riding into the heat of july

[rebeccaC]

"My wheels no longer touch the ground,
they’re floating on passionate effort,
a whole hearted singleminded effort,
the rhythm of a perfect circle,
a pulsing rhythm that rises above the worlds woes.

Movement brings freedom.".......Carlo Castelvecchi

[Crankin]

Appropriate title to this thread.
DH and I set out on a little celebratory ride, after the closing on our house. It was after lunch, and I had sat down for a bit to digest, then got up to get in my bike clothes. I felt sleepy! I ignored it and off we went. It's only 80 out, but humid as hell, with a big storm coming tonight. On the first hill, I knew this was not going to be fun, but, I did it, 15 miles at a decent pace. My legs felt great, but I have to remind myself not to eat a veggie bowl with sirracha before riding...

[north woods gal]

Hope everyone manages to deal with the July heat, wherever you may be. Sounds like a lot of you have been dealing with it, already, but be safe.

July is our hottest month of the year, but not very hot compared to what most folks call hot. Our average highs are in the 80s. Once or maybe twice a year, we actually hit 90, but some years, not even that. Also, most of our riding is in forest country, so a lot of shade. What I like most about July, though, is that it's one of our quietest wind months.

Happy Fourth to all, by the way.

[azfiddle]

I got up extra early to ride with my husband on on Mt. Lemmon. The Tucson Tri-girls run a 6 week set of rides up Mt. Lemmon, going further each week, and they have water and food along the way. My son met up with us and the two of them (much faster than me) went ahead to Molino Basin (mile 5 or so) - usually just a rest stop on the way up. I knew the son was turning around but as soon as I got there, my husband says "I'm done". I wasn't really expecting that. It was kind of warm, and humid (for southern AZ) but usually I just rest for a few minutes and I'm ready to go further.

So... maybe I just would have gone a couple miles further, or to a good turn around spot at Seven Cataracts (mile 9) but I couldn't help feeling irritated that he just decided to stop and turn around so suddenly. We hadn't really talked about how far we were going before we started ... I could have kept going on my own but would have had to ride home an extra five miles (actually 8 miles because we didn't park at the usual spot) and I was grumpy about the whole thing. So...

just 13 miles altogether (about 1500 feet of climbing). Maybe I'll take on the whole mountain again one day next week before I go back to work. And I'm trying not to be too irritable until I get over it.

[emily_in_nc]

No heat here! It's in the upper 50s here as I write this on July 2. Cray-zee! It's raining today but supposed to be back to the 80s-90s next week, so I guess I shan't complain, but I am a little bummed. We actually had to turn on the heater a little bit ago.

No riding (or even walking) here today in a state park in Iowa where I am sure there are a lot of unhappy campers stuck inside at the moment!

[north woods gal]

Great ride, today, to start the month. Sunny and 70s. Did a 30 mile loop, but about 12 miles was a combination of gravel bike path, gravel road and/or sand roads. Love going off pavement and getting completely away from traffic, back into some gorgeous and wild north woods. Have never been able to manage all the fancy MTB riding skills, but get me back along a fairly level and somewhat straight path, even single tack, and I'm fine. I leave the kamikaze stuff to others.

[Crankin]

Humidity is gone and it's only 75 out. However, the heat is coming, going to be up to 95 by next Wednesday. But, dry.
DH planned a ride so we could get to our favorite soft serve/chocolate dip ice cream place for our first visit of the season. It's very late in the year for our first visit! It's only about 8-9 miles, so we altered a ride we saw on Ride With GPS. We both wanted to go slowly, after yesterday. All was well, beautiful shady, familiar, but not boring roads, when we turned off onto an unpaved road. They were hard packed, but with spots of gravel and a few puddles. I hate this, on a road bike, because I have to slow down a lot. The dirt went on for longer than I wanted, ending in a small climb. I actually think we have been on this road before, and I whined just as much. After this, we were not so far from the ice cream place, so we turned off the route guidance, as I saw one road that I know is dirt. It was nice and quiet at Dairy Joy, as it's in one of the richest towns around here, so they all must be at their beach or mountain homes! From there, we took a straighter shot home, than the original ride had planned, but we still got in 31.5 miles.

[emily_in_nc]

Great ride, today, to start the month. Sunny and 70s. Did a 30 mile loop, but about 12 miles was a combination of gravel bike path, gravel road and/or sand roads. Love going off pavement and getting completely away from traffic, back into some gorgeous and wild north woods. Have never been able to manage all the fancy MTB riding skills, but get me back along a fairly level and somewhat straight path, even single tack, and I'm fine. I leave the kamikaze stuff to others.

