HQQKEM

July and August in North Carolina. Mornings are cool(ish) and humid, and the ride into work is mostly a downhill dash. Afternoons are broilers-usually mid 90's and stifling humidity. plus after 10-12 hours I'm beat from work. I set out for home but can only seem to make it about half way. My wife is an angel and will gladly come to my rescue, as she is just glad that I'm out getting exercise by trying to commute both ways.
Anymore, I wind up dropping a car off at the office the night before just so I can ride in the next morning and can make it home.

Any one have any tips on motivation/strategies to make it home? In the heat? Up hill? Beaten After work?

Papa Tom

Are you riding in work clothes, or do you change into shorts and a t-shirt, bicycle clothing, etc.?

I have a similar problem in the Fall here in New York. In the mornings, I can pretty much wear my work clothes on the bike and not be too sweaty when I arrive at work. But in the afternoons, the temps can soar and the long jeans I was wearing on the morning commute now feel like an electric heating pad.

Try bringing separate clothing for the ride. As far as the hills, my first suggestion might fix that, too, as looser clothing makes riding, in general, a lot easier.

pdlamb

Gear down, ice down, take it easy, keep spinning.


How far is your commute? How high do you have to climb?

phughes

I have the same issue here in Southern Missouri, although it has been like that all Summer. Yesterday the bike computer read 106F on the road, that along with high humidity. I have to climb hills both to and from work. As others have said, gear down and spin. I have gotten used to it so it just seems normal to me now. Drink lots of water.

alan s 

Leave your phone at work so you have no bailout option. Pretty soon you'll realize you can do it on your own.

rumrunn6

reminds me during the worst of one summer I began stopping 1/2 way home getting a cold drink from the convenience store, might have been a chocolate milk or muscle milk, anyway, I also laid down in the shade of a tree for a minimum of 10 minutes. that seemed to help

Leisesturm

Ewww what is that thing? Looks like it is might be a Koala Bear but I'm not sure. Koala's are usually cute.

tarwheel 

This summer has been brutal in NC, and I sympathize with you. I have been bike commuting for 10 years and I've missed more commutes than ever due to weather this summer. Mornings are fine, if somewhat humid, but the afternoons are miserable. My solution is to simply drive to work on days when the weather is extremely hot and humid. I hate to throw in the towel, but one of my main reasons for cycling is to maintain my health and it's not particularly healthy riding when the heat index is 105-110+

On days when it's not dangerously hot and humid, I make my commute more bearable by wearing breathable cycling gear, carrying a full bottle of cold water and drinking often, sticking to streets that are shady and not as hilly as much as possible, and riding at an easier pace. For me, the hardest days are when the weather first starts getting really hot and I'm not acclimated. However, this summer has been particularly challenging because we've had week after week of extremely hot and humid weather. Supposedly the effects of excessive heat exposure are cumulative, so you run increase the risk from heat exhaustion by riding in it day after day.

HQQKEM

It's 13.5 miles one way with 528 feet of elevation....just long, slow, gradual hills all the way with very little undulation. makes for a long grind at the end of the day. Thanks for the replies. I think I may need to segment it into thirds, taking breaks and resting. I do ride in bike clothes.

KenshiBiker

Getting home after work isn't motivation enough?

canklecat

Don't push it beyond your comfort zone. No reason to. You're not winning any prizes, other than getting home safely. Heat exhaustion or, worse, heat stroke, can injure you physically for years. I pushed myself to heat exhaustion working outdoors about 15 years ago and it took years for me to recover enough even to ride my bike at a loafing pace in summer heat.

The route you showed looks very similar to my rural exercise route, including the distance and hills. In temps below 90F I can usually handle that ride at 12-15 mph without resting, depending on the wind (it's open prairie and often very windy). But the past month I take it slower, around 10-11 mph, and stop halfway for a few minutes to drink water and cool down a bit.

Last Friday I rode about 36 miles in three segments, each with some rest in between, on a day with the feels-like temp above 100F until the return trip home when it dropped into the mid-90s. I made it okay, but was exhausted for the next few days and didn't ride again for three days, the longest break I've taken in the past year.

PatrickGSR94

Oh wow, that would suck in the afternoon. My commute is endless rolling hills, so I have plenty of tough, short climbs and then also downhill sections, in both directions. My house is slightly lower than work, though. I have a couple of spots where I always stop for a break. In the morning I stop at about the halfway point by a gas station, usually only for a minute to take a drink and adjust my clothing, and then again after the biggest hill on the commute, at the middle of an interstate overpass.

In the afternoon I stop in a church driveway because it's a shady spot, and then again after a tough hill near that gas station by the half way point, because that's the first safe turn-off location after the hill in case cars are stuck behind me.

