It's gonna be a hot one today in NC, with the high expected to hit near 100F. The temp was already 75F when I left home at 6:25 am. It's also very humid, and I got very sweaty even riding at an easy pace.

I was tempted to drive today due to the heat, but $4/gallon gas is a great motivator. I'm also trying to top 200 miles for the week. I was out of town on vacation over the past weekend, with my bike, and my brother and I got in some great rides in Atlanta and the N. Georgia mountains. Rode from Decatur to Stone Mountain one day, from Decatur to Piedmont Park the next day, and then an epic metric century up in the mountains. We rode from just north of the NC-GA state line near Hiawasee over the Blue Ridge divide on US 76, and then wound our way around Lake Burton and over to Robertston, ending up at my other brother's house in Sautee, Ga. We ended up climbing 4,100+ feet over 62 miles, but I think we had more downhills than ups. At one point, we had a 7.5-mile continuous descent at speeds topping 40 mph several times. The roads up there have banked turns and you can really fly on the descents. Sweet!