![\"Lisa](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Alt-Lisa-on-Bike-Photo.jpg\")
<\/a>(Photo: Lisa Charlebois\/Velo)<\/p>\nI wanted another crack at the desert adventure, but I certainly didn\u2019t want to relive that heat horror, so I decided to try heat training. It\u2019s essentially repeated exposure to enough heat stress to force your body to adapt. For more scientific insight, I reached out to Brian Maiorano, Coach Liaison at CORE Body Temperature, to find out what\u2019s actually happening inside your body during the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you consistently cause the body stress by raising your heat strain index, it says, hey, I don\u2019t like this. This is causing me more work,\u201d Maiorano explained. \u201cYour body then adapts by creating more blood plasma. And that extra blood plasma is what allows you to start sweating earlier and start sweating more profusely.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that increased plasma volume that gives you a more effective sweat response, helping your body better manage the physiological stress of exercising in the heat. Sounds ideal. So how do you actually do it?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t own a bike trainer. I\u2019m the type of cyclist who would ride through a hurricane before I sit on a hamster wheel. (Spoiler alert: we did hit the tail end of a hurricane in the desert, but more on that later). So when it came to heat training, my only option was outside. My inspiration was that now-iconic social media video of Tom Pidcock heat training for Worlds<\/a>, so I basically recreated it. I wore a full wool winter kit, topped with a CORE Body Temperature Tyvek suit. Over that, I added a Rapha down jacket with the hood up, plus thick restaurant freezer gloves\u2014the kind you saw Jonas Vingegaard using at the fish factory. I added sweat shorts over the Tyvek suit to help block the wind, winter shoe covers, a wool cap, my puffy hood, and finally my helmet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It was giving Beastie Boys in the \u201cIntergalactic\u201d music video. I looked absolutely deranged. I was also hot, and that was the goal. I used this setup to bike outside three times a week for three weeks, and each session lasted one to two hours.<\/p>\n According to Maiorano, the strategy I had in mind was possible. \u201cYou can do it on a road bike,\u201d he says, but the focus needs to be getting \u201cyour layering more dialed in to prevent the wind evaporation.\u201d In other words, the challenge isn\u2019t necessarily creating enough heat; it\u2019s keeping your body from getting rid of it. On a road bike, the constant airflow helps sweat evaporate and cool you, which is exactly what you\u2019re trying to limit. Maiorano explains, \u201cTry a normal cycling kit, but then over top of that, a snug rain jacket and snug rain pants. And then thermal layers on top of the rain jacket. The reason you don\u2019t want the thermal layers underneath is because you\u2019re the one generating the sweat. If you get the thermal layers wet trapped inside the rain jacket, they\u2019ll get soaked and cool you off. So thermal layers on the outside.\u201d You\u2019ll notice, this was my first of many mistakes.<\/p>\n A CORE sensor will certainly do the trick but I started my training block without one. The sensor tracks a metric called a heat strain index, which combines your core temperature and your skin temperature. \u201cThe heat strain index goes from 0 to 10,\u201d Maiorano explains. \u201cFor heat training, that magic spot is 3 to 7. You just want to get in there and hold that for 45 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes if you\u2019re really looking for an intense session.\u201d<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have a sensor, Maiorano says he used to tell his athletes to \u201cgo cook yourself, but don\u2019t overcook yourself.\u201d The obvious problem: What exactly does that even mean? A sensor gives athletes a target, but over time it can also teach you what an appropriate heat session feels like. Maiorano compares it to riding with a power meter: eventually, you can probably guess your power within a few watts without looking down. Heat training can work the same way.<\/p>\n The honest answer? Not great. My husband Richard was following the same heat-training protocol as I was. In fact, he even had hotter weather to train in during an elusive San Francisco summer heat wave while I was travelling. But on day one of our three-day trip, 109 miles into a 160-mile day, he was puking in the bushes with temperatures hitting 109\u00b0F. Day two is where the wheels fell off for me.<\/p>\n I was riding in the remnants of Hurricane Rachel, battling a diabolical headwind through Death Valley that had me, Josh Ross, Mike Levy, and other friends doing everything we could to hold 10 mph in a full echelon across the road. After three hours of unrelenting wind, my speed had dropped to 8 mph and I was done. I sat under that well-known Death Valley scrubby bush and tried to regroup. After what felt like an eternity\u2014which was probably only 10 minutes\u2014I got back on my bike and was immediately dizzy, with zero power in my legs. Game over.<\/p>\n Sadly, I didn\u2019t even make it to the 3,000-foot climb out of the valley, which I had originally thought would be the true heat-training test. Instead, I got to test whether my iPhone satellite feature would work to get an SOS text to our friends running SAG. Desert: 1. Lisa: 0.<\/p>\n Was it the heat that actually did me in? According to Maiorano, on an ultra-endurance ride, it\u2019s not that simple. Heat, fatigue, and fueling can compound on each other. Overheating increases cardiovascular strain and can interfere with digestion and fueling, while inadequate fueling can further compromise performance.<\/p>\n \u201cOverheating and lack of fuel will reduce the body\u2019s ability to clear lactic acid,\u201d Maiorano explains. \u201cSo you can cross over that lactate threshold at a much lower heart rate or power than you normally would.\u201d In other words, between the headwinds, heat, fatigue, and fueling, who knows what put the nail in my coffin. Realistically, it was probably a combo platter of everything.<\/p>\n<\/a>(Photo: Lisa Charlebois\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(Photo: Lisa Charlebois\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(Photo: Lisa Charlebois\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>This was not a high point during the trip. My companions Mike Levy and Josh Ross were enjoying themselves though. (Photo: Mike Levy\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(Photo: Lisa Charlebois\/Velo)<\/p>\n