Get Dehydrated! Not a big deal after all ;-)
- Thread starter SolarEnergy
- Start date
As long you have a solution that's apparently working for you there is indeed no need to seek out something better, but telling people to "drink to control your temperature" is reckless and poor information.
It was hot, so FL did what he believed necessary to cool himself down. What if the temperature was much cooler - would you have recommended he only drink once he became hot - to control his temperature?
Guaranteed: pros don't wait until they get thirsty or get hot to drink. End of argument.
If, like many, you use your drink to replace carbs then you can't use the 'drink when thirsty' method because gulping down half a bottle and nearly a couple of hundred calories really isn't a plan for sucess - unless sitting on the toilet with stomach cramps after 2 hours is your goal in life. Drinking lots at one time, whether plain water or not, isn't the most subtle way on the body either.
How many bottles of water do you carry in order to dump lots of water over your head when it gets hot? I have visions of you pulling a Radio Flyer trailer behind you bike with three dozen bottles of evian...
Allan Lim's idea of using massive amounts of water for cooling was great - he also has a bunch of other 'tricks' to keep riders cool, especially when warming up for time trials when it's very hot outside.
And anyway, not sure if it has been tested so far but, I doubt that a bit of water poured at the surface of the skin end up having a significant impact on internal body temperature.
Psychologically, I know it makes a big difference though.
Psychologically, I know it makes a big difference though.
The place to pour the water is on the back of the neck - lots of blood near the surface.
When I was younger and rode on the roads I found that a good cooling off every 50 miles or so was sufficient. A water hose at a break was sufficient. A minute or so of a modest stream of water was sufficient. I even stopped at houses with visible water sources.
Now that I am riding on bike paths, I find that filling an empty water bottle several times at a fountain and pouring the water on my head is sufficient.
When I was younger and rode on the roads I found that a good cooling off every 50 miles or so was sufficient. A water hose at a break was sufficient. A minute or so of a modest stream of water was sufficient. I even stopped at houses with visible water sources.
Now that I am riding on bike paths, I find that filling an empty water bottle several times at a fountain and pouring the water on my head is sufficient.
http://teamsky.cyclingnews.com/tech-features/hydration-hydration-hydration-%e2%80%93-sweat-testing-with-gatorade/
Yeah, hydration, dehydration, electrolyte replenishment, etc. aren't all that important...
Yeah, hydration, dehydration, electrolyte replenishment, etc. aren't all that important...
While electrolyte loss during dehydration for the majority of people may be negligible, the big area were dehydration is a factor is in temperature regulation. As core body temperature increases, performance goes down and fatigue increases. There are several studies showing as much. Here's one: http://www.jappl.org/content/86/3/1032.short (link has abstract and full pdf of article). In that light waiting to drink decreases control over core body temperature, especially when exercising when the heat index is high.ambal said:
Weighing yourself before and after a ride will not tell you your level of dehydration, it'll tell you how much your weight changed.
It will not tell you how much less glycogen you now have, where the water that was stored alongside that glycogen now is, the current capacity of water stored in the bladder/gut/etc. against what was there initially. Indeed it will tell you nothing of use that I can see. In broad strokes it will tell you things - lose 10% of your bodyweight, that's a bad thing almost certainly. Lose 2% of your bodyweight, probably irrelevant. In between, who knows, what we do know is drinking water to replace the glycogen consumed will increase your hydration.
TonyZackery, You think a tech article promoting your sponsor says anything useful? Do you really think the puff pieces on the Pinarello are true about them being the best possible bikes mean we should all rush out and buy those too? Even the same management team and riders dropped them for the Olympics?
It will not tell you how much less glycogen you now have, where the water that was stored alongside that glycogen now is, the current capacity of water stored in the bladder/gut/etc. against what was there initially. Indeed it will tell you nothing of use that I can see. In broad strokes it will tell you things - lose 10% of your bodyweight, that's a bad thing almost certainly. Lose 2% of your bodyweight, probably irrelevant. In between, who knows, what we do know is drinking water to replace the glycogen consumed will increase your hydration.
TonyZackery, You think a tech article promoting your sponsor says anything useful? Do you really think the puff pieces on the Pinarello are true about them being the best possible bikes mean we should all rush out and buy those too? Even the same management team and riders dropped them for the Olympics?
I always found that it is sometimes more important to drink before a ride than during it.
If you do a long and hard ride you need to drink a lot the evening before and the morning before the ride. that way your body is properly hydrated and will be able to go an hour without drinking.
Sometimes you are already dehyrated before the race even starts, no wonder that you cannot even do a 30 minute TT without drinking like that. but this is just what I feel since I am a guy who needs a lot of water.
If you do a long and hard ride you need to drink a lot the evening before and the morning before the ride. that way your body is properly hydrated and will be able to go an hour without drinking.
Sometimes you are already dehyrated before the race even starts, no wonder that you cannot even do a 30 minute TT without drinking like that. but this is just what I feel since I am a guy who needs a lot of water.
A good portion of bicycling is adaptation. Years ago I could drink 44oz of good sugary pop and a 250cal candy bar during the 5 minute break on group rides. Never had any problems. (I was the guy sitting at the front doing the work.) That adaptation did not happen overnight, but it did happen.
Now I find 800cal of milk every 2 hours works for me.
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I carried 3 bottles on my last century. It was not much above 90 degrees. 2 bottles had weak gatorade. 1 bottle was water that I poured over my arm coolers (I love high tech gadgets that work. (They block the sun and hold enough water that evaporation cools the body.) I think I drank 1 bottle of the weak gatorade in the first 60 miles. I drank a quart of milk at 60 miles because I was hungry. But I was not working hard just 80-85% of FTP.
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