HOW TO BΕΑΤ THE HEAT

It’s heatwave season and soaring temperatures are adding an extra challenge to our cycling. How can you mitigate the effects, stay cool and keep pressing hard on the pedals?

- Anita Bean

Only halfway up Box Hill and my heart rate is already through the roof. I’m dripping with sweat, struggling to maintain power and my legs feel like jelly. This familiar climb, usually hard but enjoyable, suddenly feels horribly gruelling – and the reason is, it’s 26ºC in the shade. If this is what it feels like climbing a Surrey hill in a British heatwave, how do riders in the Tour de France cope in the mountains where temperatures exceed 40ºC with 80% humidity?

To be able to climb heroically in the heat, you need to be efficient at shedding heat and replacing lost water – but how exactly? Could I get better at coping in the heat so that, in future summers, the Surrey Hills might feel less like Death Valley? To find out, I decided to investigate how the pros prepare for racing in the heat.

The fatigue and loss of power we experience during very warm weather rides is caused by two main factors: a rise in core body temperature and changes in our metabolism. “Both the exercise itself and the air temperature and humidity can increase your core body temperature, putting stress on your cardiovascular system,” explains Dr Lewis James, senior lecturer in nutrition at Loughborough University. “To help cool itself, your body sends more blood to the skin. This leaves less blood available for your muscles, and your heart has to work harder.”