In Which Heat Forces Morning Rides

Morning sun on early bike ride, Aug. 22, 2023. Seen from mountain bike trail off of the Boyson Trail.

Aug. 22--Mountain bike trail off of Boyson Trail.

Mountain bike trail Tuesday morning.

Mountain bike trail.

Morning sun.

Something new happened to me on my two-wheeled journey across the planet this week. I’m a year-round biker in living in Iowa, and, if it’s dry, any temperature from whatever down to about zero will find me on my bicycle. To me, it is a more pleasant way to get from here to there and enjoy my transit of this life to sit on a bit of molded metal rather than be encased in it.

And yes, I am not athlete, but I do enjoy using my body and consider biking to be a bit of body maintenance. So, promoting that corporal existence is also part of my biking brand.

Which leads me to this week, when something unprecedented occurred.

When it’s icy, snowy or even raining, I tend not to ride (with the caveat that sprinkles don’t always count as rain and flurries aren’t real snow). And it can get too cold—when either the actual temperature or the wind chill gets below zero Fahrenheit, when frost bite is possible in less than 25 minutes (my commute time), I won’t ride.

Heat? It doesn’t normally beat me. I wear appropriate clothes, hydrate adequately and slow down, but I can keep rolling no matter how hot.

Until this week. A heat dome formed over the middle of this continent, and the combination of humidity and heat produced air like none I have felt before. It was only going to be in the mid-90s Tuesday, but will feel like the 100s. And Wednesday and Thursday, the actual temperature was in three digits.

I rode some hot days on RAGBRAI this year but my team decided, partly due to a cold virus, to skip the hottest days. Nonetheless, in my second RAGBRAI, which was about 10 years ago, I rode in triple digit heat.

I was younger then. I hope I’m smarter now. I decided the start of school this year, I would have be doing something I don’t normally do—driving to work.

It’s that hot. I guess I’m learning that 0 to maybe 98 or so is my current biking range, with the caveat that the range is growing slightly narrower over time. I’m not getting any younger, and your body being less tolerant of temperature extremes is one of the prices you pay for survival in the long run.

Tuesday morning, the day before classed start, I did go for an 8-mile ride in the morning before driving to work.

Deer crossing Lindale Trail, seen Aug. 22.

Flowers in woods, seen from mountain bike trail Aug. 22.

Deer peeks out from undergrowth.

Turkey seen from Lindale Trail.

Morning sun seen at C Avenue Pond Aug. 22.

Creek trail on morning of Aug. 22.

The ride Tuesday morning was a little breezy, but nice. I saw a group of turkeys and several deer as I rode on the Boyson and Lindale trails. I was riding the Fancy Beast, so I used the mountain bike trails off of the Boyson Trail, and was pleased to see that a downed tree which had been blocking the “hard” trail has been cleared.

It was a short ride, and I stopped several times to make images, but I liked being out on two wheels, and I liked cheating the heat just a bit. And I liked drawing a picture of a whale:

And by Friday, the heat dome was breaking down. It got to 91 in the afternoon—but guess what. I rode to work and to home in the heat. 100 will put me on four wheels. Nice to find out the 90s won’t.

So far in August: 179.3 miles. Year to date: 2,373.85 miles. My birthday is coming up at the end of this month, but the birthday ride may be on Labor Day Weekend. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise (and the heat dome doesn’t reform). I will be aiming for 65 miles this year!