Mars

I'm off on a week long sail, so I won't be posting for this week. Have a safe and fun week everybody!

CigTech

Have fun Mars and be safe

tulip

Is it too hot to ride? Does 100F and 90% humidity put a dent in your commuting? Inquiring minds want to know!

I don't commute on Mondays because I teach a class after work (and I have to carry architecture tubes). Tomorrow I expect to ride, but slowly, and with plenty of water.

buelito

100F and 90% humidity is HORRIBLE-- but like they say, a bad day on a bike beats a good day of almost anything...
I am commuting this week (Reston VA to DC and back) --with an extra bottle, and lower speeds just to avoid problems.

train safe

Marylandnewbie

I didn't ride today because my bike is in the shop. I plan to ride tomorrow as well. I'm guessing a little slower -- particularly on the way home and it will definitely be time for extra water. I rode through the hot days last summer and it was bad but survivable. Probably not the time to start commuting for the first time!

Ride safe everybody and mind the heat.

TheDL

Well folks...I'm officially a cycle commuter. Why official you ask? 'Cause I got hit by a car today. Yup...can ya believe it? Luckily it wasn't too bad, I'm ok, my bike is fine, just cosmetically bruised. I've got some road rash on my knee and shoulder.

What happend was I had started up this hill, in the bike lane, on a major street. As I approched an outlet from a side street I saw a white subaru approaching, but I knew there was a stop sign there. As I got closer to the outlet I saw the the subie was goin' kinda fast, but....there's a stop sign. Low and behold she doesn't stop...merely pauses...wasn't eve a pause...more like a pau'. So anyway she turns on to the street I'm on, in the direction I'm going. She comes up against me...doesn't realize I'm there, pushes me in to car lane. No cars are coming luckily. By now my leg is pinned against her fender so I can't pedel. Still not stopping. So I finally take the palm of my hand and slam it against her hood as hard as I could. Then her mirror catches me and knocks me over. So I'm down, in the middle of a lane. Still no cars coming luckily. The sound of me hitting her car with my hand made her realize something was up, so she stops. I stand up and spread my arms in the "What the f*&k was that??!?!?!" gesture. She gets out of her car, freaked out. She had no idea what she could have hit her car until she saw me on the ground in her rearview mirror. She tries to explain that she didn't see me 'cause of sun glare. I say "but there's a stop sign!" She says "I didn't see any cars coming and..." "But there's a stop sign!" "Well, I did pause..." "It wasn't a stop!!" She's freakin' out. So I check out my bike, all seems alright considering. I check my helmet, no marks. I get her name and phone number, I take down her license plate.

What a Monday....

I dunno how I'll hide my road rash from my g/f....she'll never let me ride again.

Allen

@ The DL
..............congratulations? ...............welcome to the club?
Sorry you were run down, glad to hear that you are o.k.
--A

Allen

Is anyone else actually getting used to the heat? It's 100º today, humidity is ok, the fish are off the sidewalks and back in the creeks, but I found myself turning off the AC when I got home. It was freezing. 74º is now bitter cold when one is drenched in sweat. I had no idea that the temp made the triple digits until I saw the thermometer on the porch. I do believe I have actually acclimated.

--A

sf6864

I'm laying off until the temps drop back to the 80s. I've only been doing this for a month and as a fat boy, suffer enough from just walking in this heat.

xroader

I didn't ride today (suffering from the 1/2 marathon yesterday) but I think I handle the heat OK. We moved up from TX this year - I didn't commute there, but worked outside a lot. It was over 90, with relatively high humidity for over six months last year. This summer in D.C. just doesn't seem that bad. Today I had to go across town at lunch though and used a flexcar - it had been sitting in the sun all day - no that was HOT!

