Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Hot As Balls, that's why.

A quick update since...one person missed me! I've been on vacation the result of which has made me feral and unable to concentrate on things like work and writing. And other stuff. It's also hot as balls out so there hasn't been much riding at all either. Kenny and I went out early last Sunday and two hours later we though we were going to die. It went like this:

ride ride ride climb climb climb. Stop. Pant. Drink. Pant. Sigh. Moan. Drink. Ride ride ride. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's bad. Today the heat index is going to be 109 degrees. This is patently unfair but I guess that's what I get for living in the south.

While on vacation we did get in a couple of good rides slightly further afield - we went to Poor Farm Park and spent a couple of hours on our hardtails getting the shit beat out of us, but it was fun and fast. Hurty on the back, but so so fast. At one point while riding a fairly sketchy downhill section I heard a rider behind me and when I braked a very little bit to slow myself down on a particularly crumbly section he yelled, "No braking!" because apparently he was riding WAY TOO CLOSE. Yeah, even bikers tailgate. I snarked back, "Gimme some room then!" and he backed off. Later he apologized quite nicely so I let him live.

Later that week Kenny and I packed up the bikes and drove out to York River State Park which has some incredible trails. The terrain is quite a bit different than at home - much more hilly but in a fun roller-coaster way. If you go across the street to where they hold the Tidewater Challenge this roller-coaster thing gets way out of hand and isn't quite as much fun. Actually, I think that's a private course, which is just as well. It's freaking hard. We spent a few hours at York River and had a grand time, as the weather was still behaving itself at that point. Now, not so much.

So that's it for now. Probably no bike stuff until this weekend because heat stroke just ain't my thing.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad to hear all's well and you're alive and sweating. Heat index today's supposed to be a glorious 111. Gotta love the south...the armpit of the US!

mokeefe said...

Hmmm... I think I'll go back to your early winter or late winter posts, compare them to my Chicago notes, and remember why I don't feel bad for you... :-)

Skeezix said...

Yeah, the heat has been awful. I've not riden at all since my tri and that's bad. BAD.

Today isn't brutal though so I think I'll be able to make it out for a little bit.