Have you ever had painfully hot feet when cycling? It happened to me, and some of my friends, when we were in the cycle leg of Ironman Austria. It was a hot day, over 30oC, and a long way through the bike course. Quite quickly the soles of both feet became incredibly painful, a hot almost stabbing pain. I carried on but was curious to know if this was a “thing”. It turns out it is!
The medical term for this is metatarsalgia, more commonly known as “hot foot”. This occurs when some of the nerves in your feet get compressed. This will usually be around the ball of your feet, under your cleats.
The main reason for this is that your feet swell, partly through the heat itself but also as blood pools there. Being on a long ride (with no breaks) and in hot weather will make it more likely this can occur.
If this happens on a ride then there are a few things you can do. The first is to loosen your shoes. If your shoes have Boa’s then you can probably do this whilst still cycling. You can also vary your pedalling by pulling up a little more to relieve pressure, using the descents to wiggle your foot around in the shoe. If neither of these help then you can stop, take your shoes off and walk around a little. A minute might be all that you need.
As always, prevention is best though. To mitigate the effects of the foot swelling, start the ride with the shoes a little looser and wear thinner socks. You might need to have a wider shoe; traditionally cycling shoes have been quite narrow, I think Italians must have dainty feet! You can also adjust your cleat position, it might be too far forward. Lastly, having better arch support in your shoes could also help.