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Heat exhaustion or whatever

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.
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
One can dehydrate very quickly in heat and dryness. Besides hydration, how was the air quality? I've been stuck inside most of the summer due to smoke from forest fires here in Colorado and California. The warnings are generally include people with lung disease, in my case, asthma. I've felt bad on high pollution days even when working out in the gym.
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That’s scary! Glad you are OK. The heat does crazy things to your system. I can say I have been faint in really really hot weather. Water doesn’t always do it for me. V-8 actually has been a lifesaver more than once.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
How frightening! Glad you're okay. A good reminder, though, to stay hydrated, especially on hot days.
 

mustski

Angel Diva
As a perennial fainter, I feel for you. It is scary how quickly it comes on. Hopefully, this is your one and only experience!
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
It was very humid, not dry. Air quality was fine. I don't have asthma or any lung disease and have never fainted before. Which I guess is why I was refusing to admit I had actually done so.

Thank goodness for my amazing daughters. One was very quick off the mark. She saw me wobbling (while still straddling the bike) and managed to reach me fast enough to catch me and prevent the bike from landing on me. This could have been way worse, that's for sure. I like the V-8 idea!

I'd never ridden in an ambulance before so that was interesting. The ambulance guys were just wonderful, but I was glad the ride wasn't longer as it was bumpy and quite sick-making. Nor have I ever arrived in Emergency by ambulance before - and wow, do you ever get fast treatment if there's any suspicion at all it could be heart related!

Other than that, our trip was great. Excellent accommodations and some first-class restaurants - not to mention lakes to swim in - made for a most pleasant experience. I'm just bummed I didn't do the whole thing so am already thinking about next year. It's not difficult cycling - an old rail line so hills (though there are some) are minimal.
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Glad you're ok and your daughters were there to help!
Yeah, the combo of fluid and electrolyte loss can knock you for a loop; you're basically going into hypovolemic shock. And of course, everyone's threshold is different; anecdotally I know my tolerance for heat varies with my hormonal cycle, which is another complication; ugh!
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
This past summer has been so hot. Even on the water, paddling its been exhausting.

SkiBam, there is product that runner's use called NUM. It's electrolytes, but no sugar. It comes in tablets with different flavours. I use either orange or lemon-lime, in a 1L bottle of water for paddle practice. It's supposed to 1 tablet/500ml. So better for you than Gatorade or which ever brand. I pick it up at MEC when I'm there, but our local running shop has it to.
 

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