foot of a big climb as it did in the first place. happily today it is raining so hopefully i'll stay cool!