Thanks, y'all.
Originally Posted by
RonH
Jeans and boots? How many miles will you be riding in jeans? Anything longer than 5 miles and I need padded cycling shorts. Will the temps still be warm in late September? If I were you I'd rethink the plan.
I missed my morning ride due to technical difficulties. A bubble in the chrome had a physical disagreement with the inner tube between the strap and the bead. Instead, I ran errands, and picked up some contact cement in the process. I then spent a good while getting to know my front wheel before mounting the tire, sans broken spoke, and dumping eighty pounds in it. It's only slightly off, but it's not going to work for any kind of serious braking or uneven road surfaces at speed.
I turned six miles in the full sun after lunch. Two and a half miles in, I reversed my route, taking a long pull uphill into the wind, which had kicked up to 16mph gusts. The morning clouds gave way to clear skies, while the early showers caused a lovely spike in humidity. I checked the temperature when I got home to find it was 96°. I won't say I didn't sweat, but not nearly as bad as I did during the previous month long heat wave which seemed to average 103-106°. I was not without discomfort in the saddle, either. Doesn't seem to bother me much early or late, but in the heat I wasn't excited about pushing it to twelve. I had chocked up what little discomfort I had to a need for a decent saddle, and use the present piece of poorly padded foam seat as incentive to keep weight off of it.
tl;dr, I think you have a valid point there.
As for boots, they'll have to be given up soon enough for toe clips.
Between the many projects which drain my income as fast as I can make it, I don't know if I'll be able to have the bike equipped and afford a long weekend of four wheeling which every trip to the area inevitably becomes. That doesn't mean I can't go ride the same route sometime later in the fall, before the snow falls, and after I have a good set of wheels.