Trigger warning: May be TMI for some. Look at the map and pictures instead.
Ooof … a bad day on the bike. Since Suzie was at the gym, I wanted to go on one of my favorite bike rides here, out to Chef du Baie and back again. By the time I got going it was 10:30, and the clouds that had brought rain and thunder during the night had cleared out. It was muggy, but with a good breeze.
The trip out was OK. It’s the harder direction because it’s uphill (well, what passes for uphill here). I stopped at the small beach but made the mistake of resting on a bench in the sun. I’d brought a bottle of water but had already drunk all of it, planning to refill it at a fountain in the park as I left. The fountain was not working, leaving me thirsty and with no choice but to hope I passed another one on my way back.
I knew immediately that something was wrong. I didn’t have any “oomph,” even though I was going downhill. Still, I pressed on. I went into a park were I thought there’d be a fountain, but there wasn’t. Nothing to do but keep going. The sun was higher now and I was getting hotter by the minute.
I was riding on the bike trail with no one around, going fairly slowly, when I lost concentration for a second. I drove off the the trail onto the grass to my right. Further to my right was a stone wall. Ahead of me was a bush. I had more than enough time to stop. I thought about turning back onto the trail, but it was raised an inch or so above the grass, and I was worried about catching my wheel on the edge and falling onto the (concrete) path. I hesitated a moment, then realized was approaching the bush. I still could have stopped but … well, I don’t know. Something glitched. The next thing I new I was falling to the pavement.
So I’m lying there, this 69 year-old guy, thinking, “What the fuck? What just happened?” I wasn’t badly hurt (skinned knee and elbow), just really angry. I pulled myself up and leaned myself and the bike against the wall, willing the breeze to cool me down.
After a couple of minutes, I turned to get back on the bike, when a wave of nausea hit me. Nausea that produced its usual result. Thankfully there weren’t any other people around to see this unpleasant spectacle.
But after that, I felt a ton better. I remounted and continued on. I felt stronger, and got home with no further problems.
Research uncovered several things.
Nausea and vomiting are a common result of physical exertion, even among elite, aerobically-fit athletes like me. (Even Iowa and WNBA star Kaitlin Clark isn’t immune!) Your body shunts blood from your digestive system to your muscles, leaving the stomach unhappy. I’d given myself an hour between eating and starting the ride, but 2-3 hours is better. Something I will do next time.
From the cancer or just advancing age, I’ve also become less tolerant of heat, even when I’m not exerting myself. Heat exhaustion can also cause nausea. And today was hot and humid, something I’m not used to living in Berkeley.
Future plan: Get up early, don’t eat anything, ride while it’s cool. Take an energy bar along if I start to bonk. Stop if I get too hot.
I feel like it, but I’m not a kid anymore.
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