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Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate,

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by razz1969, Jun 29, 2016.

  1. razz1969

    razz1969 Active Member

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    This is to all of you motorcycle riders out there. Take care of yourself when you ride in this heat. Even though you feel cool and not over heating, you can still dehydrate. Just because you think your not sweating, you are and the air, flow around your body is evaporating as fast as you sweat.
    Monday I took a seven our ride, from 9 in the morning untill 4 in the afternoon. Any body that knows me, knows I ride in full gear. I started feeling bad that evening, but blamed it on being tired from the ride. The next day I was functioning but barely. I had work to do in the yard so I keep going, taking frequent breaks, drinking TEA (bad idea, caffeine is a diuretic) and siting in front of a blower. Feeling worse as the day went on.
    Today I woke up nauseous, confused, really, I was trying to turn the bathroom light off and was staring at the light switch trying figure out its function, high heart rate, leg cramps, and dark urine. When I saw my urine I new what was up, I was dehydrated.
    The following are further signs and symptoms of dehydration:
    dry mouth
    the eyes stop making tears
    sweating may stop
    muscle cramps
    nausea and vomiting
    heart palpitations
    irritability
    All of which I had, but ignored. So when you ride keep electrolytes with you instead of water, water can actually wash what remainder electrolytes you have away. Thanks be safe, keep the rubber side down, and look out for each other. Ralph 12321202_1303064259708935_2939331055798841586_n.jpg
     
    Jetfixer and Stumplifter like this.
  2. cgutz

    cgutz Well-Known Member

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    Great looking bike. Were you the one that recovered from a stolen and recovered bike???

    In 1985, with my almost brand new XJ550, I rode from South Dakota to Chicago to get my bike to my fiance's where we would live after I was married. Record heat across Iowa for the two day journey - somewhere around 100 degrees. I rode with leather jacket, jeans and full face helmet. I also had a windsheild.

    I had to drink a gatorade or water at just about every town, every 20 minutes or so. I still arrived the end of the second day really weak, but not like your experience.
     
  3. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    +1000

    I wear a hydration bladder whenever I'm riding in the heat or more than an hour (pro tip: no tonly can you dring from them while riding, you can squeeze the bite valve with your fingers and spray yourself down while riding to get some lovely evaporative cooling action).

    The hydration bladder is filled with water, and I have a sports drink in my luggage in case I need one between fuel stops. I also try to take an indoor (or at least shady) break between noon and 3 PM if my schedule allows.
     
  4. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    All good advice and good to see you enjoying that bike after all your work Ralph!
     
  5. MattiThundrrr

    MattiThundrrr Not a guru

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    Yeah, Razz, you're the feel good story of the summer. Thanks for the advice.
     
  6. patmac6075

    patmac6075 Active Member

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    I guess I'll add my $0.02 to this thread...

    As some of you may know, I recently sold my XJ750 Maxim to another member on this site. Our problem was we lived 1/2 a continent away from each other, fortunately I had some time off work and decided I would head out on an epic summer ride and drive. You can read about it here: http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/epic-trip-planning-on-leaving-monday.94200/ . I was even able to write the finish to this thread before the hammer fell.

    My story is about what happened once I returned.
    As the story goes, I made a "bomber run" home from Killington VT to my home in Milwaukee WI on Friday...about a 17 hour ride (some major traffic jams along the way)....Well in my stupidity to save time I decided to keep liquids to a minimum in order to save on pit-stops...BAD IDEA!
    When I woke on Saturday morning at home....all was great, later in the afternoon I took a nap...when I awoke from that, the world was spinning out of control! Apparently I had dehydrated myself so badly I had induced a very serious case of vertigo, to the point I took a trip to the ER and a couple of days in the hospital! I actually thought I was having a stroke! To make matters worse the dehydration also affected my 4th cranial nerve which has left me with double vision!
    It's been a little over a week since I was released from the hospital and I've made an amazing rebound! Right now....my vision is almost back to normal and the symptoms of vertigo are almost completely gone. I should make a complete recovery back to 100% (able to ride a motorcycle again) in about 6 weeks.

    HYDRATE - HYDRATE - HYDRATE!
     
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  7. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    WOW! SO glad that you were in a position to get care, and are recovering.

    I will add one more thing. This will appear to be the ravings of a mad man, but what you are about to read is true.

    1. Your skin temperature in a comfortable room (70ºF) will average right around 90ºF.

    2. Your skin temperature increases as ambient air temperature increases, making it more difficult for you to shed excess heat (hence the sweating).

    3. At ambient temperatures above 93ºF the differential between your skin temperature and the ambient temperature is only 2ºF, and that differential continues to decrease as ambient temperature increases. At this point evaporation alone (sweat again) is not efficient enough to keep your core temperature from rising, even though your skin may feel cool in the breeze.

    4. (Here's the raving mad part) When ambient temperature reaches or is expected to exceed 90ºF it is beneficial to wear an impermiable layer to keep the hot air away from your skin as much as possible. Some venting is necessary, but only enough to keep your sweat evaporating at a reasonable rate (opening your sleeve cuffs and a back vent is usually enough). The effect is to get your skin out of the oven and into a swamp cooler.

    5. Traditional Bedouin clothing is a good example of putting the principle described above into practice.

    When it gets really hot my rain liner comes out of the tank bag and gets worn under my jacket. It really is more comfortable than having all the vents open, or using a mesh jacket.

    And HYDRATE
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2016
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  8. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    patmac6075, while you have that double vision, you should count your money :)
    i've gotten a chill going in a shady valley on a ninety deg day with a mesh jacket, must be a lot of sweating going on. Maybe that's why that first beer goes down so easy!
     
  9. ecologito

    ecologito Well-Known Member

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    @patmac6075, man I am glad to hear you are doing better but it good that you ended up in the hospital. I rode the maxim home and by the time I got home my head felt like it had been microwaved. 15 minutes on 97 degree weather with dew points in the 70's makes it feel like riding through a hot sauna.
     
  10. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    I'll just leave this here....
    [​IMG]

    DYI salt-dye t-shirt, no special equipment required.

    That only took me about half an afternoon to make at 95ºF
     

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