Struggling In The Heat

Time to check in again on an important part of my creative life — bicycling! If you don’t see the connection between the two, here’s my logic. If I want to be creative, I have to be healthy. Both mentally and physically. I’m not saying that at any given moment I’m perfect on either account, but if I’m not working at health, my creativity struggles.

Or even stops.

I dislike most forms of “exercise”. Gyms bore me, running appalls me. At my best, I am an adequate but unremarkable team sport player. I’ve played slo-pitch softball, indoor soccer, and volleyball. They’re fun, but only soccer delivered the exercise I need at the rec league level of activity.

Then there’s bicycling.

I wrote about my history on a bike earlier this year. It’s the one form of exercise that I still enjoy year after year. Within the first mile, I’m smiling and ready to face whatever ride awaits. We’re at the halfway point of the year, and I thought it was time for an update.

Here are the raw numbers:

• 28 rides
• 412.61 miles
• 6,425 feet elevation climb
• 45 hours and 14 seconds of riding
• Longest ride 30.34
• Capital Trail rides 3

Overall, I’m happy with those numbers. As I write this, I have three more rides planned for June. If I average 15 miles per ride (under normal circumstances, easy. But there’s a hitch I’ll mention later) that would put me over 450 for the first half of the year. I have a full month and a half where I should get lots of rides in, then several months of good weather where I should be able to log two rides a week.

If everything goes to plan.

About that…

I’m writing this in the final full week of June. This week’s daytime highs are projected to reach between 98 and 102 degrees, accompanied by the usual smothering humidity. That means I have to adapt my riding schedule. Midday rides are out. I got lazy on the day of that thirty-mile ride above. Didn’t get out till 10 am or so. Chose the worst possible shirt (dark color, heavy cotton) and underestimated the amount of water I would need. That last item was a serious, possibly life threatening mistake. With temps around 98°, I ran out of water with five miles left to go. Dumb. The weather had been ten to fifteen degrees cooler for several weeks before, and my brain was still in that mindset. Knowing I could be in serious trouble, I made multiple stops along the way, sitting in shady spots on my way back. Happily, I survived the experience with nothing worse than a story of me being dumb.

The only other adventure so far has been flat tires. I’m up to five so far! My memory says I’ve never had more than two in all the years I’ve ridden. I would go years without a flat, albeit while riding significantly fewer miles. I’ve done all the checks, replaced the wheel tape, and ground down a couple of small sharp spots on my wheels. Even the tire isn’t that old. Can’t figure it out. The last time I again left myself in bad shape. No spare tube. While I had a patch kit, I didn’t have a pump to put air in a patched tube. That gave me a walk of a mile and a half. In the 90+ temps again.

The things we do for love.

It looks like I’m comfortably on target for my thousand miles, barring injury, bad weather or a serious bike breakdown. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

And my wheels turning.