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Bob Pickett keeps cool riding a motorbike in hot weather

The Summer of 2003 was the hottest on record. A heatwave that almost turned into a life-threatening one for me. Riding home on the hottest day of the year with the temperature close on 100 degrees, my right hand started tingling. I put it down to bar vibes and carried on with my journey.

Just after I got onto the A12 out of London (10 miles with no stops), the tingling started to get worse and began to spread up my arm. The same thing started to happen to my left arm. Then my face began to tingle as well. The next thing I knew, I had almost no feeling left in my arms or legs, my face was going the same way and I was feeling nauseous. And my concentration was starting to waver - not good in a 50mph zone. To get some air to my face I flipped up my visor and focussed for all I was worth on the road ahead, praying that I would not be asked to brake hard, given the almost total loss of feeling in my hand.

As soon as I could stop, I pulled over, switched off the bike, got off… and promptly slumped to the floor. I knew things were bad, so I phoned for an ambulance and removed as much clothing as possible. I was lucky to have pulled over in front of a very nice couple, who made me sit in the shade of their car and supplied me with bottles of cold water while I waited for the ambulance to arrive.

It took two hours before I was able to stand unaided. So what had happened?

The doctor at A&E explained "Your protective clothing had you sealed in from head to foot, so it was like being in a pressure cooker. As your body heat increased, your blood vessels dilated in an attempt to cool you down. And went too far. Excessive dilation meant your blood was not getting round the body, which is why you started to get dizzy. Add that to dehydration from the heat and you were literally starting to boil over."

Take it from me, this is a situation you NEVER want to experience.

So how to avoid heat exhaustion?

So when it gets really hot, what should you do? Bin the protective clothing and ride in t-shirt and shorts? NO! DON'T! In many ways, this is as bad if not worse than being sealed in. Yes, the breeze may seem cooling, but this disguises the effects of the Sun beating down on you. Your skin burns, you lose sense of how hot you really are. And start to dehydrate. With sunburn and dehydration, the risk of sunstroke or heat exhaustion increases, which results in loss of concentration - not a good idea on the road with no protection. Not to mention the increased chance of skin cancer.

So being sealed in doesn't work, neither does riding with as little clothing as possible. So what is the answer? Ironically, those kids you see wobbling about erratically on their scooters have the solution without even knowing it. You laugh at their cheap nylon jackets blowing up in the wind. Normally I would laugh with you, but this time you want to copy them.

Think about the nomads in the desert. You see them covered from head to toe - you would expect them to be frying in those conditions, but they seem cool and relaxed. The reason? Loose clothing.

Physics, hot and cold

Time for a spot of physics. Heat is drawn to cold. So if you get an ice-cube from the fridge, your fingers feel cold because the ice-cube draws the heat away from your skin. Exactly what you are trying to achieve, without running the risk of getting burned.

Loose, billowing clothing allows air to circulate - but keeps your skin protected as well. As air gets inside your clothes and circulates, it is cooler than you are. So it draws the heat away and keeps you cool. Do not ride with your jacket open though - this just loses the circulating air. Undo the buttons and open the windflaps, but zip up the jacket. This will hold the air in.

Do you own a pair of gloves with cuffs that will fit inside your sleeves? Then wear them with the cuffs of your sleeves opened right up to get the air in.

How about your legs? You want your jeans outside of your boots, in order to get air circulating around your legs. Obviously denim provides little protection, so invest in a pair of bike jeans from someone like Hood . These jeans are lined with a material similar to Kevlar, so the abrasion protection is in place as well.

Open your visor a crack, to let a little air flow.

So now you have good air flow running and have created your own little microclimate. Nice start. You should be a lot cooler now. But you aren't safe enough yet.

Dehydration and biology

The other major problem with the heat is dehydration. And the effects of dehydration are nasty. Just think of a hangover and how that feels. Would you ride a bike with a hangover? Exactly. But fluid loss due to heat will cause the same problems, only this time it will creep up on you without you realising, quite possibly too late. Solution? Drink fluids. Obvious eh? Not as obvious as it may sound. I bet most of you would guzzle some cola to cool down? Bad move. Cola contains caffeine.

We've done the physics, so now time for a spot of biology. The body controls how much fluid is stored or passed from your body by means of a hormone called Anti-Diuretic-Hormone, or ADH for short. Caffeine suppresses production of ADH. So your body starts losing fluids faster than it should - ever noticed how you have to go to the loo much more when you go for a session in the pub? Alcohol, like caffeine, suppresses ADH. And dehydration causes the hangover. See the connection?

So back to that cola - or in fact any carbonated drink. Pretty much all carbonated drinks contain caffeine, plus the fizz can churn up in your guts and add to the nausea. Tea and coffee should be drunk in moderation at best, if not put aside until things cool down. Yes, a nice cup of tea does seem to help when sitting around, but on the road you are losing fluids anyway, so the last thing your already hard working body needs is you adding more caffeine into the equation.

Drink water, or if you can't stomach it (and it is amazing how many people don't like water), stick to still drinks, or better still sports drinks like Gatorade. These contain minerals and other nutrients that are lost when you pass fluids, so they will help to keep your body running efficiently.

Stop and sip

Stop often to top up your fluid levels - and SIP, DON'T GUZZLE. Guzzling seems like a good idea at the time, but you are hitting your body hard all at once, overloading your system. Take a longer break, out of the Sun, preferably in an air-conditioned shop (don't feel guilty about hanging around their drinks chiller, after all you are buying something from them and it is doing you the world of good). Whatever happens, get yourself in the shade when you stop - give your body a break from the punishment it has been enduring up to now.

Carry a bottle of water with you - you might be out on a run with no shops around. So make sure you still have the ability to top up your fluid levels.

Talking water, it is a handy aide for creating that microclimate we talked about earlier. Before putting on your helmet, wet your hair. Then as your head heats up, it will evaporate the cooler water, once again creating your own little microclimate and drawing the heat from your head. This also has a useful side-benefit, as the mist will help to clean the inside of your helmet!

It is also a good idea to soak your shirt and even wear a bandana or handkerchief soaked in water round your neck. More evaporation, more coolants helping keep your body in balance.

Of course, all of the above is directed at looking after yourself in UK conditions - albeit much hotter than usual. If the temperature heads over 100 degrees, then you have to change the rules and do just what I did wrong and seal yourself in. Drench yourself in water and seal everything. Once the temperature tops 100, YOU become the colder place, so the external heat will try to transfer to you. And you overheat and everything I discussed at the start of this article happens. If you intend to travel in areas with this kind of excessive heat, then please get specialist advice before you do. Guesswork really won't keep you in one piece.

If it does all start to go wrong

But no matter what the temperature, please bear this one last thing in mind. If you do start to feel a little odd, then PULL OVER AND TAKE A BREAK. Don't feel silly about calling for an ambulance - it might just make the difference.

Riding in the heat can be hard work, but it should not be unbearable. Keep the above in mind and it should be much easier to endure.

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