Sunday Long Bike

It's been a long time since I passed out from heat and dehydration. About 3 months before my daughter was born, but Sunday was the day. I had run 12 miles the day before and when I woke up Sunday morning I was 4 lbs less then Saturday morning so I knew and should have know, that I needed to be careful, but the weather was overcast and not as hot as it had been. I drank an extra 16 oz of water in the morning, packed the bike with 72 oz of Ultima and drove to the meeting site.

The day started off well, I was with a group of 5 and we were going at an easy pace as we set off for our 64 mile ride. The first hour was great, I had two peanut butter crackers, two fig newtons, and 24 oz of Ultima. I was sweating a lot, but my heart rate was staying low and I was drinking a lot. We stopped at a gas station at 25 miles and I refilled my empty with water and half of the other with water so I still had 72 oz of fluid. We started back off at an easy pace so I ate half a power bar, but then we picked it up for a long section. I was still feeling fine, and when we made the turn I ate the other half of the power bar and finish off my second water bottle so now I had 60 oz in and still had 48 on the bike. The next stretch is probably where things went bad. I was pacing well and riding at an easy steady rate up a false flat with some rollers and finish off the next bottle of ultima. We made a turn and I dropped to the back to take it easy for a while. After about 2 more miles, my legs started burning and I lost all power. Came up to the next stop sign where the others were waiting for me, stopped, took off my helmet and got that familiar feeling.

It's kinda weird and a little alarming when it happens. It starts with nausea, then lightheadedness, the next part is panic and tunnel vision as the blood leaves my head. At this point I de clipped from the bike and headed to the stop sign for support so I could sit down without getting bloody like the last time, luckily my riding buddies noticed what was happening and held my bike for me, I didn't make it to the sign before my legs gave out. My ankle twisted, the my knee bent some odd direction and the next thing I saw was black. I was only out long enough to not feel the ground. I just woke up and saw the sky. Once on the ground, my brains started to come back and I knew what happened, so I knew my day was done. Luckily Ed lived only 10 miles away and his wife was able to come pick me up. I had some more water and was able to cool off a little so when she got there I was reasonable coherent and she brought some cold water and an ice pack and drove me back to my car. On the way my appetite returned and I was able to get some more food and water down.

I'm not really sure what I could have done to avoid this other then not going. I guess I should have tried to drink more Saturday after my run, but I was going on two gallons Saturday night and really didn't want to drink more. Then Sunday I had 32 in the morning, 80 some on the bike in 2.5 hours. After I got home I had another gallon of fluids, alternating between Gatorade and water. I woke up this morning and was now 5 lbs less then Saturday morning and felt like crap so I am still trying to eat and drink back to normal.