How hot is too hot?
#26
my nose itches
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I have actually grown to love the heat. I take it easy on days above 95 but since I would miss most the summer here if I skipped 100+ days, I learned to cope by slowing down, making sure I take a small break midway through, and drink plenty of water before and during. I would much rather ride in the heat than in the cold.
#27
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So far I haven't found my upper limit. I did some rides at 105-110°F with relative humidity under 20% when I was living in Ciudad Juarez and have had lots of mid-90s with relative humidity between 70 and 90% while I've been living in northern Virginia. Most days I take an extended route, but if I'm feeling too hot on the evening commute, I'll just dial it back and take the direct route home. I managed numerous 50 - 100 mile rides in 90° weather last summer, and as long as I took breaks, kept hydrated, and replaced electrolytes, I seemed to come through them just fine. I learned my lesson three years ago when I tried to stretch a 60 mile ride into a 100 mile ride with insufficient fluids and bonked at mile 62.
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Haven't decided what it'll be yet, but when I'm too sweaty/smelly in the morning, that says it's time to stop until it cools down a bit.
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#29
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The soles of my shoes have such excellent traction that I can run on smooth flagstone and perform an instant dead-stop that threatens to blow my knees out. On my other shoes, I've slipped while walking and had to perform a roll-in-place in a revolving door to avoid damaging my hips/back/head... aikido is cool. They have excellent traction on wet and dry surfaces of all types (wet rocks in rivers, wet pavement, wet smooth stone, wet concrete, wet metal), as well as unstable surfaces like mud and gravel and snow, and considerable traction on ice.
These shoes won't handle fire; but the soles are operationally rated up to a minimum of 300 degrees Celsius and they retain flexibility and traction characteristics down to a maximum of -25 degrees Celsius.
I wish I could get slicks made of this compound.
These shoes won't handle fire; but the soles are operationally rated up to a minimum of 300 degrees Celsius and they retain flexibility and traction characteristics down to a maximum of -25 degrees Celsius.
I wish I could get slicks made of this compound.
#30
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#31
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You think a bead of water will stop high traction rubber compound from getting a grip on smooth, solid surfaces? It takes 13 pounds of pressure to break a knee joint, a fact that came to my attention when learning how to react to life threatening situations by (imagine) breaking somebody's knee off. Go figure, my teacher has a degree in physiology and is a chiropractor (the joint-cracking type, not the voodoo-magic type); he's scary, he can tell you where every critical blood vessel and organ is, how to strike and where to strike and how hard to strike to destroy things and disable or kill people.
You're supposed to bend your knees if you experience shock in your knees. Runners know not to make instant turns; it can be done under full running force, but you're putting so much stress on the joint you'll eventually damage it, possibly even cause severe joint damage just by shifting your weight the wrong way as you come down hard and brace your momentum against the leg. You don't want to jump as high as you can and come straight down on locked knees, you'll severely damage your knees and hips dead-dropping weight on them. How fast do you imagine you need to move to cause knee damage coming down to a hard stop without bending them and shifting your weight to keep a stable base?
I do intentionally test the traction of both my shoes and my tires, often by running and then stopping hard on various surfaces, wet and dry. I'm actually fairly surprised you didn't take issue with vulcanized rubber rated to maintain structural integrity above the temperature at which vulcanized rubber breaks down. Of course I've seen even more magical compound: rubber soles that don't print, so you can trudge through oil and you leave no oily footprints when you walk out of it because the oil doesn't stick to the shoe. Beat that one. Mine aren't of that particular composition which, by the way, is also rated for repeated and continuous use in operating temperatures 300 degrees Celsius and below as the standard working environment.
Geeze. Shoes that are made specifically to spend hours a day in environments humans can't function in for more than a minute. Now I've got to wonder why...
You're supposed to bend your knees if you experience shock in your knees. Runners know not to make instant turns; it can be done under full running force, but you're putting so much stress on the joint you'll eventually damage it, possibly even cause severe joint damage just by shifting your weight the wrong way as you come down hard and brace your momentum against the leg. You don't want to jump as high as you can and come straight down on locked knees, you'll severely damage your knees and hips dead-dropping weight on them. How fast do you imagine you need to move to cause knee damage coming down to a hard stop without bending them and shifting your weight to keep a stable base?
I do intentionally test the traction of both my shoes and my tires, often by running and then stopping hard on various surfaces, wet and dry. I'm actually fairly surprised you didn't take issue with vulcanized rubber rated to maintain structural integrity above the temperature at which vulcanized rubber breaks down. Of course I've seen even more magical compound: rubber soles that don't print, so you can trudge through oil and you leave no oily footprints when you walk out of it because the oil doesn't stick to the shoe. Beat that one. Mine aren't of that particular composition which, by the way, is also rated for repeated and continuous use in operating temperatures 300 degrees Celsius and below as the standard working environment.
