On long trips...how do you stay cool.

[2112]

I have an Alpinestars Bogotar jacket that has numerous zips and panels that let lots of lovely cool air flow around me. It's fine on the move but can get a bit warm in traffic. Plenty of water is the key as it's really hard to rehydrate one you start to get dehydrated.

 

[rider33]

I wear a Roadcrafter Light and its assorted flaps & vents can usually keep me comfortable between 50-90F all by itself. Below 50 I'll add a layer or electric vest, depending on conditions. Above 90 it depends, dry heat is different than humid heat. Dry heat you can sometimes just close down and use a cooling vest. 'Sounds odd I know but it works. Tropical heat I seem to need maxinum evaporative effect. For that I use a cooling vest with mesh over it. You need to recharge it every hour but it so but it makes a huge diffence. In all cases drink, alot, a Camelback helps on that. I just got back from a ride thru Wyoming and the Dakotas with all-day temps in the upper 90's. I tried for first time a product I had picked up this winter: cooling sleaves. Wet those suckers & wear them under mesh and its like somebody turned the AC, 'amazing. Given how packable they are (take no space) they will be added to my essential kit from here on out, 'highly recommended.

http://ldcomfort.com/comfort-cool-sleeve.html

 

[kingfisher]

Lots of good suggestions here. I agree that dry heat and heat with humidity call for different solutions. Here in Oklahoma, summer is always hot, but the humidity can vary widely, depending on the amount of early summer rainfall. With high humidity, ventilation is key. I've tried the non mesh jacket with vents open to "keep the heat off of the body," and felt like I was the turkey in the roasting bag on Thanksgiving, when it is humid out. My experience is similar to several others that have posted. Wet sleeves under a mesh jacket are amazingly effective, but being the cheapskate that I am, I have just cut off the sleeves of a long sleeve cotton T shirt, soak them in water, and ride. Today was 97 degrees and I had to re soak them about every 45 to 60 minutes; or about the length of time that you can ride before you better stop to hydrate yourself with that kind of heat. The sleeves work better for me than a vest on bikes with a windshield; your arms are exposed to better airflow than the torso. Plus you don't have a wet shirt or pants to deal with when the ride is over.

 

[rider33]

.... I have just cut off the sleeves of a long sleeve cotton T shirt, soak them in water, and ride....

The cooling sleaves are the same idea but with a fabric that seems to suck up & hold water like a shammy. Some magazine reviewer gave them a rave review last winter & for thirty bucks I thought I'd try them. Thru the Badlands & Wyoming last week it was a nice sticky hot, for hours & hours. First I tried the cooling vest under mesh, then I remembered I had packed those sleaves too (they are way smaller than the vest and not as rigid when dry). After a while I took the vest off & just used the sleaves, they worked better & were easier to use/recharge. You just hold your arm up and pour water on them thru the mesh jacket. The vest to do it right you have to take off & put in its bag to recharge, much more of a hassel.

 

[BaldKnob]

My local heat experience is occasional 100 temps (June-Sep) with high humidity at all times. Avoid cotton as a base layer at all cost. Mesh is best but vented jackets work good once you start moving. I keep the shirt wet and use a bandana with ice wrapped in it for really hot rides.

 

[racer1735]

I routinely ride in temps 95 degrees and above. I wear a one-piece mesh riding suit. When its HOT (above 85) I simply wear a dri-weave shirt and underpants underneath (and socks). I wet the shirt and it feels great. I carry a camelback bladder in my tank bag. Wrap it in a towel around it to absorb the condensation. I fill the bladder with crushed or cubed ice and very little water...the melting process will give you cold water to drink. I hook the drink tube in one of the loops on my tankbag and can slip it up under the facebar on my helmet whenever I'm thirsty. The first bit of water will be very hot, so I squirt it into the breeze to evacuate the hot. This system has worked for me for over 20 years and I'm sticking with it.
I may be different than some guys, but I've never been bothered by warm feet (I rode an ST1300 for 10 years so know what hot is in the lower extremities). I wear full-on MX boots, no venting, but always wear a cotton 'hiking' sock that somehow keeps my feet from feeling sweat soaked.

