Roody

Just a short time ago, my car-addled friends were telling me that they couldn't ride because it was too cold. Now they say it's too hot. They always have an excuse handy for driving their climate controlled cars. There might be two or three days a year when the weather is actually suitable for being outdoors, they claim.

For you, is it just a matter of acclimation, or do you have some tips that would help people beat the heat on their bikes?

DavidLee

There is a nice thread going on over in the General Forum discussing this, 99F + is here, so do you have any riding tips?

Artkansas 

I'm not sure it's so much acclimation as perception. People who will spend hundreds of dollars to go skiing far away, will tell you that it's too cold to bicycle in their home town. I've pedaled in 120 degree heat, where the tires start to soften if you stop at a stop light. My bike was hot, but the wind I created kept me comfortable. At the same time I observed that I was actually cooler than those in cars without air conditioning.

So I know that its not the conditions, rather than the perception of the conditions. Other than imitating Glenda the Good Witch and encouraging the motor munchkins to "Come out, Come Out, Where ever you are..." I'm not sure what to suggest.

DataJunkie

Silly people. If the temps were perfect all year round it would be a different excuse.

MichaelW

If people think that riding a bike is so tough and demanding why the expression "It's as easy as riding a bike" ?

nick95673

Some people are uncomfortable with making blanket statements so they qualify everything.. You know these guys. "I don't like chocolate because it hurts my teeth" "I hate computers because I type so slowly" "I hate cats because they scratch and make me sneeze" I hate punctuation because I dont understand it" Does it matter why they don't like it? So people get in to the rut of having to qualify negative statements. They would feel uncomfortable saying "I hate the idea of riding a bike to work even if it was downhill both ways" So they lie to you and make up lame excuses.

I hate soccer.

jamesdenver

I'm only hot at the stop lights. Got home the other day and didn't even realize it was 99.

On a related "complaining" note -- I'm taking Spanish lessons and recently learned the concept of reflexive verbs, which means the person that INITIATES the action RECEIVES it. i.e. I awoke myself, so even if the alarm clock wakes you, YOU are doing the waking up.

My teacher made an interesting cultural point, the phrases, "You bore me", or "You make me angry", are used differently. i.e. "Yo me aburrido" means "I bore myself". So regardless of WHERE the emotion comes from, YOU are having the emotion, not so much someone causing it. Hence it causes you to be responsible for the feelings you're having, at least in the gramatical sense.

Made me think about things people say (like the above posts), which BLAME people and THINGS (objects are sort of silly), for feelings THEY have.

timmhaan

they're just wussies. plain and simple.

manual_overide

to be honest, if it's above 98.6 degrees outside and the humidity is above 85% or so, I really don't like even going outside, much less riding and putting myself in a position to get heat stroke. Days like that are the "Make some iced tea and post to BF all afternoon" days

jimmuter

I always reply positively when someone complains about the weather. If they say that it's getting really hot outside, I'll say "Great! I love hot weather". That happened yesterday and the person I was talking to said, "I thought you liked cold weather." I said I do. I like all weather. It may be psychological, but I feel that riding my bike in all sorts of weather helps me moderate my temperature better. I feel comfortable in a wide range of temperatures.

chennai

I just say, as I say during the winter, "it's a lot [cooler|warmer] when you're riding." And, it's true.

I would hate to get into a car in January - for the first 15 minutes, it would be like being immersed in liquid nitrogen. You can't move around in a car; you just sit there passively and suffer. Same deal with a car that sits outside on a hot day - it's a bloody oven for 15 minutes. (And the roaring air conditioner isn't so nice after that.)

Artkansas 

Yeah, on one summer day I got home from work and took a shower. My ex-wife arrived soon after and she couldn't believe that I hadn't realized that the air conditioner was broken. Seemed cool to me.

Lamplight

I work in a warehouse with no air conditioning. It would take some serious heat for it to be too hot for me to ride.

!!Comatoa$ted

If they say that there are only 2 or 3 days a year that are suitable that may mean that they may ride to work. Find out when those days are and then tell them that you will meet them in the morning and ride with them. If they give in just a bit you may convince them to give in a bit more. But then again there may be another excuse, like I have to do the groceries or something like that.

When I worked in air conditioning all-day and then rode in an air-conditioned vehicle it always hot or to cold out. I suffered miserably. Whenever the temperature would go above about 77F-25C I would suffer dearly, and the cold that I never noticed before the car was always there in the winter.

Now that I do not have a car winters are very enjoyable again, and the heat does not seem that oppressive anymore. I actually like going outside and enjoying the day, instead of having my environment artificially controlled.

