Color also plays a big part in how cool you remain in the heat. \u00a0Stow the dark color fabrics and switch to light colors. \u00a0Beware though: white jerseys (and shorts in particular) can show everything when they are dampened by sweat and water. \u00a0An easy compromise is often a lighter weight pair of (black) bibs and a light\/white jersey\u00a0since the upper body will get most of the sun anyway.<\/p>\n
![\"Cool](\"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/landiswater-200x300.jpg\" "\\"Cool")
<\/p>\n
Keeping Cool From the Outside<\/h2>\n
Even though you've dressed as lightly as you possibly can, often you will still find yourself sweating heavily. \u00a0In those cases, it may be beneficial to consider alternative methods of keeping cool, most of which involve cooling the outside of the body. \u00a0Remember Floyd Landis in the ill-fated stage to Morzine<\/a>? \u00a0There was a claim back in '06 that he took 70 bottles from the team car to keep cool by drinking and (mostly) dumping them over his head. \u00a0This applies to everyone out on the road (although most of us don't have team cars to follow us.) A quick squirt from a water bottle into the helmet vents provides a refreshing blast of cool that trickles down through the helmet and onto the jersey.<\/p>\n Dumping water on yourself provides cooling in two ways: conductive cooling (cold water in contact with warm skin) and evaporative cooling (as it evaporates it takes heat with it.) \u00a0This is more effective when the bottle has ice in it, obviously. \u00a0Just beware that you choose your WATER bottle, not your energy drink bottle, otherwise, you'll be the star attraction for every yellow jacket in the tri county area. Since you need more fluids in hot weather, you can kill two birds with one stone: carry an extra water bottle and keep yourself cool at the same time. \u00a0All you have to do is carry a spare water bottle.<\/p>\n Fill that third water bottle half full of water and put it into the freezer overnight. \u00a0The morning of your ride, top it up with cold water and stick it in your jersey pocket or down the back of your jersey like a pro domestique. \u00a0As you ride, the ice will thaw, the bottle will sweat off (cool) condensation and it will help to keep you cool.<\/p>\n Along the same lines, if you're in a charity ride or any other circumstance in which you have access to ice cubes, don't be bashful about keeping cool by putting them down the back of your jersey to let them melt. \u00a0Keep sticking them in your bottles as well, and you'll have plenty of cool liquid throughout the event.<\/p>\n One of the best methods of cooling your body during hot weather is to cool it from the inside. \u00a0Since conductive cooling applies on the inside as well as the outside, this method is doubly useful since you need to take in fluids anyway. \u00a0Consider freezing half full bottles of water overnight, then top them up in the morning with cold water to have ice cold liquid during your ride. Energy drink can be a little more problematic, but there are options. \u00a0Powders dissolve best in warm water, so mix a regular scoop of energy drink mix with about 20% of a bottle's worth of warm water to make an energy drink concentrate. \u00a0Make sure the powder is dissolved, then stick it in the fridge overnight. \u00a0In the morning, fill the bottle with ice and top up with cold water to have ice cold energy drink for your ride. \u00a0I've personally found that [easyazon_link identifier=”B009VK061S” locale=”US” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Scratch Labs mix[\/easyazon_link] works well for this kind of application because it dissolves very well, even in cooler water.<\/p>\n If you're using ice cubes, you may notice that it thaws fairly quickly. \u00a0Combat this by using insulated bottles like the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00EPGLIOM” locale=”US” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Camelbak Podium Chill[\/easyazon_link] and using large ice chunks instead of small cubes. \u00a0To get big “chunks” of ice, try this: get a small 8 oz can of Coke from the local grocery or convenience store and cut to top off the can (drink the Coke first or pour it out.) \u00a0Fill it with water and freeze it, and you have a single large, water bottle shaped ice cube that won't melt as quickly as small cubes from the freezer.<\/p>\n![\"Pocket](\"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/bottleback-300x199.png\" "\\"Pocket")
<\/a>Keeping Cool From the Inside<\/h2>\n
![\"Podium](\"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/podumchill-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Podium")
<\/a>Alternatively, you can often use small paper or plastic cups, as long as the diameter is smaller than the mouth of your water bottle. \u00a0These large chunks will thaw more slowly than small cubes because of the decreased surface area, and your bottles will stay cooler longer. \u00a0Colder bottles means a cooler rider, which means better performance.<\/p>\n