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What I learned today
- 100 degrees is HOT.
- Cold water stays cold for about 4 minutes when it's 100+ degrees outside.
- Hot Clif Shots are NASTY.
- Taking a wrong turn and riding an extra ten miles early in a long ride can deal a tough psychological blow.
- I do not deal well with extreme heat.
- 67 miles is not 110 miles. However, when the outdoor temperature is in the triple digits, it will have to do.
- If it is 100+ degrees at Ironman Wisconsin, I probably will not finish.
Update: It was actually 108 degrees on our ride in Santa Rosa. Hottest day of the month (so far), and broke the previous record of 97.
July 22, 2006 9:33 PM
When 'espresso love' flavored GU gets hot, it is actually pretty good!
When I saw that it's supposed to be 100 degrees in Palo Alto today, I was almost happy to be in grey, rainy, and gross New York. It wasn't too long ago that I was melting in the California heat... It gets hot as hell over here, and the humidity will make you want to shrivel and die, but the sun in Palo will melt you -- I'm not sure which is worse. I guess it all comes down to the fact that really I'm a spring/fall kinda person.
Oh. My. God. I can't believe we rode in that! I'm happy to report that I got to Dan before he melted into the sidewalk outside the soon-to-close Albertson's in Fairfax. Today I swam for a long time, and I finally feel like my temperature has returned to normal.
One other note...on Saturday, I saw a lot of cyclists dumping water directly onto their heads, a la Floyd Landis on the Col du Joux-Plane the other day. I tried this myself, and it is awesome. Next time I'm out on a hot day like that again and I find a cold-water source, I'm going to dump a full bottle on my head and then refill it before I start riding again.
on our way back from tahoe yesterday, our car thermometer reading peaked at 119 degrees in roseville.
Should have taken some eggs with you, after a few hours you could have had soft boiled eggs. Or a bad case of salmonella which actually sounds like more fun than cycling in 108 degree heat.
on the Gu front, chocolate outrage is actually pretty tasty when it's been heated up in the back pocket of a cycling jersey. it's like pudding. yum!!
We're not just talking about a nicely warmed-up gu... which I agree can be pleasant, especially on a cold morning. This was like hot, tongue-burning stomach acid oozing down my throat.
Wow, Ariel. That's some pretty freakin' intense GU.