Like so many incidents, especially in the outdoors, my experience of heat exhaustion can be traced back to a number of factors, all small variables on their own, but when combined, tried their best to ruin my day!
On our family holiday a few years ago to the Italian Alps I was lucky enough to be heading away for a day’s mountain biking with a good friend who runs a mountain bike guiding company there. Â
Variable No.1 – added pressure due to the constraints of a family holiday and trying to fit in a day ride amongst several other activities.
Variable No.2 –  Unfortunately I suffered a stomach upset during the night before setting off and so wasn’t in the best condition in the morning, but persevered anyway. This meant that not only did I start the day weak and dehydrated. Eating and drinking became increasingly more difficult through the day and my body was not keen on being fuelled.
Variable No.3 – Although our plan was not too ambitious, it still involved cycling, pushing and carrying our bikes to 2815m altitude,
Variable No. 4 – It was a very very hot day and required some management. Eating and drinking enough are big parts of that management, neither of which I could do.  When we eventually reached Col Tsa Sétse, the rest of the group had a sandwich, while I managed half a banana!
There was not much I could do from this point except get down the other side to our eventual aim – lunch in the valley below.  Riding itself was OK as long as I kept things controlled, but mountain biking in that environment is a physical business and very tiring at the best of times, so rather than my condition improving as we lost height, I was feeling worse.  So much so in fact that by the time we reached the town below, I was struggling to stand up, the world was spinning and I felt and looked horrendous.
Self care with heat exhaustion
I knew myself what had happened, so drank a fizzy drink (very slowly!) to get my blood sugar level up as I still couldn’t eat, then sipped fizzy water and nibbled slices of tomato as everyone else had pizza and beer to celebrate a fantastic ride.  After what seemed like an eternity, I was driven home, and went to bed with 2 pints of re-hydrating electrolyte drinks and slept for the rest of the day.
I managed a bowl of granola later in the evening and concentrated on re-hydrating, and after an early night felt human again the next day, although still very weak.
So what have I learned?
Nothing that I didn’t know already I have to say, other than a timely reminder that sometimes you need to forgo your only opportunity to do a particular activity if the odds are stacked against you.  Thankfully I was only on a single day trip, and vaguely enjoyed the day, but it could have been a lot more serious had we been in a more remote situation.
Sometimes, the person you need to keep an eye on most is yourself!
Read more about heat exhaustion and other hot weather illness in this blog.
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