You're not alone, Ron. Typically I wait until the schools are open and everyone should be there. That way I won't have to deal with kids driving and using all their electronic social gadgets. Likewise, I'm off the road by 2:30 pm. That gives me a window of about 6 hours during the school week. On weekends and non-school days I can start a couple hours earlier.

At 70, I thought I was beginning to slow down a bit when riding on very warm or hot days. In June, I rode Bicycle Across Kansas (BAK) during days when the temps ranged from 95 to 103F. One day I had to visit the hospital for an IV after a diagnosis of dehydration. That's the first time that happened even after a few RAGBRAI rides of similar heat. You can be sure I upped my water and G2 Gatorade.

But it didn't seem to make a difference when I got home and rode on hot days. After about 30 miles, I started bonking and had to quit. Never happened before. I felt great after 15 miles of warmup and could hammer quite well. But once I reached 25 miles, I began getting short of breath and very tired. So I began to think it was something other than dehydration. Long story short, after trying a few modifications, the problems stopped after I quit taking baby aspirins every other day. I had to be free of aspirin for 4 days or so to have a trouble free ride of 50 miles or so. I guess thinning out your blood isn't conducive to bike riding long distances (my long days are 85 miles).

So up here in the tundra (central NY), when the ice cometh, indoor riding begins. I hope to maintain some semblance of being fit so I can step into the season next March for Bike Florida again (I did BF in March this year). Hope to do more self-contained touring with my BOB trailer before the heat of summer. Been gathering gear for trips slowly. Just bought a Marmot Helium Membrain sleeping bag. Ouch! Big bucks; but a sale at Backcountry saved me 25%.

Hope to see you grey haired ladies and gents on the road. Maybe there's enough of us to plan a weeks tour somewhere in a warm clime for the first ride next year. Any interest? Be glad to organize and/or help.

Love the whirrrrrrr of my front tire. That helps put me to sleep at night - dream on ....... ;-))