Intermontane Challenge Stage #1

 Stage 1: “Bachelor Burner”

85 kilometers (53 miles) at 38 C (100.5 F) is a long hot mountain bike race!

Anyone that has exercised in the heat knows the fine line between “pushing it” and over heating on the side of the trail and curling up under a shade tree. 

Research has found that high body temperature affects brain function and the drive to exercise. The famous video, shown below, captures this situation – it is Gabrielle Andersen, staggering and swaying through the Olympic stadium in Los Angeles, typifying the human response observed in the research subjects at the point of exhaustion during exercise in the heat – paralysis on one side of the body, confusion, loss of co-ordination and balance.

This research has shown that humans tend to stop exercising at a body temperature of about 40 degrees celsius (104 F). What is  interesting is that this temperature was consistent regardless of pre-cooling, the rate of heat storage, and the degree of heat adaptation. In other words, it seemed that humans have this “off-switch” at 40 degrees C, irrespective of the external intervention. The only thing that changed was the time it took to get there – for example, a person who is well adapted to the heat is able to sweat more, lose more heat andtherefore takes much longer to reach this limit than someone who goes straight into a hot environment. But they still stop at around the same temperature, according to this lab research. Also keep in mind that heat stroke, which is a very serious medical condition, happens at a temperature of 42 degrees.

So if the outside temperature is over 100 F  like Stage 1, the human body has a very small temperture window  to operate within and the race becomes a battle between who can go the fastest while keeping the body temperture below the dangerous shut down threshold of 40 degrees.

Team Monavie-Cannondale seemed  to manage body temperature very well with Jeremiah Bishop Taking the win, Tinker Juarez coming in 2nd, and Ben Sonntag out sprinting  Canadian Chris Sheperd for 3rd.  Sue Butler also won the women’s event. The Team Manager Matt Ohran even  “kept his cool” and finished a solid 10th on the stage.

Stay tuned for future race updates where Team Monavie-Cannondale  will reveal some “secret” heat management techniques…