I normally ride to work early enough that it isn't hot - the ride home is a little different and I figure I will go with an extra water bottle. When it is hot I mix up a sports drink (gatorade, or mostly I use accelerate now) at about 1/2 strength. You do need to be concerned about more than just water if you are going to be sweating for more than an hour or so. I've been to the edge of heat stroke and trust me you don't want to go there. If you get dizzy, upset stomach, a bad head-ache (or worse and you stop sweating) - stop riding - get in air conditioning if at all possible and get cooled back down.

robtown

I rode my 1970's Raleigh 10 spd today and took it relatively easy. The MUP was almost empty except for a handfull of bikers. For my 12 miles I took 3 cups of ice and 3 cups of water in my camelback that was just enough. I only heated up at traffic stops and when I got home into the newly restored air conditioning. Then I turned into the human torch, only much wetter.
Cheers to all - next week a family cruise vacation in Hawaii!

xroader

Glimmerkat - I grew up in New Mexico ("It's 110, but it's a dry heat") but lived in TX the last three years. To me last summer seemed the hottest of those three, but I'll admit it is a small sample. Still It seems to me that so far the "horrible summer heat and humidy" that I was warned about in DC doesn't hold a candle to Central TX. Last summer might not have been the hottest, but what got me was when it was October and it was still over 90.

I'm with you on the A/C - the best thing you can do if you are an outdoors type in the summer is keep the A/C off or set it pretty high. Here in DC we didn't turn ours on much at all until last week. Getting aclimated is much better than going from hot to cold.

Things I discovered living the dessert:
- Metal objects left in the sun can cause 2nd degree burns when you pick them up.
- If you want your Ice Cream to make it home from the store keep an electric cooler in the car
- Driving a 78 Pinto with no A/C and plastic seats through Death Valley in July isn't something you do twice.
- If you can move the asphalt around with your foot, it's too hot to ride - you WILL get a flat.

tulip

The ride in this morning was not too bad, except for the traffic lights that were out at North Capitol, Florida, and Massachusetts (those are avenues in case you were wondering). I did not push things, and got to work in the usual time.

This evening may be different. It's a Code Red day here, first one in a couple of years. The air will be bad and it will be mighty hot. But I'm still glad I ride my bike. Driving is just not responsible, and the Metro tends to break down in the heat. My bike, however, keeps on truckin'.

Marylandnewbie

DL -- glad to hear you suffered no serious injury. I guess it is a badge of honor or a milestone in your commuting career to have a crash with a car.

Glimmerkat -- riding in summer heat and humidity is at best an acquired taste and does require adaptation.

XRoader -- you are so far experiencing a very mild and pleasant DC summer. After 25 years here I can say most summers are worse. Also we haven't gotten to the worst part of August and early Sept. So don't get overconfident yet.

I rode in for the first time in several days and it was nice to be back in the saddle. It wasn't too horrible for the AM ride, but you can already feel both the temp and humidity rising. We'll just have to wait and see what the afternoon is like. It will definitely be a 2 water bottle day!

CrosseyedCrickt

Fortunately for me, my four days off this week fell on most of the hot+humid days, though I did go out for a 5 mile cruise yesterday. A little background: I work 4 days a week based on an 8 day week, meaning I work 4 days, then get off 4 days, then work 4 days, etc... which is absolutely awesome! The downfall is I work from 5pm until 6am, but a person gets used to that.
Anyhow, my last day of work last week was a 92F day with high humidity, fortunately all the business along my route had the sprinklers on so I just had to make small detours every once in a while for a cool down, made my 20 mile round trip much more interesting.
What the hell is going on with the weather, this is Michigan!!! We aren't supposed to se 90!

TheDL

Thx for the well wishes everyone. I'm takin' my bike down to my LBS today to get an estimate done on replacement of the damaged components. So far the woman that hit me has seemed willing to pay to get my bike back to pre-crash condition. I'll keep y'all posted.

Here's what I'm shootin' for.
Replacement of:
-Old Man Mountain Rack
- Shimano 105 9spd Rear Derailuer
- Shimano A520 pedals
- Forte' Pro Saddle
- Specialized "dirt drop" handlebars
- Right side Shimano SORA 8spd STI Shift/Brake lever
- Cinelli Cork Bar Wrap
...I think that's it, plus the cost of installation and adjustment of all said parts.

