Hydrate or die...

[Katastrophe]

This is probably a repost, but it bears repeating. Late Saturday morning a friend of mine called and said, "I wanna new bike. Let's go to New Braunfels and see what they have." I said okay and we hit the road. Lots o' fun getting there (I'm getting MUCH smoother in the corners). I was wearing his MotoGP fully armored textile riding jacket, as I don't have one yet. As the Texans here know, this weekend was a scorcher. To make a long story short I was really having fun on this ride, and while I was making sure to drink water, it really wasn't enough. By the time we got back into town I started to become disoriented and started making stupid mistakes. Luckily, they weren't stupid enough to cause or be involved in a crash, but we went to his house and I stripped the gear off and took a breather, downing a bunch of water in the process. Made it home okay.

Weighed myself that morning at 195 lbs.

Weighed in afterwards at 190 lbs.

5 lbs. of water lost in about a 6 hr. riding day... Not good.

Folks, keep hydrating...

[md86]

Um , or you could stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere to take a leak ..... I carry a bottle of water with me wherever I go .

[Katastrophe]

Great. JUST great. Now I have ta go..... Thanks, man!

[MTFYR]

I was making sure to drink water, it really wasn't enough.

On hot days like that and with the work of riding, you were not only
losing water but your eloctrolites. When I ride dirtbikes in the desert
I use a Camel Bak with 1/2 gatorade and 1/2 water. Straight Gatorade
doesn't get into your system as fast. Straight Gatorade is to rich a mixture
for hydration. How was your food intake that day. Did you have a meal
before all that, low blood sugar can also cause that too. No cokes or teas
those are dyaredics (not spell correctly). Just my two cents

[Katastrophe]

Had a good breakfast and lunch that day... The problem was the jacket I was wearing... Even with the vents opened I was still sweating buckets and it didn't breathe worth a darn. That, and the 100 degree weather we were having...

[Black Kat]

I was making sure to drink water, it really wasn't enough.

On hot days like that and with the work of riding, you were not only
losing water but your eloctrolites. When I ride dirtbikes in the desert
I use a Camel Bak with 1/2 gatorade and 1/2 water. Straight Gatorade
doesn't get into your system as fast. Straight Gatorade is to rich a mixture
for hydration. How was your food intake that day. Did you have a meal
before all that, low blood sugar can also cause that too. No cokes or teas
those are dyaredics (not spell correctly). Just my two cents

i like to drink fresh ice tea that i make myself......that seems like it would be ok....it just water mostly anyway....

[Black Kat]

I was making sure to drink water, it really wasn't enough.

On hot days like that and with the work of riding, you were not only
losing water but your eloctrolites. When I ride dirtbikes in the desert
I use a Camel Bak with 1/2 gatorade and 1/2 water. Straight Gatorade
doesn't get into your system as fast. Straight Gatorade is to rich a mixture
for hydration. How was your food intake that day. Did you have a meal
before all that, low blood sugar can also cause that too. No cokes or teas
those are dyaredics (not spell correctly). Just my two cents

i like to drink fresh ice tea that i make myself......that seems like it would be ok........

[WildKat]

I keep a bottle of water in my tank bag whenever I go for a ride in any kind of warm weather. Taking drinks whenver I stop, even if im not thirsty.. cant be too careful.

I know at the rally even on the short rides I was drinking too full bottles of water and on the long rides, 4 or 5 easy.

[mx916]

On long riding days I always stop for a Gatorade. It seems to keep the hydration up.

[The CyberPoet]

A gallon of water weighs 8.344 lbs... so you lost about 2-1/2 quarts

Yes, dehydration is a killer on bike, especially if you're not in sweaty weather. What most riders don't figure on is that your lungs are expelling massive amounts of water as humidity, so you very easily get dehydrated even on the coolest days of the year.

When Kat6 and I rode up to the rally I ran into a core-heat issue somewhere between Macon and Atlanta -- I had been hydrating, but wearing perforated leather and with a high humdity rate (makes sweat less effective), my core temp shot up high enough to make me woosie and start to get stupid. I knew the warning signs, and we stopped for a break -- but it was dangerous there for a bit. On days like that, I get two bottles at the store -- one to soak my clothing under the leathers (always cottons for the wicking action) and another to drink; as soon as we started moving again, the extra moisture in the cotton pulled my temps back down to reasonable.

Glad nothing more came of it than feeling poorly -- lesson learned, right?

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[WildKat]

Also too, remember not to drink ice cold water..it can lower ur body temp too quickly and cause dizziness and nausea, and in some rare cases, shock if u drink too much.

Drink cool water, and drink alittle at a time.

[Katastrophe]

Great tips, guys...

Cyber -

Yep absolutely learned my lesson. If I'm going on a longer ride, I start hydrating the night before... Drink more water before starting, then during, and after. Not too much at a time, mind you, but enough to stay hydrated.

I also didn't buy that hotarse jacket. Even though my current one is leather (and not perforated), it has two vents on the chest that are very effective at circulating air during the warmer months. It also has a mesh inner liner, and that helps, too.

Now that it's gonna be cooling off here (eventually, I hope), I can zip in a Thinsulate inner liner, close the vents, and voila, instant warmth (at least good enough for the weather around here).

WildKat -

I can tell you've done EMT work . I prefer my water to be a little warmer than ice cold. Always seemed to go down better that way. Thanks for the advice!

[WildKat]

Yep, I was an EMT for many years... Those were some stressful, but very rewarding times.

Even back then when we used emergency cold packs to cool a victim down in a hurry we never put in direct contact w/ their skin; always wrap in a towel so its a gradual yet constant cooling.

[the wind]

i like to drink fresh ice tea that i make myself......that seems like it would be ok....it just water mostly anyway....

i carry beer(it's mostly water too) 8)

[Range]

i like to drink fresh ice tea that i make myself......that seems like it would be ok....it just water mostly anyway....

i carry beer(it's mostly water too) 8)

it is true...I have seen it in person! (and he smokes WHILE riding)

great to see you windman!