This is Death Valley. A high of 93°F and no humidity to speak of.
This is Kansas City. A high of 94°F and humidity by the truckload.
A quick look at the 4:00 PM stats shows that the heat index was well into the three digits across the metro, peaking at 110 at the KC International Airport.
Several of my friends think I'm insane riding in this. Heat can be dangerous. If you pay attention to your body and you're prepared for it, it's not too big of a deal. I covered some more tips for Surviving Summer over at Bike Commuters. It's an addendum to my original Beating the Heat article.
What are you doing this summer to make riding more comfortable?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Hotter than Death Valley.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Have no idea what the index was in Minneapolis today, but beads, lots of them ran dowm my face despite the 20mph wind that I made.
Drink lots of water, before, during and after!
As long as the sweat rolls, I should be fine.
I am dropping about ten pounds of body fat to make riding more comfortable.
As a natural-born sweater (I look outside and begin to perspire,) I drink water constantly, all day, to ensure I don't dry out. On really hot days, I pack the Camelbak. It makes riding a little more uncomfortable, but I can put ice in it and it will stay refreshing for about three hours. Three liters is enough to drink and rinse my face about every five miles or so.
Haven't experienced any heat here this year yet. We live next to the world's largest air conditioner...Lake Superior. With winds off the lake yesterday I rode to work in 48 degree temps and by the afternoon it was all the way up to 58 degrees. People here complain about it, but I love it because I don't care for the hot stuff.
I've been lightening the load a bit, leaving clothes at work and only taking the notebook home on the weekends. Packing two water bottles for the ride home.
I'm also riding in swim trunks, a 'dry-tech' t-shirt and tevas. My commute is 4.5 miles so I don't find the swim trunks uncomfortable and it makes a world of difference in the afternoon.
Let's see....we haven't had snow in over a month, no frost in over 2 weeks, and I only used 3 layers of clothing to ride comfortably into work this morning. Yup. It must be summer time! Bring it on.
I've been drinking lots of water. Like Rick, I'm a sweater. Saturday I took a nice hot ride, but topped it off by taking a swim in the lake across the street from my house. We didn't have heat like yours, but NJ can get really muggy, so 80 degrees feels worse than it is.
Post a Comment