mtb_addict

I realize now that sunrise riding is quite dangerous.

I headed out an hour earlier this morning, heading East.

Took same route like every day before.

Today...I heard car tire screech behind me. My guess is the driver didn't see me until the last second...becuase of the sun glare on the horizon. In certain spots on the road, it's totally blinding.

Tundra_Man 

Very nice morning. A little warm and sticky, but not enough to keep me from going for an extra 18 mile ride before work. Consecutive commute number 111 is in the bag.

Stepped on the scale after I arrived at work and was amazed to see the number 193 staring back at me. A year and a half ago that number would have been more than 60 pounds heavier. I think I'm a little dehydrated after my sweaty ride which would make the scale read light, but I was also wearing clothes and shoes so I'm guessing those two things balanced each other out. The 18 months of feeling hungry is finally paying off.

PatrickGSR94

blahhh I haven't ridden all week so far, not since my 38 mile ride last Saturday. Massive heat wave around here, afternoon highs about to touch 100 with heat indices above 110. I just haven't felt like riding this week.

Tuesday morning I was loaded up and just barely went down the street about 6:15 when I realized I had to be at work for a staff meeting at 7 that day. So I turned around and went home, changed, and drove to work and made it just in time. Wednesday I was loaded up and ready to walk out the door, and once again decided to bail and get to work early. I've been so busy at work this week I've opted to drive to get there earlier in the morning. The extreme heat and humidity has just sapped all my desire for riding. Maybe I'll try tomorrow to get in one commute this week, despite it being the hottest day this week.

HardyWeinberg

Rode my crosscheck today to carry groceries home in panniers. Headwind coming in, brutal! 2mph slower than usual, much harder work. Same basic half hour travel time though. Even with hitting all the red lights.

ptempel

Rode from home again today and will be my third time this week. Was feeling a bit tired but not too bad. Did the ~24 mile commute in 1h 35m so pretty close to usual. Probably helped that some of the lights at the major intersections seemed to go my way. Originally planned a park and ride for today but resched that for tomorrow when it goes up to 90F in the afternoon.

ptempel

I don't blame you. I'd want to skip riding in 100F as well. Does it typically get that hot in your area (TN)? Only benefit might be that the winter is more commutable, perhaps?

Tundra_Man 

Ran some errands via bike over lunch. Temp is up into the low 90s. Glad I swapped out my work shirt for a moisture wicking one, as I got drenched with sweat.

Went down to the courthouse to renew my vehicle registration and get new license plates. Usually I do it by mail, but because they're replacing the plates this year it was going to cost $15 extra for postage fees. I was going right by the courthouse anyway so I figured I'd just stop and save myself a little extra cash. As near as I can tell, I was the only person in line who rode their bike to pick up their vehicle license plates.

On my way back to work I got to see the Blue Angels fly overhead. That was pretty cool. They're practicing for the air show this weekend.

PatrickGSR94

This year we're having even hotter temps than normal. 2 years ago in July we broke the record for the LOWEST high temperature one day. On my Strava commutes 2 years ago all the temps were 50's/60's in the morning and 70's/80's in the afternoon, maybe a couple of days barely 90. That year was unseasonably cool. This year it's been well above 90 every day for weeks now, unseasonably warm.

We've had cold winters, one year it was in the teens during the day and single digits overnight one week. But it usually doesn't stay that way. This past winter I commuted much more than in winters past, despite my self-imposed limit of not commuting if it's below 20°F.

*edit* this is why I love these annual threads. Here's a post I made in August 2014: https://www.bikeforums.net/17041673-post2220.html

I highly doubt I'll be using any arm warmers in August this year.

rumrunn6

Blue Angels are cool, but picking up auto plates by bike is cooler

whosmatt

Today was good. Did the 19 mile version of the afternoon ride and felt like a million bucks when I got done. Doesn't always happen that way but today it did.

Darth Lefty 

I've been spending the week in a hotel with my in-laws. Taking the sting out of this, the hotel is in Lahina.

essiemyra

Another nice am commute and it is Friday! The afternoon commutes have been very tiring this week. We have been having winds coming out of the west at 15mph which should not be a factor. But I am done with the winds.

Johnny Mullet

Super strong thunderstorms and raining buckets. I drove the Geo Metro to work.

mgw4jc

Pretty much the same weather all this week: mornings are 70-75 degrees with high humidity and afternoons are 90-95 with clear skies. I keep hoping for some rain to cool things off.

Normal ride in I suppose. I saw a couple of my running friends by their car and yelled hello as I rode by.

tarwheel 

Finally a decent week for commuting here. I rode 4 out of 5 days and could have ridden one more if I had ignored the forecasts calling for severe thunderstorms on Tuesday. I gained back some of that mileage by taking the long way home yesterday and had 45 miles for the day. It was a tough ride home due to the heat and humidity, and the temperature was about 90 when I left work. Fortunately my long route is mostly on shady greenways, which was part of the reason that rode home that way.

