Commuting - Old bikers

Well, today, I (gasp!) drove to work becuase I had a lot of stuff to haul in. But, not wanting to loose out on a chance to ride, I went home over the noon hour, and grabbed my Roubaix and headed back to work! I rode along with the temperature a balmy 97, and actually did okay.
Just a few minutes ago, I walked across the street to the local market to get a banana to start preparing myself for the ride home. (I've been pushing water all afternoon, too.) I noticed that it seemed quite warm...and when I checked on the bank, it was showing the temp at 111. I figured that todays ride home was going to be a slow one!
Just a minute ago, the SO called, and advised me that our dinner guests for the evening were there, and worrried about yours truly riding home in the heat...isn't that sweet?? They even offered to come and pick the bike and I up in their new SUV! After putting up just the right amount of protests, I finally acquiesced to their demands. Fortunately, I am not a dumb as I might appear!
I figure there are old bikers, and bold bikers, and I want to live to be an old, bold biker!
Hope you all have a great weekend! Drink lots of your favorite beverage, and be safe!

There's no dishonor in wanting to live. Catch a ride home when you must... cars aren't evil... they're useful things, sometimes. (Our car culture, however, IS evil. Trust me.)

Biking in 100+ temps is just as potentially deadly as biking in sub-zero weather. You have to be EXTREMELY careful! Or obsessed... or an idiot, as I've been called.

Here in H*ll... uh, Georgia... we have long (say, 10 months) summers, with dawn seeing 75 degrees & 90% humidity, and the mid afternoon highs climbing to well over 100 degrees, with heat indices approaching 110. Man, the very air gets kinda chewy. When I was a kid, I judged the day by how many quarters I could stick to my forehead after a ride home. It's not atypical to step outside at 11:00 pm to put out the trash, and it's still over 90 degrees!

My morning commute isn't too bad in the summer... usually requires a quick sponge bath and a quart of ice water after I arrive at work. The ride home is surreal... like someone's got a 1600W hair dryer aimed at me the whole way home! Once I get home, I strip down to just my spandex bike shorts and turn the backyard garden hose on myself. Mind you, here's this balding, sweat drenched 42 year old man standing in his back yard, mostly naked, hosing himself down and screaming from the shock of the cold water. Yeaow! It's like being electrocuted! If I wasn't in such good cardio-vascular condition, I'd worry about the possibility of inducing a stroke...

PS, I know which anti-perspirants actually work. The list is short.

In winter here, the temperatures often (usually) fall below 0 F (-17.78 C).

I think it is safer and more comfortable riding in sub-zero temperatures than riding in 95+ degrees in humidity.

You can always put more clothes on to stay warm, but there is a limit as to how much you can take off to get cool.

The limit for me is when the temperatures fall below -20 F )-33.89 C). At that temperature, it is just too dangerous. My toes got painfully frostbitten with only a five mile commute once and that set the limit for me.

By the same token, probably about 100 degrees F (37.78 C) with high humidity would probably be the limit for me at the high end.

It is kind of interesting to note that at subsero temperatures, you can't stop and get off you bike to warm up. You have to keep moving to stay warm.

By the same token, at super high temperatures, it is the same thing. You can't really stop to cool off because it doesn't get any cooler. If anything, the wind from biking sometimes helps you cool off.

Hey, this might lead to an interesting thread; "what are your temperature limits"?

Nebill, your friends were helpful that day, but I tend to encounter the dark side of friends' helpfulness. :rolleyes: At this time of year, my spouse and I each bicycle more than 100 miles a week. However, we occasionally have one of our friends try to do us a "favor" by offering us a car ride of a mile or so on days that are quite agreeable to bicycling. We're usually polite in the way that we decline the offer though, since we know that if a bike chain suddenly breaks, having someone who offers to give you rides is helpful.

What a great thread! (Of course, at 61 I'm a tiny bit prejudiced. :D)

Trust old (ha), bold (definitely) Nebill to start this one! :beer:

I think I'll stay home and play with smilies ;) today, because the heat index in KC is supposed to reach 118 degrees F. (Mike, convert that to C. please) today, and I almost succombed to heat exhaustion yesterday--could not even get in the front door with my bike till I rested a while; got confused on the ride home. I didn't know ahead of time how hot it was. Found out the heat index then was something like 110. So.... :(

Yeah, Mike, a thread on temperature limits would be very interesting. I've ridden in -2 deg. F a couple of times with no ill effect, wearing wind-front tights, probably a Gore-Tex jacket, and good booties, and Thinsulate gloves, and a balaclava with snot running down and dripping off the chin.

But nothing like your upper-snowy-Midwest temps! :eek:

Originally posted by Stumon
There's no dishonor in wanting to live. Catch a ride home when you must... cars aren't evil... they're useful things, sometimes. (Our car culture, however, IS evil. Trust me.) [...] It's not atypical to step outside at 11:00 pm to put out the trash, and it's still over 90 degrees!
Exactly my feeling on car culture vs. real utility of cars, Stumon. Thank you! I'm glad there are ambulances and fire trucks and police cars, and ways to deliver necessary goods, and ways to get home in an emergency. But that doesn't mean acres and acres have to be paved over for parking so people can drive a quarter of a mile and park again to buy a case of motor oil at Costco. Or that people need to cruise around polluting the air for no purpose. There's just nothing but insanity in 80% of car use today.

