HEAT EXHAUSTION: What To Do……..

Even though it is late in the summer for this article, the information will still be useful, and I will hope that the hot weather is not over, just yet. There are a few common signs of heat exhaustion, upset stomach, which might include vomiting, headache, cramps, being irritable, and a darkening of your urine. Another term used with heat exhaustion is dehydration. The loss of fluids from your body. When you are riding, you loose moisture through sweating, and a natural evaporation through the pores of the skin. So without realizing your situation, you can easily become ill in very hot weather. So, how to combat this situation, first and foremost drink lots of water. And do so during the ride, not just at the stops. Water is still the best replacement fluid. Gatorade and sports drinks are fine for high activity, because they will replace other things the body has lost during those workouts, but riding the motorcycle isn’t as strenuous so its not necessarily as good as water would be. Drinks such as coffee and coke and alcohol are not good for you, especially in the hot weather. Most everyone has drink holders on the bike, make a point of constantly drinking as you ride. Next, cover your arms. Put on a long sleeve shirt. The sun and wind will pull the moisture away very quickly. The sun can feel extremely hot to the bare skin, not to mention all the don’ts, for too much sun on your skin. Make frequent stops, and when you do stop, find shade to park in. It would surprise you how much better the shade will feel on a 100 degree day. Try to find the gas stops with the overhead covering. Don’t be in a hurry to gas and go. If you are hot, it will take a little while to cool down, and you should take the time to do so. Go into an air conditioned facility and relax, and drink, and cool down. Don’t leave until you know you are feeling right again. I know that this can delay you, but your health has to have priority. A 10 hour day may become a 12 hour day, but you do what is necessary to stay healthy while riding. If you are not well, you can not make good riding decisions. Make the time to eat at proper intervals. This will also give you the ability to cool down while you eat. The worse part of the day for heat is between 3pm and 5pm. So make a few extra stops during this time. Take an early dinner, after, you will feel fine and the temp should have dropped a little and you will enjoy the next leg of your trip. ON our way back from Calgary, we had two 90 plus days and we had to go about 600 miles as well, but we made the effort to drink and stop and even took an early dinner to get us through, and it worked very well. And how about that steed of yours, they will suffer from dehydration also. During the hot weather, your battery will loose fluid, it should be checked, and you will loose gas through evaporation, and depending on you radiator cap and over flow cap you may loose anti-freeze too. Check these every couple of days on your trips. Also check the condition of your tires. Rotate, and look for things stuck in them and look at the condition of the rubber itself. The very hot road conditions can quickly deteriorate your tires. Healthy riding….

David and Kathy Bierman

Chapter Eduacators