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Heat &
Cycling
Medical
Series Articles:
[ About Medical Depression ] [ Achilles Tendonitis ] [ Asthma Medications ] [ Back Pain ] [ Bicycling First Aid Kit ] [ Collarbone & Shoulder Injuries ] [ Diabetes, Cycling, & Insulin ] [ Exercise-Induced Bronchospasm ] [ Forefoot Problems ] [ Gastrointestinal Problems ] [ Heat & Cycling ] [ Injury in the Tour de France ] [ Muscle Cramps ] [ Obesity ] [ Overuse Injuries ] [ RICE, NSAIDs ] [ Ride or Rest? ] [ Riding Poorly--Is It Medical ] [ Road Rash ] [ Saddle Sores ] [ Sleep for Cyclists ] [ Stretching ] [ Tips to Lose Weight ] [ Traumatic Injuries ]
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Most of the information in this article is incorporated into the book
Bicycling
Medicine.
Heat & Cycling
(Introduction)
Heat affects cycling performance. Heat can also cause heat illness. This is
especially important to cyclists of long hilly road rides that last a couple of
hours or more.
Here’s how heat affects the body, and how its effects can be minimized.
Performance with Heat and Humidity
Muscles have an optimal operating temperature.
Exercise generates body heat. Hot bodies don’t perform as well. The body cools
itself through sweating. When the body is hot, more blood flows to the skin to
aid in sweating, and less is available for your muscles. This decreases muscle
performance and work. Dehydration is also more likely, and this in turn
decreases performance.
Short efforts are not likely to be hindered by heat and humidity. Events longer
than five minutes will be affected.
Adaptations allow improved physical performance, but this improved performance
is never as good in tropical conditions as it is in moderate climates.
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