summer has officially started

[marni]

I celebrated the summer solstice by doing a standard 40 mile ride this AM. Although I started out early and was off the road by 11;00 AM I still had to strip in the garage, wring out my clothes and socks and wrap everything in a beach towel, already soggy from me having dried myself off with it first, and carry it all into the house without dripping all over the floor. I still left white sweat rings all over the garage floor. Todays real temperature was 88-94 with a feels like temperature during the ride going from 94 to 102.

This does not bode well for summer riding.

[VeganBikeChick]

Man, marni, that's hot!!

I'm so glad summer is here but also a little sad. It's so nice to see the sun set around 930pm here and know it will get earlier and earlier from here on out.

[ny biker]

We did our annual Gettysburg meander yesterday, a 60-ish mile ride that includes a spin through a fair amount of the battle field. Much of the rest of the route is through shadeless farmland, and as usual it was hot and humid. I was wearing my Cool Wings and brought an extra water bottle so I could stop periodically to pour water on my arms to try to cool down.

I bought a Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad (cooling towel) a while back but hadn't had a chance to try it out yet.

http://www.froggtoggs.com/chilly-pad-8207.html

I tossed it in my bike bag before I left home yesterday, and when we finished the ride and returned to the park where we started I soaked it with the remaining (warm) water in my water bottle and put it around my neck. It did make me feel better. I had a long drive home, and stopped along the way to get some dinner, and the towel was still cold and damp when I got home. I had some heat rash on my legs so I put the towel on them while I drove to see if it would help.

I'm thinking about getting something similar that can be worn during a ride, around my neck or maybe on my head.