Sucks but it is what it is. I woke up with the sleeping bag only halfway on my torso, not feeling too cold but seems to have been enough to catch a fever.
For future trips, when going to Southern Europe during winter I will probably result to just credit card touring. A room can be found for 30-50€ so not too expensive. Also helps getting out early, since the early mornings are so hard when waking up in the tent with all the condensation and +5C weather.
Anyone else on the same page with me, or are you happy with camping during the winter?
You don’t get fevers from being cold.
^This.
For OP, right now, all I wish is that you feel better and recovery quickly and completely. No one needs a lecture when they're sick, so that's all I wish for you.
But for folks reading this thread, it's important to know how sickness is spread so you can make informed decisions about how to protect yourself. For respiratory viruses like the flu, colds, and COVID, they are primarily spread through inhaled aerosols. The best way to protect yourself is through tools like wearing a mask or cleaning the air (e.g., using air purifiers, staying in well-ventilated spaces, ensuring folks who are sick aren't breathing into the air, etc). A secondary, but less frequent, mode of infection is through 'fomites' (e.g., touching something dirty, then touching somewhere you can infect).
I'm not saying everyone has to wear a mask all the time or anything. But, it's important to know how you get sick (for respiratory infections, primarily through breathing in viruses; for food borne infections, primarily through fomites or contaminated food) so you can make informed decisions about what measures you want to take to protect your bikepacking trips!
If they are dumb enough to post their ignorance for all to see; they get a lecture.
OP is just demonstrating Cunningham's Law for us.
Came to say this.
Quick, fetch me yon leeches, for thine life can only be spared by ye olde bloodletting!
Bro still stuck in the 1800s before humans learned the germ theory of disease.
its a common connection though, "catching a cold" etc. probably being cold weakens your immunesystem abd you can get sick more easily
There is scientific evidence that this has a modest impact, though the scientific evidence seems to be that changes in our behaviour are much more significant in impact. When it's cold or hot outside, people congregate inside. When they go inside, air is more stagnant and it's easier to rebreathe each other's air, which increases the transmission of airborne respiratory viruses.
Yes, but this effect is fairly minor and really only applicable if your hear hypothermia levels of cold.
Something about your nostrils getting dryer thus making it easier for pathogens to enter through the nose. But don’t quote me on it.
Only applies in a dry climate. Winters in places like the UK and coastal Northern Europe are soggy and cold, worst combo.
https://preview.redd.it/r95p2izc8k9g1.jpeg?width=3648&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43d8da880d6af7d0bba5b542d1770ed7f422fea6
Slept way colder than you many times hiking and bikepacking. I get sick from my kids bringing shit home from school, not from being cold in my tent.
cold temperature doesn’t make you sick, i don’t really understand your point. you didn’t get sick from camping, you got sick from coming into contact with germs
Cold temps lower your immunity to said germs
Only very slightly
No, stress from cold might weaken your immune system, but short term cold exposure, like for a night isn't going to do much beyond give you sleep debt.
And you probably have a weak immune system in the first place if that sort of minimal stress allows you to regularly get sick.
If it's a one off thing, more than likely coincidence, people do get sick from time to time and usually try to find the source...most people can't accept sometimes it's just bad luck.
Wear a neck buff or a scarf to keep your thymus warm
Yes
Well fever was maybe a wrong word for it, but rather an upper respiratory infection, which is making cycling impossible since anything that requires a little more effort will hurt my lungs and make me cough.
I would like to be able to sleep that same night in a hotel and compare the outcome.
Sleeping in the cold also doesn't give you an upper respiratory tract infection.
Hygene and luck are the real culprit here.
Being cold / sleeping cold doesn’t make you catch a cold or get a fever.
WTF? Being cold and catching an infection / fever are unrelated.
Seriously are you from 1928?
Breaking news: winter is cold
One of the most "erm akshually 🤓☝️" comment sections i've seen in a while lol, sorry you got sick on your trip op
Everyone telling you about how cold doesn't cause illness is missing the more important factor. Impaired sleep increases your chances of falling ill more significantly than the temperature itself. A bad night sleep because of cold will absolutely make you more likely to fall ill. Hope you get better soon, rest well and sleep lots.
What does fall ill mean ?
Definition of 'fall ill/be taken ill'
If you fall ill or are taken ill, you suddenly become ill. Shortly before Christmas, he was mysteriously taken ill. She fell ill with measles.
Like falling pregnant. Oops it just happened, no idea how
Winter camping is bliss with the correct gear. My bag with slightly over 1kg of 650 down is toasty. Wish I had more time to go winter camping.
Cold doesn't cause a fever.
A fever is a germ you have picked up from other people. Often spread through coughs , not washing hands when making food or touching the same thing then you wiping your mouth or eyes
Cold air is healthy and rejuvenating.
We often sleep outdoors at -40c. We don't get flus.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) you don't get sick (generally) from being cold. At least not directly from the two.
The two were coincidences, likely influenced by your perception that cold stress makes you sick. I know when I was a kid my grandma used to tell me having wet hair in the winter before school I would get sick. Fortunately it's not true at all. My hair literally froze on walks and bike rides to school and I was fine.
The biggest argument one could make about getting sick from cold exposure is sleep deprivation and then resultant weaker immune system from the stress, but you still need exposure to some form of pathogen to get sick. If I cold exlosed you in a sterile bubble it's very unlikely you would get sick.
Also 5F isn't very cold. It's basically September overnights where I live and mostly bikepack. It doesn't get cold till -10C for me, and even then that is still autumn temps. Typically it's closer to - 20C over the winter when I'm ski touring/backpacking or mountaineering. Bikepacking typically ends at around -10C unless I had a fat bike.
Just to be sure - OP is the Earth a sphere shape or a flat disk?
The amount of "well, actually" folks here is astounding.
Sucks. Happened to me 3 trips ago in Spain. First night was forecasted to have a quick 30min shower at midnight, turned out to be a 10h crazy rain storm. I only had a tarp and a really unfortunate camp location because a sheep herder took my initial spot while I was scouting for a better one. Was sick for almost a week after that.
"Research from the Common Cold Research Centre at the University Cardiff in 2005 showed that 13 of the 90 volunteers who had their feet chilled with cold water for 20 minutes caught a cold in the following 4 or 5 days, compared with only 5 of the volunteers who didn’t have their feet chilled." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3LJG8Syt2V79D8cjZrPpL5l/can-you-catch-a-cold-from-getting-cold
This doesn't align with my preconceived notions. Downvote. /s
This is why you always check the weather anywhere you go and don’t take certain locations for granted, this is amateur shit.
You must be fun at parties