SkiBam
Angel Diva
I had a weird experience recently. My daughters and I had planned to cycle the Petit Train du Nord (a wonderful, 200-km long trail from Mont Laurier, Quebec, to St. Jerome). First day out was Saturday, Sept. 15 which was brutally hot. We were shuttled up to the start in Mont Laurier and started cycling around noon - like, in the worst heat of the day.
Trail was easy and flat and we were not pushing it at all, but after about 10 km, I started feeling lousy. We were going by a lake and I recall thinking that if I could just immerse myself in the lake, all would be well. I stopped and was straddling my bike. Next think I remember is waking up, saying I'm fine (ha!) and my daughters saying, no, you passed out and you're lying in the middle of the trail. I have never fainted before in my life so was unbelieving.
Anyhow, daughters were alarmed enough (worried about heart attack or stroke) so called 911. Upshot was I got a bumpy ride in an ambulance to the local hospital where I spend the afternoon on a heart monitor, getting blood tests etc. After rehydration and more blood tests, they declared it was a heat-related issue and let me out that evening.
So there we were in Mont Laurier with our car 200 km away in St. Jerome. What to do? Long story short, we took a hotel for the night and next day took the shuttle (thank goodness it was so flexible) which dropped my daughters off at the place we should have started that day (about 50 km) and me at Tremblant, the planned stop for that night. By this time I felt fine but thought I should act my age and take it easy - plus I wanted my daughters to have a day without having to worry about old mom. I went out that afternoon and biked about 20 km and felt fine. Did the final two days of the ride with no problems at all - but I sure did make a point of drinking a lot!
This was crazy weather for the middle of September, especially as far north as we were. Last thing I was concerned about was being felled by the heat. I'll certainly be more aware and careful in the future.
Trail was easy and flat and we were not pushing it at all, but after about 10 km, I started feeling lousy. We were going by a lake and I recall thinking that if I could just immerse myself in the lake, all would be well. I stopped and was straddling my bike. Next think I remember is waking up, saying I'm fine (ha!) and my daughters saying, no, you passed out and you're lying in the middle of the trail. I have never fainted before in my life so was unbelieving.
Anyhow, daughters were alarmed enough (worried about heart attack or stroke) so called 911. Upshot was I got a bumpy ride in an ambulance to the local hospital where I spend the afternoon on a heart monitor, getting blood tests etc. After rehydration and more blood tests, they declared it was a heat-related issue and let me out that evening.
So there we were in Mont Laurier with our car 200 km away in St. Jerome. What to do? Long story short, we took a hotel for the night and next day took the shuttle (thank goodness it was so flexible) which dropped my daughters off at the place we should have started that day (about 50 km) and me at Tremblant, the planned stop for that night. By this time I felt fine but thought I should act my age and take it easy - plus I wanted my daughters to have a day without having to worry about old mom. I went out that afternoon and biked about 20 km and felt fine. Did the final two days of the ride with no problems at all - but I sure did make a point of drinking a lot!
This was crazy weather for the middle of September, especially as far north as we were. Last thing I was concerned about was being felled by the heat. I'll certainly be more aware and careful in the future.