riding into the heat of july

[emily_in_nc]

Yesterday was our last ride in Jackson County, MN, as we have moved farther north in the state now. The wind was blowing hard again, 20 mph sustained from the south, so we chose to do an east-west out and back route. Mostly flat to very lightly rolling along a lovely, smooth county road, so even with a cross wind the entire way, it made for a pretty fast and fun ride. Only negative were the aggressive Red-Winged Blackbirds dive-bombing and squawking at us in various places along the route. Kinda scary! We experienced this back in 2014 when we rode some trails in the upper midwest in June. They get very territorial during nesting season.

Tomorrow we'll be riding part of the Lake Wobegon Trail. We rode a bit of it in 2014 as well, and it was nice, so I am looking forward to it and hoping there aren't too many blackbirds along the way. High is supposed to be in the low 90s with oppressive humidity, so I am not thrilled with that, so at least it will be mostly flat, but sunny. Ugh.

NWG, that's interesting about many MTB manufacturers moving away from 26-ers. Like all other bicycle fads, there's a good chance that things will swing back to smaller wheels eventually, but in the meantime, this makes it harder to find a bike with that wheel size. Have you thought about looking for a used one on ebay? I was lucky enough to buy my wonderful Jamis from Catrin here a few years ago -- a fullie, which was what I wanted, 26" wheels, and fits me perfectly. I will not let it go, especially since 26-ers are getting harder to find!

[north woods gal]

Emily, yes, I will be looking for used if need be and I suspect you're right about about that size coming back. Probably some good deals out there, right now on 26s, what with all the marketing folks pushing people to buy the bigger wheels sizes

Went to the same technical single track trail that I rode with the 29er, yesterday, but this time with the 26 and I just can't deny the results. Third time I've done this test with both bikes, just to be sure, but results always the same. The 26 climbs better for me because I can accelerate, quickly and instantly, just enough to get me over some steep climbs that had me stalled out with the 29er. The 29er is a better bike for some trails and uses, but I need time to work up some momentum with it to get me over the steep humps. Just not a luxury I have on this single track with all its sharp twists and turns. Also, can make turns with the 26 that I just can't make with the 29.

On the other hand, in this same area, we have some loose gravel and deep sand trails and the 29er plus Trek is a MUCH better bike for that kind of trail and the fat bike even better. This stuff just swallows the 26.

I might see if I can try a 27.5 on this route for comparison.

[Geonz]

Well, the forecast lied -- happily. We had pretty big showers around 3 a.m. and it was just plain pleasant, which was good 'cause I didn't get out the door 'til after 9:30. I'd figured I might just do 9 miles but ... ended up with 28, changing the route to avoid the crop spraying... going by people working on roofs and the likes made me really glad it was taking its time to warm up... i'ts 84 now at 12:18 so I suspect we won't get to 91 after all, which is adjusted down already.
Just like last Friday, but a different person -- somebody was out *undoing* my loop! We went by each other twice on the four mile grid Since it was abou ttwo miles apart, we were goin' about the same speed... I prefer clockwise 'cause it's right turns.
Love my Fridays off, tho' ... I'm going to do some work related stuff...

[Crankin]

Our ride today was only 21.5 miles and was hot and humid. Beautiful, with a 5 mile hill in the middle. It was shady, though.
Went out to lunch and to the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was 95 in downtown Great Barrington today ...

[Catrin]

Our ride today was only 21.5 miles and was hot and humid. Beautiful, with a 5 mile hill in the middle. It was shady, though.
Went out to lunch and to the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was 95 in downtown Great Barrington today ...

Sounds like a nice ride Crankin, and the shade certainly helped a lot. I remember enjoying riding in very high temps for some odd reason, your post reminded me of that. How did you like the museum visit?

[ny biker]

I remember the Norman Rockwell museum from a visit many years ago.

I did my weekly hill ride on Wednesday after work. It was hot but the least hot day in a string of 90+ days with hotter more humid days about to hit. And starting around 7 pm means I don't have to deal with the sun, so overall it wasn't bad. The ride was uneventful except I was trying to listen to a baseball game on my phone (the summer college league where my nephew is an intern) and they were having technical problems so I had to keep stopping to refresh the page.

Planning now for a ride on Sunday with very hot weather expected and not many shady trees along the route. Starting early, bringing extra water and will plan to be proactive and stop a few times when we do encounter some shade rather than waiting until the heat gets to me but there's no shade in sight.

[north woods gal]

Hottest day of the year, so far, at 90 degrees. This is typically a once or twice temp for us during the summer and some summers we don't make it to 90, at all. Still, with the humidity, I decided to play it safe and go back into the deep, dark woods for some mountain biking, rather than be out in the hot sun on the pavement. Not the greatest strategy, though, given the way it's all uphill and downhill in my MTB area. Even after drinking plenty fluids, I was getting a bit light headed, so called it quits, early, and rode back home. Might have been better to ride one of my more level road bike loops. Oh, well.

[Crankin]

The museum was excellent. This was the third time I've been there, once to this site and once when it was in downtown Stockbridge. The grounds are exquisite.