Staying hydrated while riding in high heat/humidity?

Question

Tomorrow I am riding 12 miles for a charity (it's the Tour de Cure for the Nat'l Diabetes Assoc.) event in northern Virginia, and the weather is going to be very nasty. The ride starts at 11:30, and the forecast high temp is going to be around 98 with very high humidity.

How much water/gatorade should I drink before, during, and after the ride to keep from dehydrating? It's not a race, just a casual ride, so I can go slow, but I tend to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs riding that same distance on a cool and dry day, so I'm worried about getting enough liquids tomorrow.

Answer 1

Right......................................

#1 Start fully hydrated. Excuse me being a bit forward, but your urine should be a light straw colour if you are fully hydrated. In this country its known as asking doctor porcelain.

#2 You should be drinking a minimum of half a litre an hour whilst riding. In the temp you describe it might be better to consume one litre of something better than Gatorade per hour.

At 12 miles I hope you can get round in about an hour and a quarter.

P.S. I'm a diabetic (type 1) and a long distance cyclist, so I wish  you every success in this event.

Answer 2

12 miles for a charity ride shouldn't take too long. Plus there will probably be 1-2 rest stations along the way I bet.

Best advice I ever got from a cycling coach was "drink before you are thirsty". Usually it is best to set a goal. For example: I have two full water bottles (about 2 liters), at 15 min after the start, I try to have drunk about 1/2 of one of those bottles, by 30min after the start one full bottle and so forth.

I don't know how old you are, but don't go and drink a lot of beer (or other "adult beverages") the night before or drink a lot of coffee in the morning, as these drinks will dehydrate you pretty quickly.

For a 12 mile ride you can probably stick with water. I personally find Gatorade too sweet when I'm riding, but I will use it on longer rides by diluting it 50/50 with water. Drink a nice glass of water before you start and take two bottles with you on the bike. That should be enough.

Good luck and try to have fun (difficult with sweat and sunscreen dripping down into your eyes though... )

Answer 3

Like all said start hydrated. A extra large bottle of water will do for 12 miles. You will be hot and sticky but there is no chance of dehydration in 12 miles. Just sip on the water constantly and you'll be fine. Drink whatever you like when you get in. I've forgotten my bottle on occasion on very hot days. While it isn't ideal for a hard 16 miler I wasn't in danger either.

Answer 4

If you're well hydrated before you start,  it shouldn't be a big deal for only 12 miles,  but its good that you're thinking ahead.

If you normally lose 1.5 to 2 lbs over that distance, then that's what you should aim to take in, maybe a tad more to account for the heat.     A normal bike water bottle is 16-20 ozs.   16oz of water at standard temperature and pressure equals 1 pound.   Gatorade may be a little more beneficial, in that the sugars in it aid absorption through your intestinal wall, and it also replaces some sodium and potassium lost through sweat.

Like you, I've got a pretty high sweat rate, measured as high as 2.2 liters per hour during intense workouts in the heat.   That's something like 5 lbs per hour.  

Bottom line, you want to replace what you sweat out.  For such a short ride, its unlikely you can mess up too bad, but drinking a bottle or two of Gatorade should be enough.