That's fair;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
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That's fair;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
Running Mommy and Happy Texas Mom, thank you, for saying what I have been thinking.
First, yes, the desert IS dangerous. The story you told is so sad and could have been avoided... I used to walk at 4:30-5 AM and even then, it was not fun. No wonder I was a gym rat. And no wonder I crave being outdoors now, even after 19 years of being away from AZ.
Happy Texas Mom, you hit the nail on the head for me. I had a wonderful life in Tempe, but the day my two little boys went out and were playing in the foundation plants outside my house and said, "We're in the woods," I knew I had to leave. No one *can* imagine what 115 feels like. When I try to describe it by saying, "Open up your oven door and stick your head inside," they just give me a look. I don't know how the valley grew into such a popular area, either. And now, it's ruined. When my parents moved there in 1971, it was hot, but nice. Still truly western. I know I sound like an old person, but the Valley I knew is gone. My house, at Elliot and McClintock was surrounded by cornfields and sheep farms.
I give you credit for trying to ride now. If I was still in AZ, I am pretty sure my riding season would be October to March, no different than how I ride now from March through October, or the beginning of November, in a colder climate. I always used to say that the school year should be reversed in AZ. During the nice weather, normal people who work, can never get outside, because they are at work... even as a teacher, it would be dark pretty soon after I got home in the winter. I distinctly remember my kids playing outside in the backyard, before dinner, with the patio lights on.
So sad...
Fish Lady, you aren't missing any good weather in Maine this year! May was okay, but June and July have been unusually cold and rainy...DH and I both did the TAM and it was the wettest 180 miles I ever rode! Sunday the 19th was the nicest day yet this summer and it didn't even make 80 degrees. We are longing for just a tiny taste of the Southern heat!;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish_Lady
I'm in South Texas and we've had a string of about thirty 100 degree-plus days. I was ill in March, and the wind was so strong through April that I basically quit riding. I ride mainly for errands and since moving out to the country, the closest grocer is 15 miles or more.
My solution? An electric assist for my Big Dummy! I sold my car, bought an eZee Electric Hub Motor Kit w/ Lithium Battery and hit the road. Did my 20-mile shopping trip today, came back with my bags loaded and survived. I still got a heck of a work out, and 98 degrees (in the shade) when I returned is still sapping whether there's help on the hills and in the wind or not.
I have goats to milk in the mornings now, but right after that's done, I can hit the road. I plan on at least two trips into town each week and riding my Bianchi Volpe for fun when the weather cools down.
It's here too, the dry, desert heat. I have learned that if I can't ride in the morning, late evening, 8:00 or so, is a nice time to ride. Riding in the morning is a challenge for me -- I hate morning! -- but I'm working on it.
Time to change -- I need a ride! (missed two days in a row, and I don't do that happily anymore!)
Karen in Boise
just checkin in with the extreme heat discussion.
last week riding in to work (at 2 in the afternoon) it was what i call "scary hot." i think it may have been 114. when you can't get enough O2 its so dry and hot. you get chills. the air burns on your legs. it is truly like sticking your head in an oven.
but i for one just love it.
my commute is 6 miles, only about 25 minutes.
i call them my "tanning rides."
my coworkers call them my "melanoma rides."
then you wait next to a car at a stop light and feel the heat from their engine compounded by their a/c running at full bore. whoa.
i think we're just paying for such a mild winter - and even june.
But ask yourself, if you would be saying the same thing 10 years from now, meaning loving such high extreme dry heat and sun.Quote:
Originally Posted by PinkBike
I hear ya! I've cut my rides short for now--nothing over 30 miles. I learned that in high humidity things can turn ugly fast! Last season I was on a long ride and felt my speeds decreasing, my heartrate climbing, temps in the mid 90's and then had a tire blow. :eek: I knew I needed to get off the road fast and into the air conditioning and got a ride back to the car. Sometimes having plenty of fluids just isn't enough. Mother nature can be so brutal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
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Originally Posted by Pinkbike
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Originally Posted by shootingstar
Not Pink, but...
Twelve springs ago, we were transplanted from Minnesota to Idaho. Northern tier still, and you wouldn't think the climate would be so different. We do have seasons, snow in winter, heat in summer -- plenty of it! The primary difference -- it's much hotter and drier in summer, and winter is more mild. When we got here, I found I liked the extreme, dry heat, and all the sunshine.
A dozen summers later, yup, I can still say I love it. You learn how to live in it -- and quite honestly, I find it lots easier than the "not the heat it's the humidity" back in Minnesota! That stuff is just NASty!
Karen in Boise
I'm sorry, 115 is 115. Or 100 is 100 for that matter. No temperatures that any human being should be outside in, let alone exerting themselves in. Humidity is irrelevant. I don't like humidity, either, but, I prefer a more moderate temperature, short bouts of high humidity, a couple of heat waves, and change.
Mostly, I don't have to plan my riding around the temperature, only the chance of rain.
In the winter, I just put my wool on and get outside to snow shoe or x country ski! Again, we don't have the extreme humidity for 3 months, below zero temps for months, or many days above 90 degrees. No tornadoes, either. Yes, the weather here is changeable and weird at times, but that's what I like. It grates on my nerves to hear people complaining about the weather, as most New Englanders seem to do.
Hey, it's just my opinion, but then, I was one who got SAD from endless days of eternal sunshine and unbearable high temperatures.
I definitely notice a difference in our lower humidity days and higher humidity days were the temps are the same. When the humidity is high it reminds me of trying to exert myself at altitude, you can't breath as well. Plus your sweat doesn't cool you are well because it doesn't evaporate as much. I agree both 100 degrees with humidity and without are bad but I still feel (and DH has said the same) it is harder when the humidity starts getting high.
As a native Texan I used to chuckle at people complaining about the heat but the past two summers it has worn on me. I like having mild winters but we have had record hot summers the past two years and it does make even those of us who love Texas whine.
36 days of 100+ and it isn't even August yet, last year we had a close to record at 50 days. Sometimes we pay for our 300 rain free days a year. :rolleyes: