riding into the heat of july

[ny biker]

I'm waiting another day or two to see how the weather forecast shapes up before planning anything this weekend. Specifically I'm hoping they are able to forecast the timing of thunderstorms with reasonable accuracy. I do hate getting caught in thunderstorms, and when they come at the end of a heat wave they often pack some strong winds.

(I wish I knew what to do to help my immune system calm down again. I'm taking two kinds of antihistamines -- H1 and H2 receptors. Other that than I'm just trying to get enough sleep and stay out of the heat for a couple of days. I've tried to eat more "anti-inflammatory" foods over the past few months, tuna a few times a week, an apple almost every day, more fruits in general, leafy greens. I had been eating walnuts and almonds pretty regularly but they seem to bother my stomach.)

[north woods gal]

Having been caught out in some severe T storms, you are absolutely right to be cautious. They can be very dangerous for a biker and in so many ways. I've waited out my share in whatever shelter I could find at the time.

August coming up and that is a rough month for my allergies, specifically hay fever/ragweed and once that starts, it triggers allergies to all sorts of other things. One thing that helps with allergies and also hot weather for me, is to reduce my overall calorie intake and staying with more of my usual greens with some fruits. Yes, nuts can be iffy for some people, but I tend to add more of those in my diet during the winter months.

I'm another one that pushes to reach some pre-determined goal, so I know what some of you are up against as far as overdoing it. Came home, yesterday, cut up and bruised - again - from doing more nasty mountain biking. I'm beginning to feel like I should be in one of those mountain biking commercials where everyone looks like they've been though a war. Got a lecture about it when I got home. Nice to have a hubby that helps me to put on the brakes, when needed.

Thunderstorms, today, so will ride some indoor miles. If you're not set up to ride indoors on a trainer, I recommend it as a great way to get some miles in when heading out is not an option or just not too healthy for some reason. Just catch a few miles on the indoor trainer and go as far as you are able and not have to worry about bonking and finding yourself 10 miles away from home.

[Aromig]

The weird thing is that even with all the planning and strategizing and getting up early to deal with riding in the hot sun, I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that the cold weather will be back any day now, with tights and booties and extra layers and unrelenting cold feet. It's not true, we'll have a couple more months before it starts to get cold again, but I can't shake the feeling that summer will be gone in a heartbeat and winter cold is imminent. Maybe I need to get out of the air conditioning more...

I'm there with you. I'm riding in temps I'm not acclimated to (we had such a cool rainy spring) and I don't really want to ride in some of these temps -- but I feel I'm missing an opportunity if I don't. I only have an opportunity (because of daylight) to ride in the weekday mornings during June and July and I haven't taken advantage of that and it's almost over! This is just making me feel even more anxious.

[Crankin]

Yes, I get antsy when I know I am missing precious riding time. But, I also do other sports, i.e. hiking and winter sports, cross country skiing and snow shoeing. The season for winter sports here is short (8-10 weeks) and often involves some travel. There was little of that last winter, but I did get to ride through the winter, something that hasn't happened in 3-4 years. But, I feel somewhat rejuvenated already from this little break from riding. It's not like I was lying around on my azz. I am finally able to lift a higher weight above my head, with shoulder presses, so I've seen progress there.

[emily_in_nc]

What a bust. We'd planned on a ride on the Paul Bunyan Trail (MN) today, but the first half of the day was raining, and the second half, while not raining, the unpaved road in the park is muddy, the mosquitoes are thick as thieves (they absolutely swarm you when you exit your rig -- almost NO ONE is outside today even though the campground is pretty full), and I just can't bring myself to trash my bike with dirt/mud and have to coat myself in DEET just to go on a ride. We leave here tomorrow, so it may come to that if the next campground is more of the same.

I must say, though, this is only the second campground of the year (starting in Jan. in Florida) where we've had a significant mosquito issue. We've had more problems with flies than mosquitoes. We have really been lucky, but perhaps the luck has finally run out. It has rained so much here it's only surprising the mozzies haven't found us sooner. Hopefully as we move west into North Dakota, they will be less of a problem.

