Hello.
A happy ride together with good weather. This is the weather uncle.
It is far too hot these days.
Until mid-July I rode the bike
only indoors, and now even that is too hot,
so I am taking a short break from cycling.
Because it is so hot, memories of heat exhaustion come back one by one.
The most recent memory is.
Last year, in the middle of a windless day that hit 38 degrees,
I was lure fishing at Cheongdocheon
and got heatstroke.
One wrong step and I could have died?
Heatstroke comes in with a whoosh (severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, lethargy)
and if I had collapsed on a deserted road it would have been a straight trip to the afterlife.
I barely managed to drive back to my Airbnb, parked,
and as I tried to go up to the flat my legs would not lift; just before collapsing
my son happened to come outside and got me safely to the room,
where I vomited enormously and, in a lethargy that felt like dying,
was carried to the emergency room and survived...
The second was 15 years ago.
On a bike, because of the wind that rises while riding,
you seem to be exposed to the heat without realizing your body is being damaged.
Back when I rode the Baekdudaegan route, starting from Wonju
and riding through Jecheon and Andong to Cheongsong in midsummer,
the Andong-to-Cheongsong stretch was enormously hot.
It must have been around 35 degrees...
Setting off from Yeongju in the morning, past Andong to Cheongsong,
riding along the public roads,
that evening at the lodging I vomited enormously and got a real fright.
It ended there, but looking back I think that was mild heat exhaustion too.
I rode fine the next day without much trouble and made it back. Thankfully.
The third was about 12 years ago?
I was on an expedition ride in Taiwan.
In that heat, from Kaohsiung to the southern tip of the country,
I rode 130 kilometers solo in around 38 degrees.
And the next day I rode about 120km to Tainan,
and in Tainan I started feeling queasy?
I simply took a hotel and rested for two days, which I think was a good choice.
I did not realize it then, but I think I had heat exhaustion.
After resting two days in a room with the air conditioning blasting I recovered
and, at higher altitude where it was comparatively less hot,
I went over Alishan and Wuling Pass.
I think I got through it because I was young then.
But then...
The heat in Busan right now seems worse than back then.
Yesterday it hit nearly 40 degrees.
41 degrees on the car thermometer.
When I went out to exercise in the afternoon, hot wind blew.
I think I need to rest a bit longer.
Anyway,
riders.
Riding in the heat, beware of heatstroke.
If while riding you get excessively thirsty, keep yawning
and break out in a cold sweat, stop riding immediately.
Move to shade or somewhere with air conditioning,
cool your body and replenish fluids and electrolytes.
Your temperature regulation may already be starting to fail.
If you feel nausea, or if abdominal pain and diarrhea come with it, heat exhaustion may be progressing.
If you keep pushing it can lead to lethargy, reduced consciousness and heatstroke, so never try to tough it out.
In my experience nausea led to abdominal pain and lethargy came within 15 minutes.
Beware of heatstroke and
have a safe ride and a happy ride.
