The Weak Link

:snicker:

Stig O'Tracy

Heat tolerance is a very much an individual thing. Some people just cannot take it and others can to varying degrees. I'll put in my flame suit here, but it seems that a large percentage of whites just melt in the sun. My Irish (first gen) wife has no ability to exert in the heat. OTOH, despite my English-Scottish parentage, I got the "dark" gene from my dad and can handle the heat, and yes I do mean that literally. Pops and I both have much more melanin than my mother and brother. The downside is that neither of us can like or can handle the cold very well.

10 Wheels

at 68 years I might be past the make over.
Thanks for your reply.

cyclinfool

10 Wheels - That big gear on the cassette looks like a dinner plate! With that and your small ring in the front you should be able to climb any hill in the great state of TX and as I recall you'd need to travel west of Austin to find one.

10 Wheels

Front 50/39/24
Rear 11/32
Austin or Big Bend

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=539309

chipcom 

Good point...you're at the age where only a good wax job will do the trick

Hermes

When I first saw the title, I thought that would be impossible and opened the thread looking for some pics of hotties.

JanMM

Hot! Well, could be worse - we're hanging around 90F this afternoon. Riding home from work, cutting through an apartment complex that has seen better times, I noted a dumpster that had smoke and flames shooting from it. Hot!
(Hung around until the FD arrived - someone had already called 911)

wrafl

With the weather like today, it was too hot to ride but you only feel it when you stop for a short break. I would say keep on moving and you won't feel it and keep hydrated. It's tempting to lay down on someones lawn when they have the sprinklers on to cool off but I cool off by drenching myself with water when I happen to be near a water fountain and can refill my water bottle with fresh cooler water.

billydonn

Very sensible... it is not only heat that gets to me, but also radiant energy. IMO when the air is warm clouds are a glorious thing!

dmann

I'd rather too hot than too cold! I just shorten the loops, add routes with more shade and embrace the heat. I actually tried the Gatorade G2 perform (50/50 w/H2O) not to bad. I wear std shorts, a hat under the helmet and my favorite warm weather jersey which is a NorthFace GTD flight series crew neck tee that I received as a gift on my 54th from my oldest daughter...good to go, nothing over 20 miles when its > 95.

plumberroy

I'm 2 years short of the 50 thing , But I know what Ive been doing the last couple days I left the bike at home and got the kayak out .Ive been paddleing up and down the lake (on the shady side ) for an hour in the evenings

Daspydyr 

You have to ride in it to get acclimated. Saturday I started at 7:30 (81 degrees) and finished by 11:00. (97 degrees) The desert SW don't have humidity which I think is a plus. After a half hour break I was able to help clean the house and wash our SUV. 108 by then.

But I have learned that I can't pamper myself, the more I push through my own excuses the better off I am.

This time last year I couldn't even golf with a cart I was so out of shape. Cycling has really given me a lot of life back. OH YEAH, Sunday afternoon, after a 20 mile morning ride. At the end of the front 9 I was still on my first bottle of Gatorade. Cycling did it for me and pushing through the excuses, thats the ticket.

Daspydyr 

Sounds Great!

Consularrider

Yesterday was the first time I've ridden in 100+ temperatures in over 15 years. We've been so close other days this year that I find that I have gotten somewhat used to it. With my eye on the 150+ mile Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) in two weeks, I have been working on getting longer rides in on weekends, managed a relatively flat 104 mile ride ten days ago with 97 degrees, and extended my daily commutes. Even finally managed to learn to do a better job of fluid intake and sometimes feel more like the Energizer bunny than something the cat dragged in.

DnvrFox

It was REALLY hot here today. I started out at about 7:00 am and it was all the way up to 50F and drizzling a bit. I rode for several hours and it is now all the way up to 60F, still a bit cloudy. I even had to take my jacket and long-sleeve jersey off!!

It's tough around here.

stapfam

Don't often get above 90 over here but it does occur. Unfortunately with high Humidity at the same time so makes for a tiring ride. But 30 odd years ago I worked in France. Race meetings in Northern France did have the high temps and really high humidity. Frowned on now but we took salt tablets. One meeting at Le Mans and we hot. Got there at 1pm and by 2pm when we had unloaded the van- We were tired- no energy and wringing wet. Cup of coffee- one salt tablet and by 4pm we had finished practice and were on the way to the hotel. None of the other teams could practice till late evening so missed dinner.

Can't get the salt tablets now but the Isotonic drinks work just aswell. Still have to drink a lot but the humidity just does not seem affect as much . And last trip to France and I used to go out late morning in the heat and still get about 4,000ft of climbing in and about 30 miles before late lunch. The temp was often way up but being in the mountains- the humidity was low. Still had to replace liquids after the ride though but French Beer is low in alcohol so quite refreshing

BluesDawg

That's about the nicest way of saying "HTFU" I've ever read.

DnvrFox

When I used to fight forest fires in the summer in So Cal in the late 1950's and early 1960's, salt tabs were standard issue, and, yes, they did perk one up. I am not sure why they are out of favor now. When fighting the fires in high temperatures, carrying heavy hoses, digging fire line, etc,. and the heat of the fire, you sweated a LOT. Of course, we had never heard of Gatorade, etc.

Retired

Today I rode in 92 degree heat. I didn't go fast, drank a lot of water, but after a certain temp you just can't catch your breath. Extreme heat ( over 95) does not bother me.

doctor j

I went down to Louisiana around three weeks ago. I rode about 45 miles on one particular outing, and that's all I wanted. Heat + humidity reached out and touched me. I'm getting soft up here in the hills.

With regard to salt tabs, I can remember them as well. I'm using Hammer Endurolytes to keep the electrolytes up, and they seem to work fairly well. One might consider them as an alternative to salt. They contain sodium (as NaCl), potassium, calcium, magnesium, B-6, and manganese. I seem to get a little boost a while after I take one, they keep the muscles firing, and I don't cramp.

And finally, as another has posted, I'll take hot over cold any day. This business of washing a washing machine full of stuff after a frigid after-work ride is for the birds.

Beverly

It was in the low 90's today but we kept cool by riding a shaded trail

The heat sure didn't keep the animals away - we saw 2 turtles, 2 deer, a squirrel and a snake along one section of the trail.

Xenia to Waynesville 005..jpg

ciocc_cat

Uh, can you say "Global Warming"? Sure you can (unless you're a Limbaugh-worshiping "Ditto Head"). Been coming at us since the last mini Ice Age ended. Hotter summers, colder winters, more severe screwy weather. Mother Nature in all her glorious action - just get used to it. No political slant implied, just good ol' applied Historical Geology (30-plus years in the profession).

When it is really hot, I ride my Ciocc on my wind trainer in the air conditioning. Hot weather problem solved . . .

BikeWNC

I wanted to ride but the rain, hail and sleet suggested otherwise. It was a comfortable 41Fº here on Trail Ridge Road today.

AndrewP

On the way home last night, I asked a person washing his car with a spray gun to soak me. Two female police bikers coming the opposite way, then crossed over the road and got the same treatment.