[Crankin]

Ugh, Emily. It doesn't sound like optimal conditions for riding!
I have no problems coating myself in DEET for hiking, but I have never had to do it for riding. A couple of times when DH and I led after work rides, we had to stop to help people with mechanicals and it was only then, we were attacked by mosquitos. And this was only in a certain area, near a working dairy farm. I was surprised though, when I hiked with my former colleague 2 weeks ago, that she came dressed in shorts and a tank top, with a long sleeved blouse over it. She had no bug spray. It was early AM, around 7 and it was humid as hell out. I sprayed myself like crazy and had no issues, while she was swatting herself the whole time.

[north woods gal]

My biggest problem with the nasties, other than a few ticks back in the woods, has been the deer and black flies and, ouch, they really can bite. I do have to spray for them when I ride, sometimes. Odd thing, though, they swarm around my helmet as I ride, but only seem to land and bite on the back of my legs and, of all places, my riding gloves. Now, why would they be attracted to my riding gloves and try to bite though that fabric? (And, yes, they can bite though them.) As for mosquitoes, yeah, they are getting nastier by the week, since it has been a wet summer for us. Usually not an issue until I stop, though. If I break down, back in the woods and have to walk out, then not so good. Up here, we never step outdoors the summer without the bug spray.

Emily, the farther west you go in the Dakotas and Nebraska, the drier the climate gets, so hopefully things will improve for you. The eastern parts of those states can still be quite muggy, though. By the time you hit the western borders, almost desert dry. For sure, you will be out in the great wide open. Have fun.

[emily_in_nc]

My biggest problem with the nasties, other than a few ticks back in the woods, has been the deer and black flies and, ouch, they really can bite. I do have to spray for them when I ride, sometimes. Odd thing, though, they swarm around my helmet as I ride, but only seem to land and bite on the back of my legs and, of all places, my riding gloves. Now, why would they be attracted to my riding gloves and try to bite though that fabric? (And, yes, they can bite though them.) As for mosquitoes, yeah, they are getting nastier by the week, since it has been a wet summer for us. Usually not an issue until I stop, though. If I break down, back in the woods and have to walk out, then not so good. Up here, we never step outdoors the summer without the bug spray.

Emily, the farther west you go in the Dakotas and Nebraska, the drier the climate gets, so hopefully things will improve for you. The eastern parts of those states can still be quite muggy, though. By the time you hit the western borders, almost desert dry. For sure, you will be out in the great wide open. Have fun.

Thank you! I am really looking forward to heading west now. We have another 8 nights in Minnesota, then we head into North Dakota. After three nights crossing the state, we'll be in the western portion, at Teddy Roosevelt NP. When we visited there (too briefly, which is why we're returning) in 2014, we had no bug problems whatsoever. Then we'll head into northeast Wyoming and western South Dakota for awhile. Eventually we do have to make our way back east since we have appointments in NC in early November, but by then, the mozzies will hopefully be much less than this time of year!

Totally am with you on the blackflies. We experienced those mostly in Missouri and both got a few bites, but nothing like the swarms of mosquitoes here. Truly never experienced anything like it. We had to take Paisley out for a jog tonight instead of a walk, and they still got us!

[north woods gal]

Teddy Roosevelt NP has some great mountain biking trails, but officials warn you that if it does rain, the clay soils become treacherous until dry. I'm guessing they have more road bike type trails, too. Might want to check it out.

[Crankin]

I rode my bike to the gym at 5:30 AM. Round trip, 2.2 miles... but going there is up a 5% grade hill, so it gets the HR up. Good warm up for circuit training.
This is the last time I'll go to power class on Wednesday and then do circuit early Thursday. Not only am I just sore all over, my SI joint is screaming, despite doing my stretches. Most of it comes from sitting for 8 hours on Tuesday, at work, so I can't change that.
A very pleasant downhill one mile back home this morning, and only 70 degrees, but humid. It's going to be 95 later.

[emily_in_nc]

Teddy Roosevelt NP has some great mountain biking trails, but officials warn you that if it does rain, the clay soils become treacherous until dry. I'm guessing they have more road bike type trails, too. Might want to check it out.

We've actually been there before (but not long enough!) There's a gorgeous loop road around the park that we can ride our road bikes on, and for MTB there's the Mah-dah-hey and Buffalo Gap singletrack trails in nearby Medora. We only did a day trip before (were staying in Dickinson) so just rode part of the Mah-dah-hey. Hoping to do more this time around! And there's lovely hiking too; we did a long hike there on a different day trip last time too.