Other than that there's one traffic light about 2/3 the way home that I usually have to stop at anyway.

bmthom.gis

Edit: Saw where you mention you already use cycling clothes
____
Come down to SC for a week of perspective! Joking. I have largely been avoiding commuting in favor of doing group rides this summer, but it's usually still in the upper 90s when we roll at 6:30 PM. If not already, wear bike specific clothes, carry more water than you think you need. For 13 miles, heck go buy a big bag of Skratch Labs hydration mix and carry a bottle full of that (should last you about 20 rides and @ $20 it's a pretty good value: https://www.skratchlabs.com/collecti...iant=864288073) and a bottle of normal water. And maybe even a 3rd bottle with the sole purpose of squirting in your face and on your head from time to time. I know I have gone through almost 2 full bottles in a commute of a similar distance on the worst of summer days. Also, eat a small snack about 20-30 minutes before you roll out. Something like a granola bar.
Carry as little as possible with you, as well. But I think you'll find wearing cycling clothes and carrying enough water will help a lot.

jfowler85

How did the Marines used to put it...ah yes, ntfu.

canklecat

I only remember our Staff Sgt DI hollering "Pain is beautiful, bud!"

RidingMatthew

I have commuted 3169 miles this year in the heat and humidity. I ride anywhere from 11 to 20 miles one way. 600 or more elevation gain give or take. I find drinking a lot of water throughout the day is a great help. When I am hydrated it sure makes things better. My body is better able to cool itself especially when I am wearing biking clothes. I try to ride at a comfortable pace. Some days I just spin a little slower.


I would also recommend making sure you get enough sleep at night and enough sleep before midnight is important.


ps no one should be beating you especially after work. call for help!

CliffordK

That doesn't sound bad.

Practice makes perfect.

I'm not doing regular commuting now, but for example, Mom's house is about 16 miles away. I'll ride there, work hard putting in a few loads of hay, then ride back home. It does usually cool off a lot in the evenings here, and low summer humidity (we get our humidity in the liquid form in the winter).

My rides home are always a little slower than the rides to where I'm going.

I'm not quite sure what happened. I was having a tough time with the 30-40 RT rides a couple of years ago. Then I started getting in more miles. 50 to 100 mile RT rides. A few century-plus rides. And it all became easier.

Anyway, if you always do 27 mile RT rides, then it will take a long time to get habituated. Do a few 50 mile RT rides. Hammer hard on a few rides. Go out on a few 5000 ft climbing rides, and it will get better in general.

Darth Lefty 

Imagine someone you are attracted to, doing the same thing, about ten feet ahead of you and pulling away

Moe Zhoost

Ups and downs on my commute (7-10 miles), but no significant change in elevation. I'd absolutely hate your uphill ride home, but probably figure out a way to embrace it. I don't have much problem with the heat as long as I can keep moving, although I tend to not be as speedy when temps are above mid 90's. Have you thought about lengthening your morning ride and getting picked up for the commute home?

pdlamb

OP, is there an alternate route home that diverts you around the hill in the middle? You may be able to trade a few miles for less climbing.

noglider 

If summers are really that bad, ride more in the winter to make up for it. It doesn't often get so hot that it makes riding unpleasant, so I'm pushing my tolerance for cold weather, not hot weather. Maybe you would want to do the opposite.

dim

HQQKEM

That biggest hill is actually a ridge that runs through the region.When traveling west, go north, climb the hill, go south, climb the hill longer. I have studied maps for a couple of years now trying to navigate it on a shallower, longer grade, but that route seemingly does not exist without plowing through people's front yards or hopping back yard fences
The hills don't bother me so much when the weather starts to cool down. It's just the combination persistent incline and heat that demoralizes me.

RubeRad

Don't beat yourself up for not being able to go fast, take the hill as slow as comfortable. Like if you crawl at 3mph, it's probably not difficult (except for just being outside in the heat/humidity). If that seems ridiculously slow/easy, then bump that up to whatever is faster but still quite easy for you. It's not a race, there's no need to suffer if you don't want to.

Carry two water bottles filled with ice , then fill water in the space between the ice (hopefully you have access to free ice at work -- or maybe you can stop in a convenience store for free ice+water?). Sip often. Squirt some on your head (into helmet vent holes) once in a while.

You could also give yourself a multimodal commute, drive your bike to a good place to park partway to work, then ride the rest of the way, and ride back to your car.

Or hey, if your wife really is glad to pick you up partway home, maybe just stick with that solution? Maybe plan ahead with her that you can meet her at a specific place and time, she can plan to include some necessary errands or shopping when she's out to meet you.

bigbenaugust 

+1 for this ridiculous NC summer. Thanks to family leave, I had a month off in June when it all started. But I have been half-time since and riding home at noon is a killer. Then coming home to two kids who don't want to go anywhere because it's so hot... oh man. I have just been keeping the water bottle full and waiting for fall.