Today I learned the importance of good hydration on the bike.
I set out to do a multi-hour ride this morning and had a blast. I got to explore more of my city, enjoyed the cool weather, and made a second trek up the hill to Simon Fraser University, this time up the back side of the hill which was much nicer than the hell that was the other road I took up last week.
Three hours into my ride, I was having trouble keeping my heart rate down. Riding that felt easy was still putting my HR in the high 140s and low 150s, which made absolutely no sense to me.
…until I realized that I had only had about half a bottle of Gatorade and almost no water since I left my house. Generally, my main concern on longer rides is having to pee; actually, more it’s finding a place to pee when I have to go. Public restrooms seem few and far between in my town.
In any case, I said screw it and downed a full bottle of Gatorade while waiting for a light to change. The scientist in me wanted to know if it would get my HR back down to normal levels, and how fast it would take to do so.
Somewhat surprising to me, it did! After a few minutes of riding my body felt a lot fresher and my HR went back into the 130s where I wanted it. I don’t know if I was expecting it to drop back to normal so fast, but I was sure glad it did. I was thinking of taking a Skytrain and Bus home before that.
I recall reading somewhere that a lack of water in your body is just as sure a way to blow a race (or training) as having no calories/glycogen/food in your body. The body is a complex system and all parts of the engine need to be firing in order for you to reach your maximum potential.
I think from now on I’ll risk taking more pee breaks and focus on getting more hydrated as I ride. Maybe I should just learn to pee on the bike, then I’ll be all set!
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