I think you would have to get rid of the car or at least reduce dependence on it so one can experience travelling outside the bubble. Your friends may also think that biking is for children and grownups drive cars not ride bikes to get around. They could also be lazy or too addicted to their cars to see biking as any good at all. It may be that excuses for not riding a bike are just rationalising their choice to drive. To get to work you just get in the car and go. If you have a bike you have to adjust clothing for the weather, you could get a flat, the roads are too busy, you will be sweaty at work, it's to hot out, I have to carry lunch on my back, I cant have a coffee while going into work.

Now I think some of us, especially me, see biking to work as just hopping on the bike and going to work. Whereas if I take the car I have to get gas, pay for a coffee that I can drink on the way to work, put up with traffic jams, be delayed by accidents, worry about the next car payment, find a parking spot that is free. Then I still feel tired when I get to work. I will also have to warm up my car for 15 minutes if it is cold, do a million errands on the way home during the gridlock because I have a car and can carry lots of stuff. By the time I get home I will be pissed off and wasted all my free time doing stuff that I did not want to do.

Do your friends work outside in the weather, or do they work in a climate-controlled environment?

Personally for me as soon as I got away from the air conditioned work place and started spending most of my days outside, and now working in a place without air-conditioning I do not get as bothered by the heat.

gregtheripper

spending a lot of time in a/c can make a big difference. i don't think i am going to bother installing the window a/c's in my apt even though it gets very hot since its an 80-90 year old building. my windows are bay style and i have three of them so i can get some good airflow i guess. i really dislike people who pump the a/c, like in my office, because sometimes i need a sweatshirt to keep warm. however, even when i used to drive i preferred keeping the windows open as long as practically possible (ie, when not on the highway going fast) because the compressor had an effect on gas mileage/performance. as long as i have some water and comfortable clothing i am good to go.

i guess it boils down to: a lot of people are wimps? ah, life.

CommuterRun

People that don't want to ride will always find an excuse rather than admit they just don't want to.

Ever notice how it always seems to be the people that just have to have air conditioning that are the ones complaining about the heat? We don't run the AC at all in the house. Didn't use it for the three years I was stationed on Okinawa, either. Whether working or recreating outside in the middle of the day, not using the AC at home makes a big difference in how much more comfortable you'll feel.

Not to mention the wasted eletricity and the electric bill.

manual_overide

my apt is in the basement of a building, so it stays pretty nice down here all the time. the only time i ever feel the need to run the ac is when the humidity gets pretty high. even then i only need it for a few minutes.

The temp isn't really a big deal unless there is high humidity. Your body relies on evaporation to cool itself. If the temp outside is higher than body temp, and the humidity is high enough that sweat will not evaporate as quickly as the body needs it to, it is dangerous to do strenuous activity outside because of the risk of overheating and heat stroke.

dracula rides

My commute in July and august will be 115 on average. Lots of water and sun tan lotion!

I-Like-To-Bike

Just curious - Do "they" come to you and gratuitously offer up reasons for not riding bicycles or are you nagging everybody in order to record their "excuses" and to give you something else to feel superior about? Why do "they" feel compelled to explain their reasons to you for their actions for you to mock?

Is it really necessary to go into another rant about the "car-addled" in order to ask other cyclists for tips on how to beat the heat?

lyeinyoureye

I wouldn't want to ride in hot or cold conditions if the humidity is above 20%, then again I wouldn't want to live there either...

chennai

Actually, my colleagues discuss the weather/bike issue a fair amount - spontaneously. But, maybe that's because we're less apt to find fault with what others are saying, doing, and posting than folks from Burlington, Iowa.

I-Like-To-Bike

In many areas of the country people can discuss the weather without a preceding whinny political rant about the foibles of "them."

Roody

One thing I noticed is that the Rivertrail where I live is empty all winter (except for me and like one other guy). Then for a couple weeks in spring it's so crowded that you can't make any headway through it. But now, with the temp over 85 degrees, the trail is back to being empty again. So this fickleness isn't confined to my friends.

I think the reason is partly that people today don't have the opportunity to get acclimated to heat or cold. As soon as something feels uncomfortable for one minute, they have to stop, so they never get to the point where it's comfortable again. Another part of the reason might be lack of fitness. Years ago when I was sedentary and in poor shape, I sweated so much that I couldn't stand the muggy weather. Now I barely sweat at all, unless I'm working extremely hard.

aikigreg

It's been > 95 here for quite a while, and it definately takes some getting used to, along with some planning on WHEn I'll be riding (since I'm jobless over the summer, I get to choose). Funny how most of the time I choose to go at 3pm anyway. My only complaint is that I HATE HATE HATE putting sunblock on.

Would be a great thread for someone to start though - how to beat the beat. Personally, I've been trying those kerchiefs that you soak in water that swell up and supposedly keep you cool for hours, but I can't say its been too successful so far.

chennai

I guess I missed the "whiney political rant." (I just re-read the OP and missed it again.)