Fulton, NY - I've been getting a lot of incredulous stares today.
It's not that I'm riding backwards, or standing on the seat, or wearing a tutu. It's that, with the temperature at something over 100 and the humidity making it even nastier, I'm riding at all. But here I am, putting in another roughly 100-mile day through the beautiful, if wilting, countryside of central New York.
Why the heck am I doing this?
Well, for starters, my other options are limited. I could hang around at a campground and sweat all day. I could plop down $50 for a hotel room and sit around watching daytime TV.
Or, I can rise above it and rip down the road, with the reward being a cool wind in my face. In fact, in weather like this, the only time I actually feel comfortable is when I'm on the bike; after all, I'm creating my own breeze. It's when I stop and get off that I start to sweat and suddenly feel lethargy creeping in.
So I'm soldiering on. Fortunately, I'm in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, so whichever campsite I stay at tonight will have a beach and, if I'm lucky, a lake breeze. If tonight is anything like last night, I may have to hop out of my tent at about 2 a.m. and take a dip. As much as I've complained about noisy neighbors at campsites, their ability to keep me awake pales before 80-degree temperatures at midnight.
Man, there are times when I really miss Alaska.
P.S. Relax, Mom and Dad, I'm drinking plenty of fluids. An ungodly amount, in fact.
It's not that I'm riding backwards, or standing on the seat, or wearing a tutu. It's that, with the temperature at something over 100 and the humidity making it even nastier, I'm riding at all. But here I am, putting in another roughly 100-mile day through the beautiful, if wilting, countryside of central New York.
Why the heck am I doing this?
Well, for starters, my other options are limited. I could hang around at a campground and sweat all day. I could plop down $50 for a hotel room and sit around watching daytime TV.
Or, I can rise above it and rip down the road, with the reward being a cool wind in my face. In fact, in weather like this, the only time I actually feel comfortable is when I'm on the bike; after all, I'm creating my own breeze. It's when I stop and get off that I start to sweat and suddenly feel lethargy creeping in.
So I'm soldiering on. Fortunately, I'm in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, so whichever campsite I stay at tonight will have a beach and, if I'm lucky, a lake breeze. If tonight is anything like last night, I may have to hop out of my tent at about 2 a.m. and take a dip. As much as I've complained about noisy neighbors at campsites, their ability to keep me awake pales before 80-degree temperatures at midnight.
Man, there are times when I really miss Alaska.
P.S. Relax, Mom and Dad, I'm drinking plenty of fluids. An ungodly amount, in fact.
3 Responses to “Hot Hot Heat”
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About me
I'm Tom Moran, a bicyclist from Fairbanks, Alaska. I'm spending the summer of 2006 riding from Anacortes, Wash., to Bar Harbor, Maine.
ungodly amounts of fluids are a good thing! FCM
I'd pay good money to see you bike through central New York wearing a tutu. A nice, frilly pink one.
Well, Ta-Tom, just remember, when the heat gets to be too much-- pain don't hurt.