Hot, Hot, Hot

Well, it has been hot here. How hot? Last weekend I went on the Cup and Cone ride, one of the local fund raising rides for MS.  At one of the rest stops, I overheard one of the volunteers say the temperature had hit 107 on the pavement. Not sure it was really that hot, but it was over the 100 mark for sure, and the heat index was somewhere north of 110.

The ride had 30, 50, and 67 mile options.  Last year I did the 50 mile ride in what I though was a pretty respectable time for me, 3 hours and 6 minutes, with an average speed of 15.7 mph. This year I had planned on doing the 67 mile ride. By the time I got to the 50 mile turn around, I knew I would not be able to go that far. The heat had beaten me down, and I resolved to finish the 50 mile ride while I could still stand. My final time and speed was well under that of last year, with a riding time of just over 3 hours and a half, and an average speed of 14.1 mph.

I had just purchased a Camelbak rogue hydration pack, and was very glad I did. While the rest stops were well planned, and had plenty of both water and sport drink, it did give me a good sense of security to have both two water bottles, and my pack with an extra two liters of water.

You can see last years ride here.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9832882

This year here.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41633698

See you on the road.

Update from June

July is now here, and looking back over my miles from June, I slacked off a bit on my riding, but I was able to get in a little cross training.

Of course, it was hot last month.  Most of the month was in the 90's with heat indexes of 100 or so. I was able to get in 8 rides for 180 miles in total.  That compares with 10 rides with a total of 190 miles for June of last year.  So, not too far off the mark.  I was able to also get in 6 runs during last month, all about 30 minutes each. I feel pretty good about that.

See you on the road.