Tips for hot rides

Just a month to the official start of summer. Not much left, but at least here in Tuscany temperatures are already over 30°C during the day.  We cannot really complain about these gorgeous sunny days, but indeed we must admit sometimes riding with these temperatures can be too much. In this article we will try to talk about what we can do as cyclists to make our time on the bike in occasions like these, more pleasant and less tough.

Here there are a few advices we feel sharing:

When possible, let's wear light colors & breathable clothing: they will catch a bit less of the sun and allow our skin to breathe better.
Unless we are in the middle of a race, we can allow ourselves a little stop/break in the shade every now and then. We won't lose the momentum, but we will recover a lot.
One of the most important things on warm days is to plan an itinerary which allows us to  have refreshing points or fountains along the route to refill our water bottles.  If we can ride along roads with plenty of trees, even better; they will give us some shelter from the sun as well. Drinking regularly or assuming sugars and electrolytes is fundamental to keep our energy level up all day.
When we feel like it is getting too hot let's not feel ashamed of pouring some fresh water on the neck or on our heads, as well as unzipping the jersey on climbs: this will help our lungs to expand and breathe a bit better. 

This is the time of the year where there are really a lot of hours of daylight and on these occasions we can opt for setting off either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, trying missing the hottest hours. Wearing sunscreen is always advisable during long days on the saddle exposed to the hot sun.

Our last tip, especially if we are planning a long ride, is to freeze our water bottles the night before so we will be able to benefit from fresh water for a longer time.