7-15: Man, this humidity is not my cup of tea. Did my ride late morning, round about 9 AM, yet the humidity was still pretty thick. Since my talks with my cardiologist and exercise physiologist, I’ve really tried to be way more cognizant about hydration and electrolyte supplementation while riding. Ended up buying some Gatorade powder and some Cytomax mix to drink during and post riding. Now those of you who know me and my MO with respect to on the bike hydration/electrolyte use and eating, have seen that I just seem to go into the “camel” mode on the bike. For some odd reason I just go and go and go without water/electrolyte and even food. 

It’s not that I do or did it on purpose, I just seem to go dormant with respect to my fluid intake and eating while on the bike. I’ve been known in the past to ride 5-7 hours without any water or any food. It’s crazy, and as I’ve said, I didn’t purposely do it - it just kind of evolved over the past 16 years. And I got damned good at it. Off the bike I’m great, drinking well over a gallon of water a day and eating 4000-8000 calories worth of food. 

But this is now a real issue what with this cardiac thing going on. My docs have really warned me to keep my blood from thickening up by staying well hydrated all the time - especially on the bike. I’ve also been told that over time, like during those 16 years or so of my endurance cycling, that my lack of hydration on the bike could “possibly” be one of several factors in why those coronary arteries accumulated plaque at such an alarming rate. Well, all this has gotten my attention, just as the nutritional aspect has. So I’ve brought out some brand new water bottles from the basement and began using them on my rides. 

And tell you what, it’s tough to all of a sudden start drinking on rides, especially on my 2-3 hour rides. I know this will sound crazy, but in such short rides it just feels totally unnatural to be drinking or eating. Now with this humid weather where I’m loosing fluids like water dropping over a falls, I really have to force myself to drink on these short rides. Never even used to put a water bottle on my bike with 2-3 hour rides. 

Which brings me to today’s ride, with the nasty humidity I put a bottle on the bike. Warmed up with Judy for about an hour below my zone, then Judy had to go to Yoga so I did my “zone” ride by myself, working to mid to high zone for 50 steady-state minutes. And man, I was just dripping sweat off my forehead, having to use my hand like a windshield wiper every couple of minutes to keep sweat from seeping down into my eye sockets. So amidst this, I’d take a hit of water off my water bottle. And it just felt so hard to do, to remember, to act on it instinctively. I’d note my HR going up just 3-4bpm each time I reached for the bottle, one handed the bike, and took a hit of water. It actually took energy to do that. It took me off my rhythm on the bike to, which I think was another factor in raising the HR. Rhythm is super critical when going steady-state, and this steady-state mode is my bread and butter in cycling nowadays. It’s my tempo mode. It’s where I just get into a zone and get zoned out. Maybe that’s why I kind of evolved the whole camel thing over the years?

So I’d really try to take a hit of water, and it was tough! I’d forget for 10-15 minutes, then realize I had to drink. Then I’d drink, get off my rhythm, HR would go up, then I’d have to relax and get back into the zone. This is going to be a relearning process that’s for sure. Had a pretty good “zone” session, and was soaking wet when I got done, with the time of day being only 11 AM. Ended up doing about 3/4 of my water bottle - still not enough drinking though. Went home, mixed up a quart of electrolyte, drank that, then drank another quart of just plain water. Ate an orange and banana - which I’d never done in the past - and then had some regular food to finish off. 

Met my bud Steve the master bike mechanic down in Hudson at Panera’s for lunch about an hour later where I ate a “healthy” turkey panini. Hadn’t know it until Steve told me just after my surgery, but he’d had a triple bypass - and other vascular issues that required surgery. His paternal family history sounds a lot like mine - cardiovascular disease! So we had a lot of stories to tell each other during lunch. It was kind of like telling your “war stories,” to each other. And it’s kind of refreshing when the person you’re relating your war stories to has been there and done that. I mean just talking about the “heart pillow” that you get after open heart surgery. To us it’s hilarious now. I mean you use the heart pillow to caress while in the crouched position, between your chest and knees to brace your sternum when you cough or sneeze. 

And let me tell you, just after open heart surgery, a cough or sneeze is something that can put you through the roof with pain! It’s like taking a cannon ball to the chest. Anyway, we talked about all kinds of pre and post surgery subjects. Was great catching up with Steve. Think I’ll go easy and long tomorrow with Judy…and tomorrow will be my CHEAT day for nutrition!