BCMCA Cedar RR - 3rd the hard way in blistering heat

It was a hot day... no it was a very hot day... hmm. Make that a VERY HOT day.

George McLaughlin and I did a park-n-ride. Race was at 12:00 so easy ride over to Cedar.

But it was hot (did I mention that it was hot already?) By noon over 30C.

Waiting for the race to start I finished off a 590ml sports drink to get pre-hyrdrated.

We started at a reasonable pace, about 38kmh. And caught most of the 60+ group (except Dave Mercer) in the second (of three 20km laps). We had whittled down our 9(10?) starters to 6 by then, and picked one additional person from the 60's.

I tried in the first two laps to get the pace up by getting off the front. But couldn't maintain a decent pace through the rollers. And no-one seemed to want to try and go with me.

Tried to stay hydrated, finishing off my second bottle on schedule halfway through the bell lap. But at that point started to feel the dreaded twinging in the calf. That continued and got worse.

Followed Bill and Chris in for the sprint but by then the twinging was more like a cramp. And when they started the sprint with 200m to go I pushed hard and it was like my legs turned into concrete...

I'm not sure if this is a heat or hydration problem. But this is the third or fourth time it has happened. All on medium to hard races in hot weather (Dove Creek last year, Metchosin a couple of years back.) Another data point from this year though. After only a short (15-20 minute) rest I had to dash to get back to the ferry. Had a bit to drink (one can of coke) and a couple of cookies. And then pushed hard to get to the ferry. And didn't have any cramping or twinges... Rode back in 30 minutes.

So I don't think it is effort, i.e. doing too much work. And it could be getting dehydrated. But I'm suspecting that it may just be getting over heated.

Looking at the power files later, average temp for the race was 35C.