riding into the heat of july

[ny biker]

Catching up -- I've gotten in some good rides over the past few weeks. Summer has finally heated up. Last weekend (the 9th or 10th, don't remember which) I rode 55 miles with some friends in a shady, sparsely-populated part of southern Maryland. Another friend was leading it as a club ride but starting later in the morning, too late for me on a hot day -- even with many miles shaded by trees, the ones at the end were too exposed. As luck would have it someone else needed to start early due to having plans that afternoon, so three of us joined her at 8 am. Despite the early start I still had heat rash on my legs (probably related in part to a flare up of hives that I've been dealing with).

Then I had to postpone last week's Wednesday hill ride due to the threat of storms. There was a chance I'd be able to avoid the rain but I've just become too risk-averse when it comes to summer storms with the possibility of lightning, wind and/or heavy rain. As it turned out, it didn't rain at home but there was a pop-up storm a few miles away where I would have been riding. We had the same storm chance on Thursday, so I went to the gym that night and finally did the hill ride after work on Friday. It was uneventful except for one on-the-fly decision to change the route slightly -- the road I chose to explore ended up being a very steep hill. With every pedal stroke I considered stopping and turning around, but I did make it to the top (with tired legs and on the verge of wheezing).

[ny biker]

Catching up, part 2 -- yesterday's ride was one that I won't forget.

A friend had planned a long birthday ride on Saturday, but I decided not to go because it would have involved riding all afternoon on another hot sunny day. I'm still not fully acclimated to the heat yet, and with the recent flare-up of chronic hives finally calming down I didn't want to put myself under the physical stress of being outside during the hottest part of the day. Instead I decided to do a ride on Sunday in northern Maryland with the club that I rarely ride with. The reason I rarely do this club's rides is their survival-of-the-fittest approach -- there's never a sweep, and if you have a mechanical or health problem you're left behind. And there's also so much pace inflation that you're likely to be dropped early and left to ride alone even though you're maintaining the advertised pace. But this is an area I know well, I was able to plan some short cuts in case I needed them, and a friend was going to be there so I could ride with her. Most importantly the ride started early enough that we would be finished early in the afternoon.

So, as expected, my friend and I were dropped immediately. After a few miles I noticed one man who was riding alone not far ahead of us, and we caught up with him at an intersection. He asked if he could ride with us, and we said of course, please do. It turned out that his Garmin was not working and he didn't have a cue sheet, so he had no idea when or where to turn. And he was new to the area, having moved here just a few weeks ago after a job change and a divorce.

Somewhere around mile 12-13 he asks how far to the first rest stop, because he had inadvertantly left his water bottles at home. The first stop is 28 miles into this 65-mile ride, well over two hours of riding at our pace. There are no other stores around in this rural area and not much shade. So we stop and give him some water (my friend and I both started with two full bottles.) We ride on and reach the rest stop (a convenience store/gas station) with much interesting conversation but no further incidents.

Riding on, around mile 35 we reach a steep hill. He walks up part of it. No problem, we wait at the top under a tree. He hasn't ridden in months due to all the stuff that's been going on in his life. He starts riding more slowly and I ride ahead, keeping an eye on him with my handlebar mirror. By mile 45 he's been out of sight for a while so I stop and wait, then ride back about a mile until I see him coming. It's quite hot by now and we have a bit of a headwind. Around mile 49 we're close to the next stop (another convenience store) but I'm starting to bonk so we stop in the shade for a snack. My friend had gone ahead but we all meet up at the store where we cool off in the shade and get more food and cold drinks.

We hit the road again with 15 miles to go. With 5 miles to go my friend and I reach an intersection and stop in the shade to wait for him. After a few minutes we don't see him so we start riding back, and find him after about a mile working on a flat tire. We spent at least 45 minutes trying to fix that flat. Three different tubes fail when we try to inflate them -- apparently due to stem problems. The tire -- a Conti GP Attack, I think -- was very tight, very hard to get off and on the rim. At one point we thought maybe my friend's frame pump wasn't working so we tried mine instead. Finally we give up, tell him we will ride back to our cars and one of us will drive back to get him.

So much for starting early in order to finish by early afternoon -- by the time we finished riding the last few (unshaded) miles it was 3 pm and the heat rash was already appearing on my legs. But the club I usually ride with is not like the one we were riding with yesterday -- we never leave anyone stranded. I volunteered to drive back to get him. I quickly loaded up my car, drank some orange juice that was in my cooler, made a quick pitstop at a nearby gas station and headed back to where we left him. He had started walking so I found him about a mile and half from where we'd left him. We got his bike into my car and soon were back at the ride start.

Over the years I've been helped by many people who were patient enough to wait when I needed to rest or helped me fix a flat or gave me water when I was too hot. I'm glad I had the chance to pay it forward. In the end my friend and I agreed that it was a fun ride in spite of the drama.

[Aromig]

Over the years I've been helped by many people who were patient enough to wait when I needed to rest or helped me fix a flat or gave me water when I was too hot. I'm glad I had the chance to pay it forward. In the end my friend and I agreed that it was a fun ride in spite of the drama.

