What a Way to Start the Week
This morning’s commute (I’m so glad I wasn’t sitting in a traffic jam). The weather is absolutely gorgeous today, but the intensity of the early morning sun is an indication that summer is right around the corner. We’ll be experiencing triple digits here before too long.
12 Responses to “What a Way to Start the Week”
Glad to hear summer hasn’t made it there yet. It’s been here in Austin for a couple of weeks now. It is suffocatingly HOT! Temps are not yet in the 100s, but the heat index is! :(
@bongobike
What strategies do you employ to deal with the heat down there?
I vote for triple chainrings NOT triple digits! :)
Alan,
Strategies? Mine is staying in the air conditioned spaces! Seriously, I think in Austin (well, Texas in general) you have no choice but to change clothes after commuting to work. Going back home, who cares, but there is no way you’re going to arrive presentable if you ride in street clothes. So cycling shorts and the coolest mesh jersey you can find are the order of the day. Also, start your day with a pre-ride shower that is as cold as you can tolerate, shave and apply lots of alcohol-based after shave all over, and use lots of talcum powder. My wife just bought a bottle of Gold Bond medicated powder that contains menthol. Talk about COOLING; your privates go “woohoo!” :) I can’t think of anything else, really.
I forgot to mention starting your ride earlier than usual and going much slower, something that has been proposed here before. That may work, but I have two problems with that: 1) It’s hard enough for me to get up at my usual time, 2) when it’s 80°+ and humid at 5:30 a.m., I still sweat A LOT.
Here in Seattle we’re mired in the typical “June Gloom.” My ride to get breakfast was dampened by a downpour, and the bank on the way over displayed a nice healthy 53f temperature. Summer around here won’t begin in earnest for at least a month, but, boy, Seattle summers are literally the best I have ever experienced. Perfection! Dry as a bone and 75 every day.
Slogging through the mud of spring I’ve been fantasizing about my tour in the San Juans last July — sleeping under the sky every night, drinking a beer with my dad in short sleeves watching the sun set over San Juan Island at 9:45pm. God, I can’t wait for summer!
I love it. I like getting up earlier and taking my time.
@bongobike
“Strategies? Mine is staying in the air conditioned spaces! “
LOL. That’s me in August around here.
I can’t quite imagine the temps you have to deal with. Thanks of the tips from a real expert.
Regards,
Alan
This week has been nice so far (mid 70′s) here in Adams County PA, but last week… Thats a different story. We had a week long warm spell, high 80′s and low 90′s all week. Not bad to some on here (can’t imaging those temps and humidity bongobike,) its just my body did not have the time to acclimate to the heat for the season yet. The stray storm is what killed the mood of the commute though, not the heat. I have only seen three other hail storms in my entire life growing up here, until last week, we had 4, with golf ball sized hail and lighting that hits so close it makes your hair stand up. Not fun trying to find safe shelter when riding through open farm land with only the lone tree (not the best idea to hunker under one of these, as half are now split form the insane high winds we have been having or lightning strikes.)
To deal with the heat, I just took the ride into work nice and slow, and leaving as early as possible. I was making myself think of it as August training, lol. This week has been a refresher, so I have been soaking it in, taking the long way, riding slow and enjoying the calm before the storm, in a way. Normal commute is 5ish miles. Yesterdays was 10 in, and 15 out at a nice conversation pace, so as to enjoy the surroundings of my great town, and chat with some fellows along the way, maybe a cup of coffee on the porch of some friends to top it off.
@bongobike. That gold bonds is amazing isn’t it. I normally dust my legs and “other areas” with it between laps during enduro races, just to cool things down a bit.
@Alan. When does it normally start getting hot out there, and are the temps you are having in the normal range for this time of year. It seems a lot of areas are either above or below, in my case both within a matter of days. From dreaming about air conditioning one day, to a sweatshirt or flannel in the morning the next.
But as I have said before, thats why I love this area of the country. Best of both worlds, with 4 distinct seasons. I could not imagine one summer and winter like some areas get, or no winter at all. Something about waking up to snow thats just gets me all fuzzy iside
@joe
We’ve had an unusually mild late spring. We’d normally be having some heat by now, but we’re looking at low to mid 80s this week. It’s supposed to heat up this weekend into the 90s. I have a feeling the heat is going to turn on like a switch very soon.
Alan
I forgot to mention this one other thing I do, especially on the return trip home. I have one of those water bottle cages that holds regular 1-liter and 1.5-liter PET water bottles. I fill up a 1.5 with tap water and freeze it. As I ride home, it slowly melts and I enjoy wonderfully cold water. The entire contents are gone by the time I get home after 12.5 miles of riding. :)
@bongobike
Oooh, I like that tip. Thanks!