As for temps, it was 90 degrees F. here last night at 11 PM. Ouch. And this is not too atypical. Humidity: over 50%. So not exactly a picnic....

What ever happened to the Pioneer spirit. Do you think those wagon train travellers took a look at the thermometer and
"Gee honey, its too hot to do any pioneering today).
OK, so a fair few dropped dead, but thats what made America great.

Originally posted by MichaelW
What ever happened to the Pioneer spirit. Do you think those wagon train travellers took a look at the thermometer and
"Gee honey, its too hot to do any pioneering today).
OK, so a fair few dropped dead, but thats what made America great.
Yeah, but, you know, they were a different breed then: no TV or Playstations, no air conditioning, ate healthy food like buffalo gristle, jimson-weed pancakes, snakes...


It's a whole 'nother ballgame today.

If we limited our riding to sub-95 degree days we wouldn't get much riding in. We often go 30+ days where the temp. hits 100+ every day. Of coarse if it drops below 60, I get out the PlayStation.

I think the humidity makes the big difference. As I tap out these words on my sweaty keyboard, the humidity in Kansas City is 65%; in Phoenix at this same moment, it's 29%. Big difference!

Also, with more extremely high temperature days, you Arizonans become more acclimated to the high temps--witness your shivering at 60 degrees.

Now, when it's 40 to 60 degrees I'm happy as can be.

To cycle safely in hot (or even hot and humid) weather, you must stay hydrated and slow down to avoid overexertion or overheating. If you take these precautions, the heat is unpleasant, but not life-threatening.

Stumon you described Gaw-gia quite accurately! :(

I think this may be the funniest thread we've had in awhile! I was having to contain my laughter to avoid creating a disturbance in the office! :D

Originally posted by AlphaGeek
I was having to contain my laughter to avoid creating a disturbance in the office! :D
If people ask what's so funny, you can always tell them you were reviewing your 401-k statement. :D

Riding in hot weather is definitely something to consider where I live. It's not Arizona, but it definitely gets warm.

Two years ago I made a commitment to myself to use my bike to commute to work at least three days a week, rain or shine, hot weather or no. It's 12 miles each way, door-to-door. Fortunately it doesn't snow here, so that doesn't get in the way :)

If it's going to be a hot day (personally defined as over 95 degrees), Sequoia (the bike) and I ride in the morning, and then we take the bus home that night. Cuts the 12 miles down to about 2, which is much more manageable in hot weather.

There have been a couple of times when I've ridden home on over 95-degree temperatures, and I definitely find myself riding slower, taking it easy; I also bring along two water bottles -- one to drink from, the other to keep the jersey wet for some evaporative cooling :D!

Remember to wear sunscreen on hot days!! It lowers your skin temp by 20%!!!!

Originally posted by fubar5
Remember to wear sunscreen on hot days!! It lowers your skin temp by 20%!!!!
I know you're right, Fubar, but I hate sunscreen because it's so slimy and messy. It makes me feel yecchy from before I even go out the door. I know, I know, this is no excuse. You're right. I'm wrong. But that's how I feel.... I wish they'd come up with a dry sunscreen. (But then it would probably be even more expen$ive.)
:crash:

Also, when I sweat, it washes the sunscreen into my eyes, where it burns and even obscures my vision. There are probably more waterproof brands available, but I don't usually fool with it on a commute.

Speaking of which, I'm about to start my commute home - the temp is around 102 here at the university. Only 21% humidity and 10 to 20 mph crosswinds, so it shouldn't be too bad.

c~

Originally posted by HogWild
Also, when I sweat, it washes the sunscreen into my eyes, where it burns and even obscures my vision. There are probably more waterproof brands available, but I don't usually fool with it on a commute.
c~


Eeww!!!! That sounds yucky. Have you tried Coppertone sport? that works for me. But I know what you guys mean by slimy and messy, it gets annoying.

Originally posted by fubar5
Remember to wear sunscreen on hot days!! It lowers your skin temp by 20%!!!!

This is so automatic for me, I don't even think about it. With extremely fair skin that freckles and burns rather than tans ;) (thanks to some very recent redheads in the family tree), it's SPF45 for me every time I'll be outside for more than about 5 minutes.

As far as getting sunscreen into the eyes, it doesn't go above my eyes. The helmet and sunglasses (or a brimmed hat if I'm not riding) eliminate the need.

Stevef, I sympthize with you too. I tend to burn up easily, but putting on sunscreen is not automatic for me, I usually just deal with the burn.It sucks

Well, I felt like ole Fubar was nagging me, so I did put on 45-strength sunscreen today before I went out, and I have to admit this was the coolest feeling ride I've taken in many weeks, and it was over 90 degrees and little if any breeze today. So there may be something to it.

I used to use sunscreen a lot when I commuted daily. Hated it but felt I needed to do it. I was kind of less liberal with it today and it went on a lot neater--maybe I'll do that from now on.