Today's 20-mile ride was on our MTBs too, in fact. We're staying in a national forest campground in northern Minnesota and rode the lovely unpaved (but well packed) national forest roads in the area (Chippewa NF). Aside from being followed by deer flies, it was lovely. VERY sad to see all the trees down from the severe storms here in the past couple of weeks, though. Some areas looked like a tornado went through but were most likely straight-line winds. Big props to the national forest crews as it appeared that many trees fell across the roads, but all had been cut and moved out of the way by today; that's pretty quick cleanup!

[north woods gal]

That's lovely country, for sure, Emily. Have been in that area many times. My mother's family is from the Duluth area and we vacationed north of there and traveled through there many times as kids.

After two solid weeks of mountain biking and some challenging mountain biking, at that, head back out on the pavement to get caught up on some miles for the month. Did include 3 miles of hard packed gravel, but the Salsa Warbird is designed for just that kind of work, so no issues. Finished the day with a very pleasant 32 miles, weather sunny and in the 70s. Can't beat that.

Now, after two weeks of solid mountain biking, back in the deep remote woods, you'd think I'd see more wildlife than when road biking. Not so. I actually see more wildlife when road biking. Saw my second bear of the year, again while road biking, run across the road in front of me, today, right next to someone's home!

My theory is that riding pavement is quieter than riding rocky single track, so wildlife can't hear me coming on the road bike or maybe they're more conditioned to listen and watch for vehicles. Often flush animals right in front of me on the road bike, but seldom on the mountain bike. Another possibility is that wildlife is attracted to plants, such as berries, that grow along the road where there is more sunshine. Also helps that I can see way out ahead while on the road bike. Back in the single track, the cover is so thick that I mostly hear animals run off, but seldom see them. Would rather NOT come face to face with a bear in the thick stuff, anyway. Way out in front, down the road, is good.

[Crankin]

I did a group ride today, which went pretty well. I rode to the start, at the HS in my town, 4.8 miles. Some of the people who signed up didn't show, so there were about 8-9 of us, including the leaders. The woman who led the ride was in my leadership training in 2005 and has come on several of our rides. She talks a blue streak, and always seems a little braggy (I know that's not a word), but now I think she just talks a lot. But, I was a bit worried, because I thought she was a super fast rider, despite the fact the average was advertised at 12-14, for a pretty hilly ride (2K+ ft.) So, I had no need to worry. She's a fast hiker and runner, but she has trouble climbing, mostly because she is spinning out and losing speed, then she gets tired. So on the first 2 climbs, I stayed with her, and everyone went ahead and then waited. I knew what was coming and I wanted to save my energy! I stayed in the middle of the group climbing the big hill into Harvard Center. We stopped for lunch, but it was really early... I was not hungry, but I made myself eat half a sandwich. We had a couple of shorter climbs after that, which was hard right after eating, but, all of a sudden I got a second wind, and all of those people who had been going ahead didn't. The last part of the ride deviated from the GPS route, because someone else had devised it, and she apparently did not live around here, and it would have taken us through some horrible traffic, around stores. I helped lead us through some of the changes, after a climb, as I was in front. We finally got back to Concord and all of a sudden, I was ravenously hungry. I split off from the group to head home, but I actually stopped and ate half of my Lara Bar and then rode the 4.6 miles home. It's 85 out, but no humidity, and somewhat cloudy, so not as bad as last weekend. A total of 54 miles, my longest ride this year.

[emily_in_nc]

Good job, Crankin! I did my longest ride of the year in the past week too, but not hilly like yours.

NWG, +1 on not wanting to sneak up on a bear. After what happened to the guy mountain biking in Glacier NP especially, although I am sure you are seeing Black Bears and not Grizzlies. Still...a bear's a bear. I have never seen one, actually. Just as soon keep it that way on a bike.

Here are a few photos of the tree damage here in the Chippewa Nat'l Forest in northern Minnesota from recent heavy storms. It was so sad to see so many beautiful trees down. Some had snapped off half-way up the trunks, others fell over at the root ball.

[north woods gal]

Nice pics, Emily. Those forest roads look similar to ours, as much sand as gravel. I do like riding them, however. Something about being back in the more remote areas on a bike that I like.

Downed trees are so common in our area that our power company finally went to underground power lines. We were averaging 4 to 6 outages a year, a lot of them in winter months, so hopefully not as many, now.