TheDL

Crash update:
Decided to go for the gusto....bring the heat...call down the thunder...etc, etc, etc.

I went and filed my accident report at the DMV durring lunch and then called my insurance company and started the claim.

Errant Drivers Must Pay! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

tulip

DL, I think you are doing the right thing. Drivers only learn when they have to pay.

Hot and humid ride home today. Not too many folks out and about.

Marylandnewbie

DL -- I agree, report the accident just like you would if it happened in your car.

Velo -- I was amazed at how sparse the traffic was on the MUP last night. Since this morning was cooler, there were more bodies out there. It really wasn't a bad ride last night. I rode a little slower, drank a little more and made it without any major suffering. Last night I and several other riders had to stop and wait for several deer to cross the trail. This morning a young buck (still with velvet on his horns) and a doe were browsing in the trail. I waited for them to clear out and found that they simply climbed the bank and were standing at the top waiting for me to pass. Made a very nice picture with the sun rising behind them.

CigTech

Yep, it's hot down here as well. I got home yesterday and my wife asked me if I had swum home.

xroader

[QUOTE=glimmerkat]Ah, so that explains it. Say, I was BORN in NM! Small world, huh? (But my family are all from Texas.) I love NM!

Well, that makes one of us - I couldn't wait to leave for somewhere green.

Two flats this week - one's my fault (must have pinched the tube when I took the tire off to true the wheel. I trued the wheels on Sunday night and went out in the morning to find it flat. I had a bunch of stuff to carry into work, so I didn't want to take the road bike and ended up on the Metro.

The second one I'm blaming on the heat. I have 100lbs rated tires and keep them at about 97. I filled them up Sunday evening to that, rode in fine on Tuesday after replacing the tube on the front - then when I came out to the bike rack after work, the back was flat. I was planning on stopping by the LBS for tubes on my way home and was out of patches too - so I gave up and took the Metro home. When I changed it today I saw that the tube had about a 1 inch split along the seam. I figure that sitting the in sun all day the pressure got up a little too high and "thar see blows." The tubes had well over 1,000 miles on them, so no big loss.

End result is that I lost two days of riding - oh well.

CigTech

Well I have gone through 3 tubes in the last two weeks. One blow when I air it up. and the other two took many holes in each and could not be patched.

Marylandnewbie

I hate that when I flat due to my own mistake. Lately, I've been lucky on the flats although there is lots of glass and stuff around these days, so its probably only a matter of time.

So far the heat and humidity have not been too bad on my rides. I ride a little slower on the trip home, but it only adds about 5 minutes to my ride so its worth it.

tulip

Up until this spring, I went 4 years without a flat. That's 4 years commuting in DC (NE DC, no less). I used Hutchinson Excel tires (which I cannot find anymore, unfortunately). Keeping the air pressure up is key to preventing flats.

This spring my luck ran out in a big way. I got a flat on the way to work, and the tube I had in my pack was the wrong size (for my mtb, which tells you how long it's been since I've had a flat). I had my tire blow out on a road ride on my road bike. Not much you can do there. I'll be carrying a folding tire on road rides from now on, as well as not using Micheline Pro Race tires--they are not very tough.

I have Secas on both bikes now and so far, they are fine.

Oh, and my ride today was nice. I played hookie yesterday, and played in my garden all day. Shhhhhh.

nesanel

I commute 31 miles each way to work - lately, I've been getting the time down to 1h50m, which isn't terrible considering the traffic, lights and stop signs. I still think I can do better. It's really the only way I can get in a decent amount of miles during the week.

I can't do the commute everyday, but I'm training for a big ride overseas so I try as I often as weather permits.

Nice thing about my office --> I work in a hotel, so I have many showers to choose from upon arrival at work.

Anybody else commute over 30 miles each way? Can I join the club?