Avoiding Dehydration When Riding

Nov 17th, 2008 | By admin | Category: Featured Articles, Riding Safely

It’s surprising to some that motorcycling is a very mentally demanding and physical activity. Guiding a heavy bike through traffic filled with twisting turns requires a good amount of muscle strength. When riding, you are in the natural environment and exposed to all the elements. Of course riding in the sun on a beautiful day is the ideal environment, there often will be times you will need to fight the elements of wind, rain and even snow. Keeping your bike, and yourself, held up and riding against a 50 mph wind takes a tremendous amount of strength. Your mental awareness must always be up to par as well.

The biggest physical threats to motorcyclists are dehydration and heat stroke. Even hypothermia can happen in many situations and climates. It’s surprising to some that you can become dehydrated in any kind of weather. It does not need to be a warm or hot climate for dehydration to occur. You need to plan ahead and keep your body hydrated, especially before a big road trip. If you are riding in heated conditions, try to drink about a quart of water for every hour of riding.

Keep your skin covered and protected when riding as well. Although this is mainly for skin protection, it will also help protect you to protect against losing moisture to the wind and sunburn.

If you ever feel faint, nauseas or have blurred vision, pull over and rehydrate your body as soon as possible to avoid heat exhaustion and possible heat stroke. If you feel you or a friend might have waited to long to rehydrate, try to get to a cool shower or pool for immediate relief. If you feel it is going into the heat stroke phase, get to a medical facility as soon as possible for medical attention.

Dehydration and possible heat stroke can be avoided completely by keeping your body well hydrated and wearing the proper attire, geared for your trip.