(Here’s one way I recommend fighting heat stroke, just kidding… Get the real scoop! photo from Motoblog.it)
Today in Austin we are scheduled to hit 92 degrees… Ten degrees shy of what I expect us to hit this summer and heat stroke is a serious possibility for unprepared riders. So, what do you do if the temp hits 99 degrees? Dress sparsely like the young lady in the photo? No. Even if it looked “cute” on you, your still setting yourself up for trouble. Check out THIS advice from SoundRider.com:
People from cooler climates often react to hot weather by removing clothing. That helps cool the skin–providing air temperature is less than body temperature. Heat transfers from a hot object to a cold object. Pick up an ice cube, and it feels cold. What’s happening is that the ice is rapidly absorbing heat from your skin. Even if the air is 89F, the air will absorb heat from your skin (assuming your body is around 99F). Now, consider what happens when you curl your fingers around a hot cup of coffee. Your skin rapidly absorbs heat from the cup, because the cup is hotter than your hand. The same thing occurs when the air temperature is hotter than your body temperature.You may think your body is hot at 99 F, but it’s “cold” compared to air at 118 F. If you expose your skin to air that’s hotter than you are, your body just soaks up more heat.
The lesson here is that if air temperature is in the 80s or 90s, it helps to open up the jacket vents, or wear a mesh jacket. But once air temperature climbs above 99 F, the best way to keep from getting cooked is to keep your insulation on, and the vents closed. Desert nomads wear long, loose wool garments, both to keep the sweating skin in the shade, and to insulate the body from the hot air.
That’s right, contrarily to what you might believe, instead of dressing down you need to stay geared up! It insulates your body from the heat. What I suggest is that you click on the title link and read the whole story. It could save your life or the life of someone you know.
18. June 2007 at 5:55 pm
It looks like she has neither undies or shoes. What is going to happen in a wreck or a breakdown? I don’t necessarily believe in the whole armor up to to across the neighborhood thing but dang, doesn’t he care about her any more than that?
18. June 2007 at 6:10 pm
Article:
Extreme Roadrash: Cause, Effect, and Lesson Learned
18. June 2007 at 7:48 pm
Well, the question of how to cool is a bit debatable, as we continuously generate about 100w of heat with our metabolism. If we insulate ourselves, we’re trapping that heat in (which is good in cold weather), but in warm weather we need to let that heat go – and how do we do it if the temperature is above our own body temperature? By evaporative cooling – we sweat! Click here for an explanation. In my opinion, to let some skin showing in hot weather is better, along with drinking a lot of fluids to replenish the losses.