Summer is here with a heat wave

We've had extreme weather in the last few weeks and most especially in the last few days.  Since March 1st we have had over 57 days or rain.  That is about 15 days greater than our average and caused the flooding I posted about earlier.  Our temps for spring have been well below normal and we saw a small handful of 70 degree days with sunshine, in place of that we had a wildly fluctuating thermometer.  I had my heat on and warm snugly covers on Thursday and Friday.  I am running the AC at the moment.  Sunday morning I set off on a early morning bile ride with a long sleeve tee covered with a quilted vest.  Today a short sleeve tee was too much and I lost gallons in perspiration.

I set off on a ride today and learned that in the heat and humidity that early morning riding is preferred over late morning/long afternoon riding.  I started on a familiar path and immediately noticed that the heat and humidity were going to cause problems.  It came too suddenly without a chance to become acclimated, with 40 degree temp swings in a day I could see this was not going to be good.  I shrugged it off with a "that'll teach you a lesson about sticking with your plan to start out early."  Normally that route is a pleasure for it's scenic vistas, a get away from it all feeling and it has challenging hills and climbs.  It's a place to go to get your head clear and to lose yourself in the quest for challenging yourself in a totally different way than in the work world. 

Seeking additional adventure I decided to veer off at a three way intersection that I had passed many times.  I knew where it would take me because I rode the trail that it was leading to yesterday, I just never rode the connection before.  A few times on the other trail I had an inclination to see how long and what the spur looked like from that trail and also from the one I was on today.  Since the heat was beating me up I decided it would be fun to go someplace new.  I had imagined the spur to be about 2 miles, however it was closer to just over 4 and even hillier than expected with a very long climb (about 3 miles) and a couple of very steep climbs.  If not for the adventure of it the heat would have destroyed me.  What kept the ride fun was the newness of exploring the spur trail and the accomplishment of the climbs and the endurance despite the heat.  I didn't win those climbs in any conquering fashion and stopped many times along the way, about the only thing I can say is that eventually I pedaled up them.  There is a reason the trail is called the Huron Valley Trail.  All totaled I rode 11.84 miles today.  With the high heat and humidity I almost doubled my normal ride time for a ride of that length.  There are a couple of ridges that divide the valley and the views were worth the effort.

I have to say I was very glad for the water bottle today, not only did I drain it but filled it up mid way.