I am trying to keep my fitness and I am questioning my method for dealing with this type of weather. I hydrate well but when the temp is this bad I have taken to riding short (1hr) but very hard rides near my max. Would I keep my form better doing long slow rides? I am concerned with the pollution as well as the heat as I have heard that it can damage my lungs. My thinking was that I would be better off with shorter rides but to get the training I want this means very hard workouts. What do you guys suggest? Thanks

moving? the pollution your describing cant be enjoyable to live around.

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How about riding indoors on a set of rollers/trainer?

The weather is like this maybe 14 days per year so as its not a long term problem but this year we have had several week long heat waves with bad pollution. I have rollers that I use sometimes but I hate to ride indoors. My question is will I have a greater health risk riding hard for a shorter time 1 hr or a slow, say 4 hr ride at an easy pace? Anyone ride in these type of conditions?

i think that to be at the greatest health risk would be going out for longer periods, just because its a longer time, have u ever thought of using a camelback or something as well as your bottles if your concerned about dehydration.

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The combination of Pollution, heat and humidity all combine to hinder performance and do harm.

Read The British Journal of Sports Medicine - Exercise and outdoor ambient air pollution

http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/35/4/214

I'm from New Orleans were we have the heat and humidity just about most of the year. We don't have the pollution as bad. You must be concerned about the amount of salt that your sweating out. So its wise to drink plenty of Gatoraide or some such drink that replaces the lost salt. And alot of it. On a century ride I will drink about a gallon or more during the ride and a quart before and after.

some additional reading on riding in pollution:

http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/daily-news/article.php?id=5889

Thanks for the info.
I also got a tip that riding in the early AM is much better for heat (duh) but also pollution with just before sundown the next best. Short, hard rides seem best as opposed to long easy rides.
On very bad days I will go back to rollers as I have found 3hrs in bad pollution makes me feel weak for day's.

We also have many days like that here in Atlanta and on the high polution days I sometimes find it hard to take a deep breath. For me the solution is to ride first thing in the morning or early evening or to go to the gym and hit the treadmill or the weights. Not as fun as the bike but sometimes a change can help with improvements on the bike.

Just wanted to add that high levels of heat and pollution will do irrepreable damage to lungs. There is good reason why endurance atheletes have a high percentage of asthma after 5-10 years of training. Actually most of the athletes in the Olympics who were diagnosed with asthma were either marathon runners or cyclists. Also, there is proof that the damage done on days such as those mentioned will never be repaired. Pay close attention to the pollution levels on hot days and try to ride early and away from traffic.

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