I have a little portable AC unit (12,000BTU), it can turn a small room into a refrigerator (it cools my whole condo no problem if I leave the bedroom door open).

Some of the best money I have ever spent.

Motorcycling, just saying.

i know baltimore isn't really the south but the one summer i spent there i actually rode the trainer a lot because my basement was significantly cooler than outside where the heat was simply oppressive.

Turn that AC up. I will ride outside on the weekends once school is over and I have my weekends back. For now though, it's weekday evenings, when we're running the AC anyways.

Chappy, I ride in the garage with two fans. On really hot days, I often put an ice pack on my back.

I tried a portable A/C unit. It took too long to get the garage cool, plus I didn't have good ventilation, so it was giving off heat as it was trying to cool.

Hm, just occurred to me I could technically ride to race at Lime Rock Sunday... 54 miles / 3600 feet each way.

this is basically the remaining pro argument that I have. Is the risk worth setting a good example.

Anyway, I lifted yesterday and am sore af despite using what I thought should be like 60% weight. When I opened the app I had been using to track lifting it said "621 days since last workout"... I guess that explains it.

yeah, both for sure. it's why I haven't packed it in to just be a(nother) group-ride racer. That **** is definitely not any safer.

This doesn't really contribute to the conversation, but I watched a couple of those vegan cyclist group ride videos and was amazed at the high speed traffic throughout. Maybe the videos make it look worse than it is but it seemed like the whole ride was on the shoulder of 55mph roads full of trucks. Don't you have any quiet 30mph roads out there?

Most of those roads look like county roads. If they're unposted, it's the default highway speed limit of 55. The big rides in the Sacramento area are all on roads like that (Garden Highway, South River Road, Auburn-Folsom, Putah Creek): 2 lanes, 55mph, maybe a shoulder, maybe not.

Depends on where "out there" is. Vegan Cyclist lives about 3 hours south of me/Caloso and about 3 hours east of the Fudgy/Matt/Aaron/Scheibo/Umney contingent. He's in a more rural area with fewer roads, but those roads get some hefty traffic as they're the only way to get from A to B. There are some roads less traveled, but to get on them you've got to take the roads more traveled. We've got greater selection in the Sacramento foothills area as do the Bay Area guys.

Since I've come back I've stuck to residential roads. Sunset is a good loop and cars are a rarity which don't go over 30. Our area has a lot of climbs that are empty, the problem is the traffic getting to them. Any flat road is a death trap. If its flat and empty, cars will go over 100 on it. Either to race, or shorten a commute.

I'm also not allowed to do any group rides until June, its more or less the compromise I have with my wife. I really don't mind it. I enjoy it as a solo activity just as much.

I think the riding out here is much less stressful than riding out east in the new york metro area (I felt drivers were more aggressive in the east coast). There are bike lanes on most roads here, and a lot of signs on the roads say "riders can use the full lane" or "give 3 feet when passing." I think the cars are used to seeing lots of bikes in silicon valley.

Even the roads where people may be driving fast in the mountains, the shoulders are wide and the roads are relatively wide. I ride about 12 miles a day with my kid on a gravel bike (and he's in a seat behind me) and love riding in the bike lanes. The suburbs here are pretty and the roads are very smooth. Riding through Atherton is like riding in Greenwich, CT but with nicer weather.

That said, I always feel more comfortable early in the morning when there are less cars on the road.

As far as road safety goes, about 75 percent of all car-bike crashes occur in urban and suburban areas, with most happening when the motor vehicle is turning.

However, about half of all fatal crashes occur on rural roads, where speed is greater.

(This is all based on North Carolina data, as NC is one of the few states to study this regularly, but it is likely a fair representation of what is going on throughout the rest of the country.)

The vehicles that scare me the most are lifted pickup trucks with elephant ear side mirrors. I very nearly got whacked in the back of the head by one this winter, I don't think their owners realize how far out those things stick.

That sounds right. I have usually felt like drivers on rural roads are more likely to give you space and with less drama than in the city or suburb, but they're going much faster.

edit:

Re the mirrors, there was a story about a guy in the Central Valley taking out a whole group ride with his mirror.

Local good guy and solid racer of bikes got clipped by a monster mirror earlier this year (hit n run) ... he's still off the bike due to complications/infection from surgery.

one of my teammates to boot.

I definitely spend more time on dirt/gravel these days but feel slightly less guilty about the road riding risk now that my kids are older (15 & 18) and somewhat capable of taking care of themselves. I'd be lying if I said the risk wasn't on my mind every time I get on a bike though!

The past page of comments is why I Zwift almost 100% of the time. I get out to do some rocking-the-bike stuff, which I can't replicate indoors, and to try and remember "how to ride a bike" if you will.

In the last few years a lot of people I know have gotten hit by cars, and I've read a lot more about people getting hit. If a cyclist runs a red and gets hit, or rides at night without lights and gets t-boned, then that's just normal - the rider took a risk and it didn't pay off. I don't fault the driver in those cases. But to be riding along a street and to be punted from behind and killed (happened two turns away from my house, on a road with 6-8 foot wide shoulders, during daytime), or having an oncoming car swerve across the road and hit the rider as the driver steers back onto the road... In another incident someone passed a group at 50+ mph on a hill/curved (group was going over 30 mph on a 30 mph road) and hit 2 of 3 riders and punted them pretty far...

So for me I race crits and Zwift. To me that's the safest combination. No RR (over 45 mph top speed, with riders that typically acknowledge not liking crits due to corner/pack stuff), very little training on outside roads (drivers), and definitely not much training on roads I don't know.

Barely beat heavy rain storms to run up to the shop because I was 5 bearing short of rebuilding my torn apart wheelset. Felt absolutely silly asking to buy 5 loose bearings of average quality and right this second.

I've considered both coasts and the high casualty/incident rate is why I never did it. This isn't always the case, but more often than not I get frustrated with drivers who are too polite. There are always ********, but it makes a nice counterpoint that's true most of the time here.

I pretty much need it to be happy. I go to dark places without playing bikes outdoors.

Me too. Riding the mtb can take the place of a good road ride sometimes, but those mtb rides are harder to find.

I admire guys like you and gsb who can enjoy the trainer....every year I try and it's just not happening. It's okay on occasion but as a daily activity it ceases to be a fun hobby...

I noticed a correlation between those that can do the trainer and lap swimmers.