It's hot! Be careful out there

[1moreroad]

I commuted to work earlier this week (it's 130 miles one way).  Yesterday the reported temperature was 95 with 50%, but the temperature in the parking lot was 105 degrees.  I always let my engine warm up to 104 from Lo before I ride away.  Yesterday the engine temp sensor registered 105 as soon as I started the bike!

Riding home, the air temperature was a constant 100 degrees.  After about 90 minutes of highway riding punctuated with probably 10 miles of city traffic, I stopped at a gas station for a Powerade.  I felt just a little thirsty.

I can't express how good that Powerade tasted and how much better I felt after I stopped in the air conditioning for 5 minutes and drank.  Never felt particularly bad, but felt better after drinking.

Just a 1st person reminder to drink frequently and take care of yourself in the heat.

For fun, I looked up the heat index.  105 and 50% humidity is a heat index of 135 degrees!

Heat Index

 

[bigorangecntry07]

I tend to not ride during extreme heat, really mid 90's is just not fun. But when I do, my favorite thing to do is stop at a gas station or super market and stand in the beer cooler for about 10 minutes 👌

[fddriver2]

9 hours ago, bigorangecntry07 said:

I tend to not ride during extreme heat, really mid 90's is just not fun. But when I do, my favorite thing to do is stop at a gas station or super market and stand in the beer cooler for about 10 minutes 👌

There's a restaurant/bar I stop at where I'm a fixture. I've been going there since 1978. I pretty much know everyone from the owners to the busboys. On hot days they'll hand me a beverage and let me stand in the walk in freezer for a few minutes. 😎

A screenshot from last month. 😱

[angrygirafe]

The bike indicated 124 on my way home that day. 

[chitown]

It's a dry heat! 

And for those from humid areas looking for sympathy: include dew point, which is much better indicator of how dry or humid it feels than humidity numbers  

[rustyshackles]

Dehydration is serious business and the debilitating effects can strike quickly.  The old wisdom about drinking before one is thirsty still holds water.  

There are lots of supplemental electrolyte products which are convenient especially when sports drinks aren’t an option.  Here is just one

Endurolytes - Electrolyte Replacement Supplement | Hammer Nutrition

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Precise electrolyte replenishment

 

[wordsmith]

Dehydration can indeed be an insidious thing that creeps up on one.   I well recall riding my BMW R1200R about 900km one day, during very hot summer weather, barely pausing to stop for fuel and even then with scarcely time to take a drink.   When getting off the bike at the end of that very long day I was scarcely able to stand, and it would have been quite dangerous for me to continue.   

And when on a very long, hot, and over many humid days of riding my GS through the WA Oz outback (one day was ~1030km almost non-stop except for fuel, Kununurra to Broome, 45 deg C/ 113 deg F indicated air temp), with very long distances between stops, I took to downing cold plain milk, on the basis that this would be better than plain water given its nutrient value - cheaper, too, than so-called 'sports drinks'.

And as a keen long-distance runner back in the 80's, hydration was always a very important factor in keeping endurance up there.   Rusty's old saw about drinking before one is thirsty is worth its weight in water...

Edited August 19, 2019 by wordsmith

[rustyshackles]

Wordsmith your post reminded me of a fictional short story - not set in the Oz Outback but in a hot dry location - by Max Brand called Wine on the Desert.  No moto content but it’s on topic and a good read.

Damn I read this way back in high school and don’t think I’ve thought about it since.  It’s funny how memories pop to the surface sometimes.

[StealthAu]

Living in the tropics, we get a horrible summer, constant, unbearable wet heat for half the year. I ride all year round, don't own a car. But in summer seldom go for a ride for enjoyment. It's just a means of getting where I need to be. Loading up on water to survive the 10 minute ride to or from work. 

The other half of the year is great, never a day too cold to ride. Downside, the good riding weather is also the part of the year working on bikes is bearable. Do I install  my new cams in my ducati this weekend, or take it out for a ride..

Riding usually wins out until the heat starts creeping back in, then it is a frantic rush to get all the jobs done before the garage becomes the sauna. 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2019 by StealthAu

[wordsmith]

StealthAu lives a couple of thousand or so km north of me in the 'Wet Tropics', and describes very well the torrid riding conditions here for part of the year.   Summer months - Jan, Feb, into March - are decidedly often the poorest, weather-wise, for the bike-rider.   Rest of the year - usually pretty much perfick.    I choose to ride very rarely, if at all, in those summer months, finding even the pre-ride chore of trying to drag a helmet over my  sweat-bedewed head too much.   

In US terms, we suffer much the same conditions as the '90/ 90' of our Floridian cousins - 90 deg F and 90% humidity.   And of course this dictates what we can comfortably wear on the bike, and why I see so many riders and their pillions glove-less and in shorts, tee-shirt, soft runners!

Edited August 20, 2019 by wordsmith

[bigorangecntry07]

4 hours ago, wordsmith said:

In US terms, we suffer much the same conditions as the '90/ 90' of our Floridians cousins - 90 deg F and 90% humidity.   And of course this dictates what we can comfortably wear on the bike, and why I see so many riders and their pillions glove-less and in shorts, tee-shirt, soft runners!

Yup that was me at one time, back when I lived in FL.... I wore gloves at least but always riding in a T-shirt and jeans, maybe only a few times in shorts, but definitely never flops.