Wednesday, September 16, 2009

HydroCooling

Vincent Sikorski is helluva Rando.
Heck! he has a pretty cool first name, and his last name makes me think, Helicopters!
When we met at Maupin in Kramers XTR, we uttered only one word each, to each other; "Vince".
"Vince".
No wonder my selective memory holds unto a post on the ORRando Wire.

[ORRando] Fwd: Barlow Trail 300 Pre-Ride

Vincent Sikorski
Wed Jul 22 18:14:26 PDT 2009
Since I saw my name mentioned, I thought I'd comment on
the benefits of hydro-cooling. (Not to be confused with
cold beer instilled into the stomach). When it is HOT,
I do not pass up the opportunity for a cool soak. I find
a spot to lie down in the water with just my head
sticking up until I feel cold. You need to bring your
core temperature down, a quick splash is not enough.
Several years ago I did a loop Bend- Willamette Pass-
Aufderheide-McKenzie Pass -Sisters. Was 104 degrees
in the shade. Would not have survived without several
trips into the South Fork of the McKenzie River.

Vince
PS The above loop, Bend to Bend, would make a great
400K when McKenzie Pass opens up.

I believe that Vincent treats the matter here completely, the essential thing is to lower the core temperature, I use shivering as a sure sign that the bodycore temp is down.
A walk in to Lake Sharbot in Ontario Changed my Granite Anvil this was followed by a prophylactic dip in Lake Pateros, While Kole, Geoff and Ralph sat in the air-conditioned restaurant at the gas station. When I came out of the Lake I was too cold to go into the restaurant, next! Loup Loup.
More recently a climb of Whitepass in the Heat of the Day portrays my real addition to the subject matter. I knew my core temp was up as I was fluctuating noticeably from shaded to unshaded zones, I passed one but not the second opportunity to stop by a micro waterfall, whatever you call it, but cold water falling down and creating a little rivulet. Of course one of my many water bottles is already empty, these waterfalls tend to appear higher up in the pass, when you need it most. My bottles are different colors so I can remark it, I removed all water sensitive material from my wool jersey pockets, I collect water with the bottle and douse myself until wool jersey and pants are soaked and I am shivering. I get on the bike and its a totally different climb. I really thank Ryan who very kindly washed out my bottle at Rimrock.
It is also possible to really cool the core with ingested material, on a Brevet, I recommend a Slurpee not Beer.

Note: The Barlow Trail 300 Running Sept 26.


Thanks Vince for sharing.

2 comments:

CurioRando said...

Gotta testify.

My wife and "hydrocooled" though we didn't call it that on our recent trip in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. As we said in our post it was on of the chief lessons of that ride.

It works to cool down the core, and it feels soooooo good! Why wouldn't you?

Boxer Bikes said...

I, too, eyed those micro water falls with desire. You rode White Pass earlier in the day than I, however. No need to actually take the plunge in my case, just a longing _desire_.

Glad to ride with you (short as it was on Friday night!) Vincent.

Let's talk about your new bike soon.