Here in Socal, we are pretty fortunate. We have pleasant riding conditions throughout the year. Even when it's hot, it's still a dry heat.....until now.

We have moisture coming up from the tropics at the moment, bringing high humidity and pop up t-storms. Temps range from 88-105 with 30-50% humidity or more. I went out in late morning and rode 23 miles and was completely wasted by the end. Had to stand in a cold shower for 10 minutes just to cool down.

Hats off...er ah..helmets off to those of you who live in climates where you have to deal with this on a regular basis. You folks rock!

Sheldon

You should try the Washington DC/Baltimore area. We get days like those all summer long. This year we had 12 days of 90 and above. I'm pretty sure all 12 had heat indexes at or above 100F because of the humidity. It sucks the life right out of you when you get home from work and want to go for a jog or bike ride.

30-50% humidity is nothing. As psuaero says, much of the country routinely has to deal with 80-90% humidity all summer. I used to live in the DC area, and I'd break a sweat just walking from my office to my car... it was miserable.

- Warren

I just finished a ride at about 87 degrees F / over 50% humidity and was thinking how NICE it was to have finally get a ride in with cool dry air.

Rejoice in your wonderful climate, Sheldon!

Here in NY, the heat and humidity has been brutal since June. Nobody wants to wish it away though... the alternative is the long months of winter with below-zero temperatures, snow, and spending all the "new bike money" on very expensive home heating fuel! :eek:

I'd rather sweat riding my bike than shivver driving my snowblower. :p

Good riding,
desmobob

You are lucky, for those of us in the southeast, we get used to it. When I step out to ride in the early morning and the humidity envelopes me like a sultry cloak it feels good. Also riding keeps me cool. I don't seem to sweat until I stop. Of course I lose a pound of fluid on my little 10 mile mornign ride.

I wish I was back in cali....less humidity....WAY less.

It's freaky when after 20 mins of riding so hard you thnk your lungs are on fire...and you still aren't cooling off becasue the air is so humid it won't wick the sweat off you.

The thing about temperature and humidity is it's all in what you get used to. It get's insanely hot here, but it's not as if it happens overnight.

Come to Houston. Then tell me about humidity. :(

We've had some horribly oppressive days- in fact, we had 18 days in july where the temp was over 30C or 86f. But then I remember in january i think "waaa! I wish it was july!"

Haha Bontrager knows how the Gulf portions of Texas are. You guys up north don't know the least of it. If I'm reading this chart right, Austin gets, on average, 109 days above 90 degrees. It's hot.

More fun charts can be found here:

http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/p...B-A0001#TABLES

<3 the internet

HA! Tell me about it brotha. It's the same here down in Corpus. :p

Dry heat? Reminds me of the Johnny Carson joke: Two guys end up in Hell. One guy says to the other: "It must be 400 degrees here."

The other guys says, "Yeah, but its dry heat."

I have a hard time with the heat/humidity in the DC area. After many rides I'll come home and slam an ice cold gatorade while sitting in an empty oversized bathtub in my riding clothes. I don't want to shower right away because I need some fluids and I'm still sweating buckets, but I can't stand outside because it is too hot and if I stand around inside I'm sweating all over the floor in puddles.

In Georgia, paritcularly the Atlanta area, at dawn the humidity is about 90%. As the day moves along the temperature increases and the humidity lowers. But a nice average would be about 92 degrees with 63% humidity at 300pm. So, you have to kind of find a balance between the temperature and the humidity. Probably best to ride around 1130am. If not able to ride then best to wait until dusk.

The humidity rarely goes below 60% except for a few days in the fall and early spring. When the Masters tournament is held in April usually some of the best weather of the year in Georgia. Low humidity with a temperature of 75 to 83.

Arkansas -- we had 2 weeks over 100 this July, with humidity in the 85-95% range. 30-50% is bone dry for around here.

But, I'm from Bakersfield originally, so I remember what it was like going from bone-dry to this swampy humidity. The change is worse than the humidity. You get used to it eventually.

Yes, here in Arkieland, it has been steamy. I spent four hours on the bike this morning, went through five 24 oz bottles of water and sports drink and still lost a couple of pounds.Glad I got my ride in before it got really hot. I've been threatening to take a thermometer to see what the temp is at some asphalt intersections. I'm speculating 120-130.

Aw...Thats nothing, here in New Hampshire we don't see a day during the summer where humidity gets below 40%. If you factor in the high heat and high dew point it feels mighty sticky around here. But that does sound rough, especially if your not used to it.

30-50% humidity? I wish it was that low around here. I feel like a fish out of water when I go outside.

I remember being in Las Vegas and it was 108 degrees and I was walking around and not even sweating. I thought that was incredible. Like someone mentioned above, just walking from the parking lot to the office means arriving at work sweaty every day.

I'd settle for a few days below 80%
Ride early, or late. Eat. Drink. Plan the route so the hilly parts are early and/or shady, and do the flats in the hot part of the day.

It gets really humid here in Tennessee, but after a while you get sort of aclimated to it. Aclimatization does NOT include getting dehydrated less quickly-drok water as much as you can, as often as you can. The heat can literally be dangerous, so be careful everyone.

39 days in a row of 100+ degrees in Tucson this summer . . .
The 'warmest' I've commuted in was 117 degrees, humidty was the lowest ever at 2%!
But have also ridden a 100 miler in Maryland in the summer: 98 degrees with 98% humidity. At 7 a.m. the sweat was standing in beads on my forearms. Brutal!
Variety . . .

Didn't get much sympathy eh nesdog? :-)

30 - 50% humidity is DRY here in upstate NY in Summer....

Come on down to Fort Lauderdale!!! It's a "pore opener".

WHAT?! How can you stand it?.. Just kidding. Come to New Orleans for a while. Seriously, everything's relative. I'd die if tried riding Colorado right now, I'm sure. I do miss San Diego, though. Lived there for a couple years in the mid '90's.