Geeze. Shoes that are made specifically to spend hours a day in environments humans can't function in for more than a minute. Now I've got to wonder why...
#32
Descends like a rock
I don't know that there is a temp where I will not ride. I may ride less and ride slower, but I'll still ride. I cut a 200k short this weekend mostly due to the 100deg temps. Last summer, I did most of my riding in the evenings.
#33
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It's gotten over 100 here maybe once since I started commuting regularly. I just take it easy and keep hydrated. A lot I think would depend on your particular commute. I don't have to go far out of my way to incorporate a swim if it came down to that. I stop by a beach in the mornings to get in a swim once or twice a week during the summer anyway.
I met a person back in college that claimed to not like temps over 70 but I thought he was just some sort of anomaly or was out and out lying. To me low to mid 80's and low humidity are about ideal. As long as the humidity is low I don't mind 90 degree weather either, but it's rare that it gets that warm without the humidity climbing up there too.
I met a person back in college that claimed to not like temps over 70 but I thought he was just some sort of anomaly or was out and out lying. To me low to mid 80's and low humidity are about ideal. As long as the humidity is low I don't mind 90 degree weather either, but it's rare that it gets that warm without the humidity climbing up there too.
#34
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Sometimes (during that first week in August) when it's sweltering and you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, riding a bike is one of the only ways to cool down. Moving along gives you a slight breeze, and headwinds suddenly turn into a good thing. But this doesn't apply to climbing hills, and unfortunately going to work involves a lot of climbing for me.
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Arizona desert. As mentioned, 110+ is routine for summer and I'm in it every day. And shade? What's that? Conditioning, acclimation, and hydration are the three necessary high-end components that you must put on your bike for dealing with these extreme temps. I actually enjoy the heat. I tend to see riding in it as my own little eco-challenge.
#36
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Was 91F today, 40% humidity, and we've got plenty more heat to go... I rode. But I can't lie, when I was riding out of the parking lot feeling the waves of heat coming up, I questioned my sanity. Once I got rolling, it wasn't that bad.
HYDRATION.
HYDRATION.
#37
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#39
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Anything higher than 95F, 80% humidity is too high without special cooling equipment.
If I remember to bring my spray bottle loaded with ice water , I can push up to 105F, 90% Humidity for 2 hours, or until I have no water to mist/spray myself anymore.
By the way I found cold weather much easier to deal with... My lowest operating temperature: -14F, windchill -20F...
If I remember to bring my spray bottle loaded with ice water , I can push up to 105F, 90% Humidity for 2 hours, or until I have no water to mist/spray myself anymore.
By the way I found cold weather much easier to deal with... My lowest operating temperature: -14F, windchill -20F...
Last edited by JimJimex; 05-31-11 at 05:04 PM.
#41
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Believe it or not, you get used to it. That doesn't mean I like it though.
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#42
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And I would never even imagine being a bicycle commuter there... When the entire public transit system is sooo good and comfortable with their air conditioning...
#43
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How hot is to hot depends on what you're used to. Somebody who lives in Phoenix or Dallas probably has a much different idea of what's to hot than somebody who lives in Anchorage or Nova Scotia.
#44
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Today's high in DC was 98ºF. I figured if this guy didn't melt standing in the sun wearing leather jacket and wool hat, I wouldn't either. He doesn't look real happy about the situation though.
Madam Tussauds Wax Museum
A shop owner trying desperately to sell her ice cream before it melts. The power had been out for a while in that part of town when I rolled through. Solution, unplug the freezer and roll it down the street... I would have bought one (25 cents), but I was confused about what I was seeing until I thought about it later.
I took my backpack off for the ride home.
Madam Tussauds Wax Museum
A shop owner trying desperately to sell her ice cream before it melts. The power had been out for a while in that part of town when I rolled through. Solution, unplug the freezer and roll it down the street... I would have bought one (25 cents), but I was confused about what I was seeing until I thought about it later.
I took my backpack off for the ride home.
#45
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Today was the first day here that felt really hot. Instead of the wind feeling like a cool breeze, it felt like someone was blowing a hairdryer in my face. Drank water like it was going out of style. It was only 95 degrees, but the humidity was miserable. I think humidity is more of a deterrent for me.
#47
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#48
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96º? Quit whining, it was 98 here today. The average high for the hottest month in Auburn is 90º, so I'm not sure how can be hotter than that most days...
#49
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https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...st?query=36830
Greater than 90 degrees every day this week, and having lived here for 24 years...yes it is hotter than 90 most summer days.
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Greater than 90 degrees every day this week, and having lived here for 24 years...yes it is hotter than 90 most summer days.
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#50
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The current temperature in Auburn is 81ºF. It's currently 86ºF here. I hope you survive your heat wave.
The statistical evidence in not in agreement with your claims.
The statistical evidence in not in agreement with your claims.