Heat Acclimation

I 've been doing a lot of research on heat acclimation and how do go about it properly. As with anything in sports there are a lot of theories.  So, I put some theories together and attempted my own acclimation process. It went well but it turned a fun ride into a not so fun ride.

I set out for my 2.5 hour ride with long finger windproof, water resistant gloves on.  I wore thin wool 6 inch sock, a warm short sleeved base layer, shorts and short sleeve jersey which I kept zipped up.  I also wore a ripstop nylon, windbreaker hat. 
I made sure that my hydration and food intake was normal.  The idea was to take this 80 degree day and make my body think that it was warmer.  Then when I ride on a hot day, my body would be used to those temps. 

I rode south on Hwy 9 , up and over the Eastern Continental Divide.  I was hot but kept my temp under control by controlling my pace.  I was sweating and wanted to unzip my jersey and take my gloves off.  Up and over the mountain, down the other side, I spotted another rider off in the distance.   I wanted to catch up, but I didn't want to overheat so I kept a steady pace.  After a couple of miles, due to some road work, I caught up.  We chatted for a minute, he tucked into his time trial bars and took off up the road.  I still kept my steady pace. 

As I turned back towards Fairview and the climb back up to the Divide,  I could see the other rider up the road.  He waited and I caught him.  We rode most of the climb together.  After a while, he dropped in behind me and we got quiet, just spinning up the hill.  I don't tend to talk a lot while I am riding.  I think sometimes people think that I don't like them, but I am simply relaxing and focusing on what I am doing. 

I attempted to keep my target HR but ended up settling in about 8 bpm higher than I should have been. 

And then it happened.   Sweat had been pouring down my body for the last 5 minutes.  I was sweating like I don't normally sweat.  I thought it was odd, but was glad that I was sweating,  it was a good thing, I thought.  Then the nausea hit, and I had to let off the gas, and slow down.  My new friend, Joe Miller, went on ahead, which was fine.  I didn't want to ruin his pace.  So, I slowed, and ate and drank.  I waited until my heartrate dropped really low, before I started raising it again.  After a few minutes of recovery, I started feeling better.  I never recovered to where I felt as good as I did before, but lesson learned. 

I pulled over at the Gerton Community center to refill my water bottles.  I still didn't feel 100% and assumed my target heart rate.  At this point I unzipped my jersey and got back on the bike.  It wasn't until riding through the cool breeze on the other side of the mountain, and reaching the bottom that I felt better. 

Heat acclimation is not fun,  and I don't know that I will do that again.  I learned another valuable lesson and am convinced that heat is my biggest adversary.  I  am learning the symptoms of my body overheating and that is valuable info.  I don't think that I can hydrate enough to prevent it,  I think it is simply something that I will have to monitor closely.  I feel like I now know my target heart rate and how hard I can push it before I overheat, and so, I will stick with that info.

Overall a great experiment and a great ride!

Have a great day.