 

[fredz43]

racer, I do the same thing with a water bladder in my Yamaha tank bag and find it very handy, especially with the elastic loops on the side of the bag to hold the tube when not in use. One trick I learned to avoid that first bit of warm water is after taking a drink, blow in the tube and it will force that last bit of water back into the bladder with the cool water and the next time you take a drink, no warm water.

 

[racer1735]

racer, I do the same thing with a water bladder in my Yamaha tank bag and find it very handy, especially with the elastic loops on the side of the bag to hold the tube when not in use. One trick I learned to avoid that first bit of warm water is after taking a drink, blow in the tube and it will force that last bit of water back into the bladder with the cool water and the next time you take a drink, no warm water.

Does your tube have a 'bite valve' on the end? I don't know that I could bite and blow (that sounds bad!) at the same time.

 

[fredz43]

Does your tube have a 'bite valve' on the end? I don't know that I could bite and blow (that sounds bad!) at the same time.

Yes it does. Give it a try.

 

[Rasher]

In the UK heat is rarely a problem, but can by humid or dry.

In Europe it can be hotter, but in places like the Alps you can often swing from one extreme to the other, on several occasions I have gone from just above freezing to 30c in just a few miles, often going up and down mountain passes sees the temp constantly fluctuate.

I had a cheap(ish) HG textile suit which was OK in mid temps, but probably only worked really well between 15 and 20c, the thermal liner worked down to about 10c, but meant over 15c started to get warm so I used to use a Microfleece if it got cold as it was far easier to put on / off than fitting the lining and doubled up as an evening jumper.

I always wear a thin base layer to help with wicking and to aid comfort (they always feel nice next to skin and stop bike gear sticking when hot) and think this is an important bit of bike kit in hot weather, handy as it can be washed and dried every night so saves carrying too many clothes.

I have just bought a new Halverson's suit with "Outlast Technology" which I thought was a gimmick, just a thermal liner - but to my surprise I have stayed warm enough down to 5-6c (warmer than old HG suit with liner in) on my commute to work with the jacket over my work shirt, and cool enough on my way home at 24-25c (as cool or cooler than my HG suit with the liners removed)

A few weeks back we had the very unusual situation of temps around 32-33c so I took the lining out of the trousers and left it in the jacket and went for a ride, trousers over bare skin (shorts) and jacket over base layer - to my surprise I did not get massively hot in the jacket, I sure would have preferred to be a bit cooler but I was nowhere near as uncomfortable as I would have been in my old jacket, and my legs were much worse feeling hot and sweaty despite having two less layers covering them.

With an Alps trip coming up I expect to test this kit in a wide variety of conditions, if it gets real hot I will remove the outlast again as I still cannot believe having a lining in helps - but from what I have read here maybe it makes some sense.

 

[AVGeek]

Yes it does. Give it a try.

It's pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. Camelback also sells an insulated tube which makes an amazing difference in keeping that small volume of water cooler.

I commuted year round in Vegas and Phoenix, so have a fair bit of experience as well. Fortunately, much like Boondocker, my commutes were 30 minutes or less, so did the vest and mesh for the afternoon commute home. Usually the mornings weren't scorching yet, even in July, to warrant using the wet stuff.

 

[itlives]

I bought a 2L bladder from WallyWorld that fits in my tank bag. I used it on my Grand Canyon trip a few weeks ago. I don't worry about the first bit of water being warm - just drink! Staying hydrated is the number one "trick" to LD riding as far as I'm concerned.
Not that I have a lot of experience. But I did manage 1,200 miles the first day - the first trip I took on my Tenere. Having water on demand helps keep the synapses synapsing!

 

[Big Blu]

When traveling in extreme heat I'll spend 10-15 minutes inside the gas station at each fill up, drinking water or juice(V8's my favorite) and to give to give my body a chance to cool down. If they have an ice cream freeze I put my helmet in there to cool it down. You'll be surprised at how long the cooling effect lasts, give it a try and report back.

In some parts of the country I use an evaporative cooling vest or a cooling neck wrap. Here is the Florida neither is very effective because of the high humidity.

