Can cyclist's catch a chill?

[beanzontoast]

Last evening after the commute home, made the mistake of staying in sweaty bike gear while fettling with the gears for an hour. During the evening, started sneezing a lot. By bathtime, it was one of those 'don't want to get out - keep topping up with hot water - ooh err... my skin feels prickly all over' type baths. Come bedtime and I'm shivvering to the point where brushing my teeth was an exercise in keeping the brush from knocking teeth out. 2 aspirin, long pyjamas, quilt with a dressing gown spread on top, Mrs B using the 'safe distancing manoeuvre' and valiantly trying not to catch whatever I'd got...

Was it my fault for not getting into warmer clothing as soon as I got home? Can cyclists really catch a chill that easily, or was it a bug that was already brewing in my system?

 

[ASC1951]

Mrs B using the 'safe distancing manoeuvre' and valiantly trying not to catch whatever I'd got...

She'll be fine. Sounds like Gender Specific Flu to me.

was it a bug that was already brewing in my system?

Yes.

 

[Blonde]

Your immunity is slightly lower than usual immediately after exercise, and if you get cold enough that your core temperature decreases, then you are more susceptible to catching a virus, so, yes, kind of. However, as the above poster said, either you'd already got it and it was just incubating, or it was living in your house, garage or in/on someone/something you'd been in contact with in the previous 4 hours or so.

 

[yello]

You know, I really don't know what is meant by 'catching a chill'.

I can get my head around the immune system being lowered due to exercise, and being susceptible to a virus etc, but I have no idea what catching a chill is. I'm not doubting it btw, as I too have been laid low after being run down. I just assumed it's a kind of generic name for picking up some kind of germ that's floating around. And, more to the point, a germ that's always around but usually your immune system defends you from.

 

[beanzontoast]

You know, I really don't know what is meant by 'catching a chill'.

I can get my head around the immune system being lowered due to exercise, and being susceptible to a virus etc, but I have no idea what catching a chill is. I'm not doubting it btw, as I too have been laid low after being run down. I just assumed it's a kind of generic name for picking up some kind of germ that's floating around. And, more to the point, a germ that's always around but usually your immune system defends you from.

In my case, a 'chill' comes on really quickly and very rarely. Rather than a cold that can take days to get going (and I don't get more than a cold a year), a chill hits me in a couple of hours. After evening meal I was fine, by bedtime I fely lousy and was unable to stop shivering! This is why I wondered how much effect the rapid cooling after exercise had had.

Today, apart from feeling like I've run a marathon and head a bit woozy, feel a lot better.