I work 10 hour shifts 6:30-4:30. I quit work in the hottest part of the day. Does anybody ride in the worse of the heat?

Impaler 58 wrote on 07/28/16 at 3:59pm:


I have ridden every single day since July 17th.  Aside from two weekends and perhaps a rain closure or two I have ridden every single day in July.  Weekdays I don't hit the trail until around 6-6:30ish with weekend rides starting around 1-2ish.  Most rides are min 60 min with weekend rides going over 90 min most times.

I drink a lot of water on the trail and a lot of beer after.   

The heat only bothers me when I stop... so I try not to stop until I am finished.

All most every day....  Lots of water and in the shaded woods.

I'll get off work at 4 today and be in the dirt by 4:25 at Sherman.  Hot, below freezing, fair weather, I'll ride in all of it.

I'm a pretty small dude @ 5'6" 150lbs, heat doesn't bother me as much as some larger folk.  It always seems that my tolerance to heat is higher than average, but Mexican DNA may play a role and I spent my summers in the midwest on a BMX bike.  Granted, at the end of a hot ride, water gets poured over my head repeatedly.

Trail work?

I can do it, but choose not too.

After 10-11am it's no fun for me this time of the year. Even in the shade, it's just too hot. 

I used to work out in it in my younger days, so I got plenty of it then. And I ride alone so it's just not worth the risk of having a heat related problem. Not to mention the ozone and sun exposure.

Fortunately, my schedule allows early morning rides. Before 8 or 9am it's nice, even bearable. 

I also road ride late evenings.

The heat of the day? It's a good time to catch up on paperwork, etc.. 

I don't get to ride as much as I'd like, but when I do get to go, I go. Personally I've never found the heat to be as bad as I think it's going to be. I hydrate a lot before riding and dial it back a bit. Being in the shade, with a little sweat and the wind effect from moving, I don't think it's too bad. The temp goes up like 50 degrees if I stop, so I keep moving. I wouldn't ride a sunny trail. One change I do make is to ditch the baggy shorts and sport the spandex. The baggy shorts are like riding a windbreaker zipped up. It's way cooler without that outer layer.

Enoch wrote on 07/28/16 at 8:33pm:

I agree about the older. When it gets later in the day I'm usually to pooped. Two weeks we go back to eight hours shifts. I have been going to the gym more though.