Tired of the heat!!!!

[bentforlife]

I'm sick and tired of the heat!!!! The Dallas/Fort Worth area hit 107 yesterday and should do almost that today. That means we start the mornings off above 80 which quickly becomes 90 by 9AM and 100 by noon!! My DH will not let me move the bike inside(it's on a trainer right now, knee surgery recovery) so I haven't been able to get on it, I'm not heat tolerant at all. He has a good point, with a length of almost 6 feet, it is hard to find space for the bike(it's a RANS Stratus XL).

I'm praying for a quick end to this heat. Our water bill and eletricity bills are becoming outrageous!! We almost lost the lawn last year but decided to bite the bullet and keep it watered this year. DH is only cutting it every other week to keep it long so it doesn't lose water as fast. Our neighbors don't like it very much but it still meets city codes.

Is anyone else suffering in this heat wave? How are you coping?

I'm going to the gym right now and using their stationary recumbent but it's not the same.

Bring on fall weather, I'm more than ready!!!

Donna

[Geonz]

I actually used the AC yesterday. It's "only" gotten to, I think, 91 here - but nobody is accustomed to that. (It doesn't make me nauseous like your conditions will, but it ain't comfy.) Sleep doesn't happen too easily :-(

[mimitabby]

I'm sick and tired of the heat!!!!

I'm praying for a quick end to this heat. Our water bill and eletricity bills are becoming outrageous!! We almost lost the lawn last year but decided to bite the bullet and keep it watered this year. DH is only cutting it every other week to keep it long so it doesn't lose water as fast. Our neighbors don't like it very much but it still meets city codes.

Is anyone else suffering in this heat wave? How are you coping?

I'm going to the gym right now and using their stationary recumbent but it's not the same.

Bring on fall weather, I'm more than ready!!!

Donna

Take the lawn out, plant cactus? uses less water and won't wilt in the heat!

Sorry you can't ride, that must be a real bummer. But in the winter, you guys get a lot of nice riding weather right?

[KSH]

I hear ya!

100F is my limit. Anything over 100F, I'm not going outside to ride.

Last night and tonight... I will be sitting in a spin class to get some bike time.

The heat is outrageous!

[Tater]

Yup, it is hot here as well. On yesterday afternoon's commute home, I felt like I was riding in a blow dryer! But at least the nights cool down into the upper fifties and we can leave the windows open to suck in as much cool air as possible.

[pooks]

The nights cool down? I'm so jealous!

Monday night when I came home from teaching my class, it was 93 degrees at 10:30!

I was determined to get up early this morning and ride, but I slept so poorly last night all I did was go back to sleep. Now I'm awake and trying to convince myself to go put at least a couple of miles in on the bike, but it's hard to fathom.

Maybe after I finish my latte. It's going to be 90, though.

Yes, this heat is killing me.

Sigh.

[Kano]

Pooks -- yup, it tends to cool down a lot! 10:30 at night it may still be in the 80's but by morning, it's pretty much always below 70. On the other hand, when we get a 40+ degree change during the day, it heats up pretty quickly when the sun comes up! Once we hit 90 or so, though, things slow down, since there's usually not much more than 10-15 degrees to go!

That blow dryer effect, though -- it's amazing! Hot as can be, but it also DRIES us as we ride! I get a kick out of DH: he says he never starts sweating until we stop riding! A neat side effect of this dry heat is that much as I hate being hot, my body seems to love this climate for riding! Muscles and joints seem to really appreciate an afternoon ride, and I spend much less time "warming up" at the beginning of the ride!

Karen in Boise

[pooks]

Um, now that you mention it -- I don't warm up. I just hop on.

[Kano]

Me too, Pooks -- but those first couple of miles, my parts are loosening up, my lungs are just waking up and starting to breathe, etc....

In fact, I think the first three miles are the hardest of any ride for me! DH thinks it's the last ones, but I just slow down on those -- I still feel great!

(DH likes to go early, and I'm not a morning person!)

Karen in Boise

[pooks]

If it were really cool in the mornings, I'd be out the door in a heartbeat. But when it's in the upper 80s anyway, like this morning, I figured I needed sleep more than I needed to ride, and so now am still working myself up to ride!

[MomOnBike]

Miserable here, too.

My semi-regular (bicycle) lunch date had to be moved to breakfast, 'cause I was morally certain that I'd melt on the way to lunch.

Help! I'm melllttiiiinnng!

[bentforlife]

Yes Mimitabby, we do get good riding weather later in the year. but N. TX can have treacherous ice storms at times. Very little snow to have to worry about. Most of the fall, winter and spring brings good riding weather.

As far as the lawn, we really like the grass and it is very heat tolerant. I'm afraid cactus would not do well in the black clay they call soil here(Texas gumbo). We are on watering restrictions but have been able to keep everything alive, including the 40foot Bald Cypress next to the house. It takes more water than most trees but it gives great shade to the porch. I won't let DH chop it down. All the trees have either cypress mulch or ground cover around the roots that keeps the moisture in. I've seen some Xeriscape homes in the area and I just don't like them. I grew up in S. GA and really like having a grass lawn.

The weather people are saying we will "cool down" this weekend and get some rain. I'm not holding my breath.

Stay cool everyone!

Donna

[gringa loca]

Its miserable here in Austin too! I rode last night at 7pm at it was still really hot!

I hope it cools down cuz I'll be in Dallas for the Irongirl Triathlon this weekend!

[Tri Girl]

I'm in OKC, and it's not much better up here. We share much of the same weather as N. Texas. 105 and completely miserable. I'm heading to Houston next week, and although the temp will be lower, I know the humidity will be 50% greater than here (which is surely just as bad).
When I ran this morning at 7 it was 84 and climbing. The riding I don't mind as much, because even when it's like a blow dryer, at least I create my own wind on the bike and can somewhat cool down. I still ride outside, although now it's before noon instead of in the evenings. The thing that bothers me the most is when my ice melts in my water bottles and I'm stuck drinking warm water (and I even freeze my bottles, but they melt too fast).
Oh well, as we approach fall, I know it'll cool down.
We're certainly not alone. Most of the country is experiencing a heat wave. At least we know winter will be here eventually (then I can complain about not being able to ride outside b/c of ice or snow).

Stay cool ladies!

[Lenusik]

Well, I wish I could say that it better here, but it is 113F in Phoenix!
Yes, it is about 95F at 5:30 am, but it get progressively warmer. Because we are in the mansoon season now it is also nasty humid.
Yesterday I had my regular tennis lesson at 5 pm. My coach placed a thermometer on the chair and it was 128F on the court!. This is what we have to deal with here in Phoenix pretty much through September.
Stay hidrated, ladies!