I had a very hot ride today, also, and Helene, I was thinking about you.
We set out at 9:30 AM for the first 25 miles up to Kimball's Fruit Farm in Pepperel, MA, on the border of Hollis, NH. There is one big climb right before you get to the farm, with the rest rolling, a couple of smaller hills. It was OK, the temperature was going up, it's breezy, though and not too humid. There was a lot of shade in this part of the ride. I decided not to mess around, because I always get about 3/4 done with this ride, feel like I am going to bonk, and start chewing Shot Blocks. Today, I ate them every hour and it really helped. Because I rode my Trek, I couldn't bring a cooled lunch, and they don't sell stuff except fruit at the farm. I brought half a walnut butter/jell sandwich for lunch, with a Lara Bar. After lunch, there was less shade in various portions of the ride, a very steep climb (in the shade) after we get back into MA from Nashua, NH, and then we ride a rolling section by a lake that fools you a bit. There is one big climb after this, and then we are sort of heading toward where we start. Maybe 8-10 miles left? Anyway, there seems to be a hill every couple of miles, and right at the end, there is one that is completely unshaded. I was good about drinking my Skratch (I had 2 bottles) and some plain water, which I also used to cool myself. I was losing it when we pulled into the lot where our cars were, but I got in the car, ate another Lara Bar and we were home quickly (the start is in a neighboring town). I then proceeded to drink 2 huge glasses of ice water and eat some left over white beans with whole wheat cous cous.
All in all, I did better than I thought, given the fact it's 87 degrees out, my quads and hamstrings are sore from my hike yesterday, and I rode 48.6 miles, with about 2,500 ft. of climbing. We are bringing people on this ride in 2 weeks and it better be cooler. I was questioning our sanity about doing this, but we have led a version of it for several years and people like to torture themselves, I guess.