Losing 6kg In 10 Hours Was Brutal. Learn From My Mistake

About 18 months ago, Alex Paton lost a whopping 6kg from just 10 hours on the bike. 😳 So now, with just over 100 days to go until he tackles one of the hottest & most legendary gravel races out there — Unbound — he's off to Precision Fuel & Hydration to take on a session in their heat chamber 🔥 and find out what he needs to do to nail his fuelling & hydration on race day!

⏱️ Timestamps: ⏱️
00:00 What can we do to optimise our training to make cycling in the heat easier, safer & more fun?
01:19 Meet Dr. Sam Shepherd, Precision Fuel & Hydration
01:49 The Testing Method
03:49 Testing
06:30 Results & What They Mean
08:14 What can people do to perform better in the heat?
10:05 How can you calculate your sweat rate at home?
11:39 Revisiting Alex's Mallorca ride & recalculating the correct fuelling & hydration strategy
13:36 How much does poor fuelling affect your body?
14:21 How should we tackle fuelling?
17:08 How will we assess if Alex has adapted to the heat?
18:07 Outro

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Do you have any experience training in the heat? ❤️‍🔥 Have you ever been dehydrated like Alex was? Let us know in the comments! 👇

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#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #unbound #gravel #gravelrace #heat #heattraining #training #power #fuel #hydration

📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

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[gcn]

Do you have any experience training in the heat? ❤‍🔥 Have you ever been dehydrated like Alex was? Let us know in the comments! 👇

[Dana-gjhr]

Thanks for more great content. I appreciate you interviewing experts and being upfront about sponsors. Obviously, without sponsors, you couldn't do this. Keep up the awesome work at GCN. I live in the Midwest (USA), where the heat crushes people during sports activities every year, especially at Unbound! Hope to see you there. Good Luck!!!

[dcutout]

Having worked seasons as a bike guide in Turkey and Sardinia where it gets to 45 degrees C in the summer, I know about riding in the heat! Alex spending a week or two abroad somewhere hot pre-race would be a huge benefit, helping the body adapt.

Also, moving at speed and airflow helps a huge amount. I can be in 40 degrees and barely sweating while doing 20kph+, but the moment I come to a standstill, I start pouring with sweat. Drink more than you think you need.

[whoolio]

your videos got me into cycling :D I've been doing it for over a year now and even though it is hard that's what makes it fun

[melibaut]

I watch this after your Sea Otter race (congratulations again 🎉). It would be interesting to see your graphs on that race and why your hydration plan didn't work.

[dorydiaveloneart]

I am truly the reverse, maybe it is because I was born and raised in the south but I simply can’t tolerate COLD …I LOVE THE HEAT AND LOVE CYCLING AND RACING IN THE HEAT, I SWEAT A GOOD BIT BUT I LOVE HEAT!!!

[Tex]

You could move to Texas. In the summer, I regularly ride out the door at around 90 F and by the time I get back home, it's somewhere around 103 F. Heat adaptation is a requirement for us. LOL! Great video and good info!

[channelbill]

I live and ride near Perth in Western Australia, this is my experience, maybe others have a different experience. We have weeks of 35C+ in summer. A key thing to riding in the heat is to learn the early signs of heat exhaustion. If you can detect the early signs you can take action to avoid collapsing due to heat exhaustion, or suffering a collapse as soon as you relax after getting off the bike. You can carry a thermometer, or set up your electronic thermometer to display on your bike computer screen. Early symptoms include negative and angry self tall and lack of patience with little things as you ride along. Also your core temperature getting into the late 37C area is an indication. In a race, maybe its better to stop and recover than it is to collapse on the bike later or be wasted for several days afterwards? If you get it early, you can slow down and take some calories and water. If you are not in a race, you can find a safe place to stop and just take a 10 - 15 minute break to have a drink and some food and recover. If you let it get to an advanced stage, it is worse than being very drunk, you get irrational, irascible and completely lose situational awareness. If you don't collapse on the bike, you are going to collapse soon after you relax when you get off and you may be wasted for a day or so afterwards. Clothing choice can be useful as well, I tend to avoid shirts that wick the sweat away on very hot days, you really need the cooling effect of sweat evaporation when it is above 35C. Instead wear a loose or open top that lets the airflow across your skin and let the sweat out and evaporate to cool you down. On a very hot day, a loose fitting long sleeve business shirt (not too loose) is a good choice to keep the sun off and stay cool. A tight fitting jersey that wicks away the sweat is not a good choice on a very hot day.

[crush]

Very cool!
I am training for solo SF to LA in May
I am on an indoor trainer while working remotely on my laptop : )
I will make sure to keep my temp up because I know from my last tour that SF to LA can get sunny!

[keithmorel]

living in Riyadh over the last two years my power and heart rate changed quite a lot so It was great to see the video and the changes spoken about. Outside of the hydration and fueling, a big difference to my comfort was changing my helmet and kit. My helmet was black and aero and kits were dark blue, red, black. Changed my helmet to well vented and white. When riding in daylight hours my jersey, socks, shoes, gloves, uv arm covers all white. certainly reduces my heart stress. hope this is of some help.

[crush]

I love how everyone in the comments is reiterating the point about gut strength
I have been on a five day tour with indigestion from eating carbs I really needed
Will think about this carefully for my upcoming tour
Psychological impact of a stomach ache is huge for me

[Paul-qqu]

The gut training is so so important. I once did a 100 miles in 24 hours racewalk and didn't think about about the race situation with carbs, to say I got the whirly splats mid race would be an understatement!!

[Cycle]

Living in Las Vegas and riding here is all about riding in the heat. You need to pay particular attention to how much water you will need.

[CherokeeDriver]

Alex, I would recommend you do some historical analysis of the temperature and humidity in late May for Emporia, KS. We'll often get morning thunderstorms here that will dump just enough rain to not only slime up the gravel but there will be enough moisture in the air to keep the humidity levels at 80-90% all day. The temperature might not be stifling hot but that humidity will wear you down if you're not ready for it.

[michaelreppion]

Great presentation. This is a fascinating build up to Unbound. Conner will be envious. Yes as an Aussie who has suffered from dehydration in long events I know how you suffered.😰

[Grizzrock]

Here in Finland we have the ironic situation of the world's best access to sauna for passive heat training (there are more sauna than cars in Finland, with over 3 mill sauna for 5.5 mill people - and we have two in our house) but a super short (5 week) summer with only a handful of days over 25 degrees, so no need for heat training 🤣

[Bodkin_Ye_Pointy]

The second observation is, I noticed the science chappie gave credit to an Aussie for outstanding work with regards to sweat and its impacts. I cycle in Sydney which in the summer does not just regularly get over 35 degrees, it is humid with it. So when you sweat you do not have the required cooling effect because the air is not even cooler when you create wind resistance. I used to crave cold drinks at the end of a ride and showers were cold also. The Australian Olympic team came up with a cooling jacket for their riders which carried low temp's to keep the riders cool both indoors and both on and off road. Don't know how they used it but apparently they were quite successful. The question I have, did you guys take into account humidity in the hot box?

[CesarIIIConcio]

One of the most useful and relevant GCN videos I watched conskdering the onslaught of summer and the prevalence to forget about hydration and nutrition especially during hot rides.

[lwittrock]

Growing up in SoCal, yes, training and racing in high heat is the norm. Have I ever become dehydrated, even dangerously dehydrated, yes! That was many years ago as a young not so experienced athlete and that ended shortly after that event.

[MrGabrism]

you all should tag this for "road to unbound"