Best activity for a scorching hot day? Biking obviously…

It has been a bit hot for the last week. I assume anyway because I have mostly been stuck inside working, but if the news can be believed it has been “unbelievably hot” or some such thing. In order to celebrate the heat though, I decided to join the Ashland Bike Club for their Saturday ride. It may not have been the best decision, but it was a decision that I could live with. I wasn’t the only one though – ten of us started off.

Before I left this morning to pick my father up, it was already past 80 degrees and the forecast was in the mid-90s. Since we were starting at 9am, we’d be finishing somewhere in the 11am-1pm range (depending on stops, repairs, anything that catches our eyes), so we would definitely be in the thick of things. Dewpoints have been stuck in the mid 70s for most of the week as well, so the air is thick.

Today’s ride was not too heavy on hills (probably one of the most “flat” routes we’ve ever taken. Unfortunately, around mile 16, we went through a stretch of without any shade and I must have been running low on fluids internally because I started to feel a little unsteady. What should you do when that happens?

That’s right – pull over, get off your bike, get some water in you and take your time.

This is the first time this has happened to me in a group (it has happened a few times on my own – which is far worse in my opinion), but after about half of my water bottle, a little bit of a salty snack, I was feeling much better. I didn’t have much choice, since I was still ~9 miles from my car, but I waited it out, took my time and once I was ready, I drank some more, waited some more and then got going. I don’t know how long the stop was – 10 minutes, 20? maybe even 30. Regardless, I know better than to try to push through it, especially on a hot day. So be careful out there!

Otherwise though, the route was beautiful. We took a brief stop at the Natick Dam (around mile 9) and otherwise spent a lot of time on back roads. I don’t think we hit even one traffic signal. Very nice and great people to ride with to boot.

Here‘s the route we took (there was a small detour around mile 13 which added a little to the total):

The map only says 24.1 miles – but according to my bike’s computer, it was 25 even. I don’t think the detour was that significant an add, but close enough I guess.

Have a great weekend everyone!