Hot stuff: how to cope with the hot weather on the bike

When the weather's hot, you need to find ways to keep cool on the bike because cycling is a seriously body-heat-boosting business. Whether that's through hydration properly, buying the best hot-weather kit you can find or any other method, heat-coping strategies will make riding this summer a much more pleasant experience. Here are a few things that'll help to keep you on the go when the temperature is on the rise.

Science in Sport Go Electrolyte powder

Riding in the heat is a sweaty business. Really sweaty. Everybody knows that hydration is extremely important on hot days (whether you’re exercising or not, to be honest) but just drinking water ignores the fact that sweating takes more than just water from the body.

That’s why Science in Sport developed their fantastic Go Electrolyte powder. One serving in your bottle provides the electrolytes your body needs to replenish what’s being lost through sweat, as well as carbs to keep you fuelled on a ride.

If you’re after something that doesn’t have the carbohydrate element, then the Go Hydro tablets dissolve in a bottle of water and just give your body those electrolytes without the energy – ideal if you’re someone who likes solid food rather than just liquid nutrition on the bike.

Thule Rail and Vital hydration packs and Rail hip packs

The other choice if you’re not a water bottle/bottle cagey sort of person is to carry water more directly on your person with a hydration pack or hip pack. The great thing about this option is that you can carry a hell of a lot more water than in two bottles. The largest Rail or Vital backpack has a 2.5L bladder, which is a litre more than you’ll get with two 750ml bottles, and 1.5L more than two standard 500ml bottles. Even more impressively, the Rail 4L hip pack still manages to squeeze a 1.5L bladder into a significantly smaller overall package.

Plus, it’s not an either/or scenario. You can always pair your pack with one or two bottles to have a genuinely all-day supply of water with you along with as many snacks as you can stuff into the rest of the bag. Oh, and tools and spares and stuff, if you’re into that sort of thing…

Elite Deboyo

Yep, it’s a flask. Everyone knows that flasks keep hot things hot, but they’re equally adept at keeping cool things cool, and anyone who’s taken a swig of horrible warm water on a hot ride knows that it’s not very nice at all. That’s why keeping your water chilled in a bottle like this is a great shout, you can even refill it up at the café stop with cold tap water and it’ll keep that chill, too, so it wont be a ride where you feel like you’re drinking out of the hot tap all the time. Yuk.