Paul

 

[Idahohigh]

If I'm riding slab I like a 10 pound bag of ice thrown across the tank. Punch a few hole in the bag so water from melting ice has a way to escape. I have used this method often and it works well--- Or bar up and ride at night

 

[dietDrThunder]

once the temp gets above 93, heat transfers in rather than out of your body. I wear my textile jacket with ld comfort short and pants. I keep a water bottle handy and pour water down my sleeves and neck about every 50 miles.


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Summer is coming, so it's a good time to revive this topic I think.

The above is crucially important info if you really want to manage the heat. If it's over 93-94 and you're wearing a mesh jacket, you're making things worse unless you're constantly pouring water on yourself as mentioned. The biggest deal in these conditions is hydration. There is a pretty large delta between what people think is proper hydration, and what actually is proper hydration. If you know you're going to be riding in extreme conditions the day before you're riding, that's when to start. Drink water, and a lot of it, until you are peeing clear. As soon as you wake up, drink more, and don't stop. If you're making it to a gas stop and you don't have to pee, you're not drinking enough.

This isn't meant to be preachy at all. The point is that you will be amazingly more tolerant of the heat while you ride if you are properly hydrated. I discovered this when I was racing. I was headed to Road Atlanta in late July, and the weather was calling for around 100f with extreme humidity all weekend. I had a case of 20oz water bottles in the front seat of my truck, and I drank a cubic ass load of them on the way down. As soon as I woke up in the morning, I made my policy for the weekend that if I didn't have a wrench or handlebars in my hand, I had a bottle of water. I had never taken hydration anywhere near this seriously before, ever, even when I played sports as a kid, and what I discovered was that until that point I had absolutely no idea what it felt like to actually be properly hydrated. I practiced and raced all weekend, including an endurance race where I rode (2) 1:15 stints, and while obviously it was freaking hot and I sweated a ton, I was never adversely affected by the heat performance-wise. What made this even more amazing in my opinion is that I'm an old fat ass. I was 41 years old that weekend, and I'm 6'3" and was 285 at that time (260 now).

The moral of the story is that the heat isn't as bad as it seems if you properly hydrate and put away the mesh stuff when it's really hot.

 

[Davesax36]

Vents up to 90. Soaked LDcomfort and zipped up above that.

 

[cmoresky]

Ice ice baby! Miracool vest has that expanding gel inside. And uses evaporative cooling principles.
Look, it's gonna be hot, you are going to be wet so why not start with cold clean wet?
I have 2 miracool vests and keep them in my small ice chest. Morning routine is to fill my cooler vest, ice, 2L water bladder on top. By the time I needs the vest, because I start before sunup, it's 85F and getting hotter.
Take out soaked nearly frozen vest and put it on. Shocks the system. Close all jacket vents and ride.
At about 1.5-2 hr start opening vents if it's getting warm inside the cool cocoon. The vents immediately return full cooling strength. At 4-5 hours is time to swap the vests out and do it again.
Works best in low humid, but it does work across Florida and on several LD trips including CC.
Cheap, ice daily. Oh and as previously said, hydrate!
Oh yea, vest must be wet so soak it in a sink before using.
Happy riding.


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[colorider]

An option that is favored: When it get hot out, wet the LDComfort shirt (sleeves primarily) and put your jacket back on. close up the vents except for sleeves and the back. You will get a couple hours of evaporative effect cooling before having to rewet the shirt. Too much venting and you dry out too fast. Worked well for me last year on a 700 mile day where temps never went below 100 and max was 112.

On the LDRiders website there is a really good scientific study on staying cool and hydrated in the heat and the significance of <93F vs >93F.

I attended a LD seminar last year and this is pretty much what they preach. They do NOT recommend mesh gear as it will dehydrate you too rapidly.
I bought my first mesh gear a couple years ago and while I still like it in some circumstances, I feel I actually do better with my Darien (zipped properly) was the temps go up.

 

[Freebooter]

lastparrot,
Where do you live. I live in central Alabama and as you know it gets up to like 105 at times with humidity at 80%. I wear mesh jacket and pants with the padded knees, elbows, shoulders, etc with nothing but underwear and tee shirt under. I get hot but it is bearable and very airy.
FB