The Heat is On.

 Our heat wave continues.  I think we are in our 8th or 9th day in a row of 90+ degree days.  Recently the humidity/dew point have started to creep up as well.  It's getting (or is) uncomfortable.  Nonetheless I've been riding, just sweaty!

Monday was an easy MTB ride.  Tuesday and Wednesday were 40-50 miles on the Moots.  Yep, I finally got that bike ready to ride for the season.  I have thought about selling it this Spring but after riding it I know why I like it!  While I do have a lot of "gravel" type bikes they are all different and all get used.

Thursday was predicted to be the nastiest of the days: hot and thick.  Half way down County Road 8 I thought I may need to alter my ride.  I was already pretty hot and wet.  I remained hyper vigilant about drinking my Infinite/Skratch mix (I freeze the Infinite in small cups.  I put 3-6 in my hydration pack mixed with Skrtach) and noting how I was feeling.  Oddly I started to feel good and really never had any of the usual side effects from the heat.

I made my way down to the Luce Line Trail.  I wanted to take it to it's end in Cosmos.  I haven't been there before so why not?!  

The last section of trail seemingly gets little use.  It was fun!

Although this is where I was the warmest.

From Cosmos I started making my way for home.  What wind there was had dropped in speed some but it was still there.  Some hills with the tailwind became heat zones.  Toasty!

I ended up stopping 3 times to refill my 100 oz hydration bladder.  I carried some Infinite/Skratch mix with for one stop but used Gatorade and water the other times.  I consumed about 400 oz of fluids!  For me that's the ticket to not feeling or getting sick in hot weather.  I an cannot drink just water, it has to have electrolytes.

My whole kit looked like this...layered in salt.

Sweat and gravel.

The Ride.

I was pleasantly surprised I never had ill effects from this ride...this time anyway.  I'm heading out soon for a 2-3 hour spin.  It's already thick.  I'm ready for a break from the heat.