Riders to use handlebar air conditioner in Doha world championships

//Riders to use handlebar air conditioner in Doha world championships

Riders to use handlebar air conditioner in Doha world championships

Fan for Doha

Temperatures for the World Road Championships in Doha, Qatar may well be over 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 celsius).

Already the governing body of the sport, the UCI, is taking precautions. If the temperatures are deemed to deadly, the men’s road race may be shorted to just 150 kilometers. They’re preparing ice for every team and 10,000 water bottles in total. They’ve even put together a nice little booklet called Beat the Heat.

However, some rider are already making their own plans to combat the searing heat and blistering sun. Twisted Spoke has learned that some riders are bringing their own battery powered fans to mount on their handlebars.

In fact, they’ve gone on Amazon and purchased the USB rechargeable fan with clip-on mounting. While the Portable mini-,am is meant to clip onto a baby stroller to keep a baby from over-heating, riders plan to clip the personal fan to their handlebars.

Air conditioner

Air conditioner

The fan rotates and title up and down do riders can get a cooling breeze as they race at high speed across the desert in the 104 degree weather. AT high speed the fan will run for two hours (more than enough time to complete the World’s Time Trial) and at the lower speed will run for 4 to 6 hours (a range that should helped a rider survive the Elite Men’s Road Race.)

The fan also comes with a USB cable for power and re-charging — with the addition of a USB solar panel, the fan should run at high speed for the entire road race, giving a rider a relaxing flow of air.

However, a simple fan may not really solve the issue of intense heat. So other riders have opted for the WoneNice Portable Mini-Air conditioner. The Small fan cools air up to 30F and runs on 4xAA batteries or USB power.

While the UCI’s Beat the Heat booklet contained some useful advice, a handlebar air conditioner would seem to be far more useful. So far the governing body of the sport has yet to rule on the legality of the portable air conditioner as a performance enhancing device.

 

By |2019-02-03T15:45:02-08:00October 3rd, 2016|Uncategorized|1 Comment

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  1. […] some riders will be using special handlebar-mounted fans and air conditioners to try and beat the blistering 40 Celsius, 103 Fahrenheit temperatures, the UCI will also provide […]

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