That is an awesome attitude! In the past, I've been annoyed by such drama (really, didn't bring water bottles? maybe he should have just tried to join the next week when he hadn't forgotten), but then again, it does feel good to pay it forward. And there but for the grace of God go I....I've always appreciated when I'm not alone. If he's new to the area, and recently divorced, and had other things going on, I'm sure the kindness you shared him was greatly appreciated. Good for you!

[Crankin]

Yes, I may have been more than mildly mad, too, but only if it was on a ride I was leading; if I just happened to be in a group with someone in that situation, not so much. And even though I get upset, I help. They may have done something stupid, but if it's health or safety, I don't mess around. People are generally appreciative. And the last one I tried to help sent an apology for being a beeach to me!

[emily_in_nc]

You are definitely a good soul, NY! I think I would have been majorly annoyed at someone showing up to a 65-mile summer ride with no water bottles. WTF! We do all have brain farts, myself included, but I am still sure I would not have been happy to have to share my water with someone who was obviously not ready to do that ride for many reasons. Good on you.

We did another grocery ride today. We overbought, and I still can't believe we actually got it all into DH's two panniers and rear basket, my Rackpacker and small backpack. As we started out with this load, we realized that both our rear tires were low, and with all that weight, that was not a good thing. So, we stopped and DH pumped them up. We made it back to our motorhome without incident, and this ride put me over 1500 miles for the year (by .9!) Yay! A very pretty day with highs in the low 80s, sunshine, low humidity, and light wind.

We're due for some very hot and humid weather in the next few days, which we've mostly avoided until now, but it is mid-July, so I truly can't complain!

[north woods gal]

NY, absolutely you did right. The guy was in way over his head to attempt that long a ride being so out of shape and so unprepared. Sounds like that was only part of the problem, too. Without your help, things may have ended very badly for him. You were true blue to the bikers code of always offering a helping hand. I salute you.

[north woods gal]

Emily, we're forecast to have our typical once a summer heat wave later in the week, too. Usually once a summer, we hit 90 or at least close to it for a couple of days.

Today was just gorgeous, though. Been getting reports of a good wild blueberry crop, this year, so headed back on the MTB trails, again, to see what I could find. Good excuse, anyway, as I have been very much in a MTB mood for awhile. Just something so darn beautiful being way back in the woods on a bike, no traffic, no noise, just wild trails, deep woods and lakes to keep you company. No blueberries, but raspberries, galore, though most are still green. Saw a flock of Wild Turkey hens and a doe with twin fawns, too.

Been all enamored of the big wheel/wide tire trend in mountain bikes, of late and, yes, there are advantages. Took my old standard 26" Trek MTB out, today, and, have to say, though, there are still things the old standard 26ers can do better for me than the new bigger wheel/tire formats.

On the unforgiving, twisty and spooky up and down single track, did better with the 26" Trek than with any other bike, this week. A good old 26er still gives me the best control on the tricky stiff as long as things are firm, underneath. (When things get loose and sloppy, things do get a bit spooky. Also have to be careful with obstructions in the trail because there is lower clearance with a 26er.) Managed to get up some climbs with the 26er that had me stalling out with the bigger wheel and tire MTBs, this week (the fat bike was really hard to push up the steeps.) Also, didn't overrun turns the way I sometimes do with the bigger wheel bikes, again, that fat bike being notoriously slow get turned for me.

Anyway, I still think that for us gals, the old reliable 26er is still a practical choice for our strength levels, compared to bikes with the bigger, fatter and heavier wheels and tires as far as control, at least when it comes to hitting the steep stuff as well as the very precise twisty stuff (though I have yet to try the new 27.5 bikes). The old 26er is still a very useful bike for me. Just an observation.

[emily_in_nc]

Anyway, I still think that for us gals, the old reliable 26er is still a practical choice for our strength levels, compared to bikes with the bigger, fatter and heavier wheels and tires as far as control, at least when it comes to hitting the steep stuff as well as the very precise twisty stuff (though I have yet to try the new 27.5 bikes). The old 26er is still a very useful bike for me. Just an observation.

Glad to hear you think that since you have a lot of experience with different types of MTB/gravel bikes, and since a 26"-er is the only one I have, I'm really glad to hear it. I'm only 5'1.5" tall and a lightweight besides, so I've always felt like bikes with larger wheelsizes would just be too much bike, too much weight, and possibly too tall for me as well. My 700c road bike feels HUGE after riding my 20" wheeled Bike Friday and my 26" MTB.

We've been lucky so far and have not had the intense heat yet. Yesterday was still very nice in the 80s and not too humid, then this morning we had a lot of rain, so this was my day to take off the bike. Tomorrow and Thurs. are supposed to be our hot days, with highs in the 90s. Not looking forward to that, but being used to summers in NC, only two days of 90+ in a long while are nothing to complain about!

[Geonz]

Per Crankin's hopefully non-hive-generating ride... Hey, sometimes when you see somebody whose Day is Going To Suckville Hard and Fast... and you can be the one to make it Not Suck... that's a good day, even if it takes the day. He was prob'ly feeling like a black burnt biscuit on a hot summer day, as they say in Culpeper Virginia when you're so low you gotta step on a nickel to see over a dime...