Ditto ditto ditto! Sounds like a great ride, NWG! I am glad someone got to ride...I think our rain has finally ended, but today was a real mess, cold and wet from start to (nearly) finish. I have only been outside for about 10 minutes total so the dog could do her business. If it's not raining, we'll get a longer walk in after dinner.

[emily_in_nc]

It was nice and quiet at Dairy Joy, as it's in one of the richest towns around here, so they all must be at their beach or mountain homes! From there, we took a straighter shot home, than the original ride had planned, but we still got in 31.5 miles.

But you didn't tell us about the ice cream!

[Crankin]

It was fabulous as usual. I got a vanilla-chocolate "twist," with the chocolate dip. They stick the cone in a cup, so it's easier to eat. The kiddie size is 4 oz. and plenty enough.
The food at this place is very good, too.

[north woods gal]

Last week or so, I posted about doing a remote 8 mile section of gravel/sand roads on my Salsa Fargo with it's 29er 2.2" tires. The Fargo got me through, but with some fishtailing and a few spots were just too deep with sand, so I walked the bike.

Returned, today, only to discover that the road was in much worse shape. For one, the sand was dry and powdery this time around, and, for another, the ATV crowd had the sand churned up pretty good. Not surprising, really, since this is the holiday weekend and this road is a designated ATV trail. Not a problem, anyway. This time, I brought a better bike for the job (that's a story for another post) and had NO issues. Even managed to churn through some muddy spots with great traction. Yup, fit right in with the ATV crowd.

As for the ATV folks, they were actually quite nice, slowing way down as the passed as to not raise too much dust and waving as they passed. One ATV rider actually stopped while I was taking a water break to make sure I was okay. Since this road is very isolated and lonely, it was actually nice to have the company. I am totally a solo rider, but I never get completely comfortable being alone out in the woods.

[Helene2013]

July 1st I set out to ride our Crux. Temperature is not bad and we have time before hitting the heat/humidity index in the 30c+. It's in the Eastern Townships a gravel road, mostly hilly. It was only 44km ride but I knew it would not be easy due to all combinations.

So I did 38km...and stopped (a few times in the last 3km). The last stop was one forced by my husband. He said I've had enough and should stop before getting into an accident. I was overheating and not even cold water on my head, arms, etc did. I was fighting off vomiting but wanted to finish the last 6km left to get to our car. I knew they would be harsh to achieve as there is a big climb for about 3km of those 6 left. Full sun, no shade and it is over 30c now. I just cannot tolerate heat. Add to the fact that I'm out of shape since my knee fracture of January combined with other knee issues prevented me from training properly.

So when he saw me purple and white and unable to cycle more than 12-13km/h on a stretch I'd normally do at 20-21km/h and I was lagging behind he forced me to wait for him at this rest area and he went to get the car. He said it was a good thing that I stopped as he is a fast and strong cyclist and the wind facing us was so strong, full sun and heat that he only was able to manage 24km/h max to get back to the car when he left me. His norm would have been over 34km/h on that stretch.

While waiting for him I tried to lie down on a bench on my back but made the headache worst. So I removed all the clothing that I could, watered myself down with what was left of my 2 bottles and sat and waited for him. It took me a day to get back to normal. I was sooooo disappointed not to complete just those 6km that I could not stop the tears from rolling down. Hubby said I push myself way too hard. He said I should be proud to have accomplish that much in hard conditions, and with minimal training this season, that I did not fall, etc. Those 38km are much better than someone sitting on tv munching on chips and Coke. hihi He's right. But it did take me a good 20-25 minutes to get over this. Then I went for ice cream. Life is still good.

So that was my July 1st outing. Wanted to go out for a retake yesterday but winds were pushing at 45km/h. Not going to kill myself this time. At least it was soooo cold it would have been perfect weather for me, if it had not been for stupid winds. hihi

[Skierchickie2]

Wow Helene! That sounds just brutal! It's a good thing you had Hubby with you. Glad you're okay!

[north woods gal]

As above, Helene. You were fortunate to have someone with you and, especially, someone who recognized the signs of heat stroke. It can be so dangerous precisely because it impairs your thinking and clouds your judgement. Very scary. So glad you caught it in time.

[azfiddle]

Helene, you can be proud of those 38 km. It's good to know your limits. Even though I live in the desert, I am subject to overheating. I have to plan my rides for the early part of the day, pace myself, drink enough water and sometimes I have had to get off the bike and lay down in some meager shade until I felt okay to ride. Glad you're okay. There are more rides in the future!

Yesterday I rode one mile. That's it. One mile to go to the gym and do some other exercise and swimming. Today I rode just 18.5 miles, pretty flat, and mostly on the bike path. It was warm and humid (50% high for Tucson is very humid). I got going late for summer riding here (after 7 am). And came back in time to watch the last 20k of the Tour de France live.