Crazy For The Heat
Yesterday was warmer than the day before; 36C in the sun & 29C in the shade. Lovely weather for cycling, I thought.
So in the late afternoon, I set off for Pézenas - a short 16 mile round trip, which apart from the climb up & over Cassan & Roujan seems pretty much flat . . . when you’re in a car.
I should have realised that things were not quite as they’d seemed when on the outbound leg, I managed to sustain 22mph with little apparent effort - even though my quads were sore from the day before’s 10k sweatfest, this seemed easy.
The return proved harder & hotter. By the time I arrived home, I’d long ago drained my 750ml water bottle, and felt very uncomfortable in the saddle (nudge, nudge 
).
A few thoughts from this:
o I need to look at the bike’s setup. At the moment, it’s still got the same saddle position for racing with aero bars fitted.
o I’m going to look at clothes. My one-piece duathlon number is great as a base layer, but it’s too hot here for layers! I need a little more padding.
o I’m going to measure my sweat rate this week. This involves weighing myself before & after a training session (without taking on fluids during the session). The difference in weights in Kg equates to litres of water.
Good that you’re measuring your sweat rate. You should probably be drinking 750ml every hour, at least.
I was 5lbs lighter after my race Saturday than I was that morning. It took several very tall glasses of water with dinner before I made a dent in my thirst.