There was still evidence of the flash floods we had here last weekend, which were worst along the two large creeks that drain the city. The greenway that I rode first leaving downtown flows along a creek that can flood during more typical 1" rains, and the storms we had last weekend dropped 5-6" in a few hours on much of the city. The trail had numerous spots where it had been under water and several areas that still had thick dried-up mud, sand and other debris -- including a couple of bridges that were over-topped.

wphamilton

Mud everywhere and three trees down that I had to detour around made it an interesting ride home. I'd worked late which fortunately avoided the excitement and only dealt with the aftermath. I was on the fixed gear, fully loaded with my fenders, chain case, DIY panniers, and my enormous work laptop bag poking out the top of one but it was secure and I was pleased that nothing shifted around, no heel strike and so on. I'm working remotely today so the non-commute is a little disappointing.

I just checked my commute log out of curiosity and I'm still perfect for the days I worked here this year, 137 days consecutively of bike commutes. Or at least non-driving, since technically telecommuting today breaks that streak.

locolobo13 

94F this morning. The warmest I can recall so far this summer.

baron von trail 

Fun but tough ride: sticky and warm, ended up drenched in sweat. Sucks with no shower option. I used the fan to cool off and wiped down the stanky parts with two Big Wet Ones. I'm good now. But, commuting 20-plus miles into work without a shower option is better when T is in the 60's and the air is dry.

Tundra_Man 

Woke up this morning to find the windows of the house were wet. The humidity outside was so high the house was sweating like a can of Coke. It was 83 degrees out.

Went out for a 3.7 mile run before I left for work. When I left the house I wasn't really feeling "it" but decided to push through and finish the run. When I finished I looked at my timer and was surprised to discover I averaged 45 seconds per mile faster than I normally run. Apparently the "it" I wasn't feeling was me pushing a bit harder than usual.

Was showering at work today so when I finished my run I paused long enough to change shoes and strap on my backpack, then hopped on the road bike for my 8 mile ride to work. Whatever caused me to push hard on my run was also making me push hard on the bike. The last couple miles I was starting to get pretty tired but I didn't let up. Wound up arriving at work in about 27 minutes.

Only now I had/have a commuter's dilemma. Between the heat, humdity, the hard run and the hard bike ride I arrived looking like I had just jumped in a swimming pool. No lie, I was leaving a trail of dripping sweat from the bike rack across the sidewalk to the office door. There wasn't a bit of clothing that wasn't completely saturated.

A shower and a change into my work clothes quickly resolved one half of my problem. The other issue was what to do with my saturated workout clothes. Usually they'll get a little sweaty and I have a few spots around the office where I can discreetly place them to dry. However today they're well beyond the usual amount, and to the point where I wouldn't want to subject my co-workers to them. To make matters worse, at lunch I have to ride 8 more miles to a client's office so I need to wear these clothes again.

I found a mechanical room in our building that had been left unlocked. I went in there are hung my clothes up to dry. Hopefully nobody needs to work in there this morning. I've been going in every so often and shaking them in hopes that I can accelerate the drying process. Just checked, and I have a feeling they're still going to be good and wet in a couple hours when I have to put them back on.

Oh well, this is what I would call a "first-world problem."

noglider 

I was depressed Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. I knew riding to work would help, but I was too depressed to do it. I did it yesterday, and it was just what the doctor ordered. I had a good day at work, too.

I have today off, as we have Fridays off in the summer. I'll take a nice fun ride to keep the momentum.

HardyWeinberg

Awesome! A bit damp, it poured from like 4-7. But sunny for my ride.

tarwheel 

Welcome to my world, @Tundra_Man

I am essentially that sweaty after every commute during the warmer months around here. The weather that the Midwest is suffering though right now is pretty much normal conditions in the Southeast during the summer.

joeyduck

Good luck!

I feel you pain in two weeks I am going on a 5 day canoe trip with my in-laws and both of my wife's siblings and their partners.

Then at the end of August I am moving in next door to my in-laws. Literally next door, trapped on an island 3 miles around with only a passenger ferry. For at least 10 months.

Tundra_Man 

Thankfully we only get maybe a combined 15-20 days like this throughout the summer. Our more typical summer day is mid-80s with a bit more reasonable humidity level.

On the flip side, we pay for the nicer summer with 5-6 months where the temp swings 100 degrees in the other direction and stays there.

tarwheel 

I don't deny that our winters are wimpy compared to you. I would rather cycle in Jan-Feb around here than July.