How much does heat impact your cycling performance on the bike? Do you ride slower as you get hotter? Is black cycling kit worse than white kit? What can you do to make yourself faster in hot conditions? With the help of Dr Lee Taylor, researcher and scientist at Loughborough University, Ollie Bridgewood has been finding out the answers to these questions and more!
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36 Comments
A question for Ollie and the other TT bike fans. Specialized appears to be getting out of the Tri/TT bike market (i.e. the Shiv line). What is health of the Tri/TT market? Is this type of bike becoming an even more niche product?
Why do you get hotter when you exercise 😢😅😅
I bout fell out when he asked that question.
Did not expect that.
Keepemcoming
Simple trick- If it's over 85-90 F (30+ C), freeze your water bottles completely solid. Don't worry, they'll be melted enough to drink within 20 minutes, and the water will be cool for roughly an hour.
A really interesting film.
While Lee said that bare skin is more effective at cooling than wearing clothing, is that true with technical fabrics? Does the wicking effect accelerate evaporation and therefore improve cooling?
I understand that the chemical reaction in sunscreen with UV is exothermic, so that wearing sunscreen actually increases temperatures. It would be interesting to understand if the overall effect of sunscreen is to increase or decrease temperature.
My Garmin 1030 gives me a heat acclimatisation level after riding in temperatures >22°C. How accurate is that score, and does acclimatisation increase faster at higher temperatures?
Now I know why I literally melt on hiking and mountainbiking climbs, but not on bike clims: Twice the speed.
During really hot weather, I wear sleeveless jerseys, zipper wide open. I with they'd produce shorter bike pants.
Quite a small fraction of the total “actinic” flux of light is in the UV, and so the energy absorption from UV is very small (the individual photons are high energy can thus cause damage when absorbed, but the collective sum is not a big deal
He reads the Guardian. Guaranteed.
Commented to GCN years ago about the black kit. Would not wear black here in Texas for much of the year. And black helmets???
Interesting to hear about the alcohol-based sunscreen. I never heard of it before, but I’m notorious for not using sunscreen anyway. One thing I have done for years is to fill (with a bit of room for expansion) my water bottles the night before, and leave them in the freezer overnight. Great for riding or hiking on hot days, but I never thought there were actual benefits to it.
I was under the impression that photon sources of radiant heat primarily comes from the infrared end of the non-visible light spectrum, not the ultraviolet side, which is more ionising (hence UV provides the cancer risk). Maybe a query to follow up? (Not a physicist nor a dermatologist)
I used to cycle in Hawaii and Costa Rica every day. You just do it you don't need special preparations lol, it's riding a pedal bike it's easy
Really useful, excellent! Thanks Ollie and Lee. I use Altruist sunscreen and find it brilliant. 🎉
❤
Now that cat didn't like this topic.
Timely.
That was a super “cool” video! Thanks GCN.
I love that you kept the cat bit in. Great information though!
Alcohol based sunscreen does not get good reviews. Damaging to skin. Do your research first and don’t take this at face value.
GCN could switch to brown shorts! AG2R may have some leftovers.
This is great info. I currently live on the Gulf Coast in the US, and have lived in Malaysia in my recent past, but this past summer has been brutal. One of the things I’ve learned from living in hot zones is to try to minimize A/C use in the summer as much as possible, not only from an expense standpoint, but also for acclimatizing to the heat.
One of the best presentations you’ve done! Keep up the good work!
This is why I don’t understand why teams use black in the kits instead of cool colors.
Heat has always made me lethargic. Getting too hot whilst exercising makes me feel sick. Interestingly enough, after a really hot effort, I get really chilled.
I wear a cycling cap. When I feel I’m flagging, I stop and thoroughly soak the cap in water. A cool head helps. I’m in Australia
That was very interesting. One question I had was does frequently pushing the body beyond 40 degrees for short periods have any long-lasting health implications, as it is known that heatstroke (often defined as body temperature above 40 degrees) can cause damage to the brain, heart, kidneys and muscles.
This was a really brilliant interview and provided some useful tips for when I race in warmer climates. Thank you.
Perfect for us here in Australia..
Perfect timing, so hot here in Brisbane, Aus!
Very interesting. I'm trying to improve my heat conditioning (at the moment with regular sauna).
I really struggle with heat in summer. When riding in 20c plus, I regularly swim/dip throughout the ride (I'm in Sweden – loads of lakes). On a full day out, it can be 4-5 dips over the course of the ride. I genuinely feel that I need this, and thanks to this video, now I understand why 😁
Do you consider heat when training? 🥵
We are one of the most efficient animals to ever exist on this planet. Endurance is one of our greatest adaptations. As is our heat production. Its why we have been able to colonize nearly every environment on the planet, including the Arctic (and now Antarctic). And on the counter, our brain size is an adaptation to dissipate heat without killing brain cells while we do endurance activity. As is our loss of body hair.
Comment section:
"Thanks this was a great guest and episode. Thank you."
"I can ride on the sun and I'm totally fine." 🙄
Does age come into the equation 🤔
Thanks for this video – especially the sunscreen advice! Very helpful. I’m one of those who have given feedback about the darkness of the GCN kit, and the need for a white one. I see it like how pro teams have a home and away kit. Having lived and cycled in SE Asia for the last 10 years, the need to control heat transfer on the bike is essential. I’ve found a couple of good jerseys, but please also consider how hot the lower back of black bibshorts can get too! This has been uncomfortable late in a ride. I’m not suggesting white bibshorts by any means, but a consideration would be great. I love your channel! And love to see GCN more represented in SE Asia!
Suncream related, worth speaking to suncream formulators. There are two types of sunscreen buts its, not really a oil vs alcohol option, rather chemical vs physical . The organic /chemical sunscreans will warm the skin, due to the mode of action. Physical sunscreens (zinc or titanium oxides) literally reflect uv, although I've not looked for data on how that affects skin data