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PSA - How hot is too hot?


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3 hours ago, cxagent said:

I was in an attic in League City Texas last week. Measured temperature in the attic was *only* 105 F. But the dew point temperature was 87 F. That attic felt hotter than most here in Austin. I could only stay in there about 15 minutes at a time.

I didn't see that coming.  I could say there are worse places to be but there aren't.  Glad you survived and are hopefully back home in much cooler conditions -- in your house...in the AC. 

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100 degrees is just too hot. I wanted to do CnD this week but it's just not fun for me. I ride on the weekends when it gets like this so I can end a ride before noon. I wimp out and melt in this kind of heat. I was born in Chicago, in January, at a time when the temperature was well below 0° F, so maybe that set my internal thermostat lower than you Texas folks. 

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Yeah, I hate the cold more than I used to. My childhood memories are dominated by the feeling of flaky, cracked, dry skin and toes that never thaw out. I like it "crisp". I get that people around here are not used to cold but a few things still confuse me about Texans' response to weather: People who wear an effing parka when it dips below 80 (I have seen people wearing winter coats while riding a bike in 78° weather) and people who never bother to buy any sort of warm clothing and shiver through the few cold days we get in a thin sweater and sandals.

Edited by mack_turtle
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Born in Rochester, NY.  My thermostat has also definitely changed!  At some point I wanted to move back north at some point in my life, but one Christmas at my parents in Grand Rapids, MI with 4ft of snow in 24 hours and my parents' snowblower broke cured me of that desire. 

Yeah, people here break out the coats and Ug (sp?) boots if it gets below 70.  OTOH, I remember people in MI breaking out the shorts and flip flops as soon as it got sunny and above 50°F.

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CnD was actually nice this week. I don't know if it was temperature or humidity but I felt good for once. I don't ride well in the heat at all. The brain just tells my body to shut it all down past 90 degrees. I survive Texas summers to enjoy our perfect winters. I've already been daydreaming about fall.

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I also remember one winter while I was at UT, going up for Christmas on a Greyhound (I'd ride Greyhound to Chicago, then grab the train to GR).  It was so cold that the first few bags the baggage handlers tried to remove from under the bus by the handled, ripped apart because the plastic was so brittle from the cold...like the high school nitrogen experiment.  The cabbie was drinking out of a flask, and on the return trip to GR, the train doors were frozen shut from all the kicked up snow/ice and we had to wait 45 minutes to be pick-axed out.  

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Heat (98 up) with no breeze... That's the tipping point for me. But in Austin there's usually a breeze... Even a sea breeze. I had a bit of a surprise intro to Austin's sea breeze when I first moved here. I was walking back to work from lunch downtown and suddenly felt what we'd call in the islands a "fresh" breeze. It even had the smell of salt in it. I was like, "Where did that come from... How close are we to the sea?" It turns out that because there are no real hills between Austin and the coast we can often get a strong wind coming straight up from the gulf, which is what I experienced.

Didn't grow up with AC in cars or at home, and even today you'll still find me with my window down when driving in 80s or low 90s temps. Saves gas too.

I had a friend in Jamaica who went to college in Canada. He told me of an experience where he got caught in a storm on his way from one class to another and had to take shelter in a building alcove. While there he had to take a piss and ended up just pissing on himself. He said the warmth on his leg was the best thing he'd ever felt, but right away knew that he never chose to live anywhere that snows.

I had another friend that went to engineering college in a place called Thunder Bay... Look it up. He swore that his parents hated him.

Edited by RidingAgain
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Did some riding in CA a couple weeks ago...gravel biking in the Sequoia National Forest.  One of my rides was in 100*F weather, with 9% humidity.  At 5000-7000 feet above seal level.  It was so much easier than a similar ride in ATX would have been.  I had a 7 mile climb @ 4.4% and a 1.8 mile climb @ 6.5 % during that ride, and although I stopped to take breaks a few times and didn't exactly fly up those climbs, I didn't feel like I was going to die.  It was kinda weird.

-cls

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3 hours ago, MrTheCatLady said:

Did some riding in CA a couple weeks ago...gravel biking in the Sequoia National Forest.  One of my rides was in 100*F weather, with 9% humidity.  At 5000-7000 feet above seal level.  It was so much easier than a similar ride in ATX would have been.  I had a 7 mile climb @ 4.4% and a 1.8 mile climb @ 6.5 % during that ride, and although I stopped to take breaks a few times and didn't exactly fly up those climbs, I didn't feel like I was going to die.  It was kinda weird.

-cls

It's totally not weird to me.  As long as you have water to drink, riding in those conditions is way more benign than riding in 80°F and 85% RH.

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Last Friday evening was too hot. The heat index was well above 100 degrees.

I did some building at the entrance to Peddlers Pass (improving sightlines for those entering and exiting the trail). I was there longer than expected (3 hours). After 2.5 hours I started to see the 1st signs of heat exhaustion, no energy and a little nauseous. At 3 hours I recognized I better stop before it got worse. That night I threw up several times and felt like S!@#. I drank plenty of water and was working in the shade. I was really surprised at how quickly the symptoms started. Normally, my early warning symptom is a slight headache, when get that I stop. This time, no headache, straight to throwing up. Make sure you educate yourself on the symptoms. 

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Last Friday evening was too hot. The heat index was well above 100 degrees.
I did some building at the entrance to Peddlers Pass (improving sightlines for those entering and exiting the trail). I was there longer than expected (3 hours). After 2.5 hours I started to see the 1st signs of heat exhaustion, no energy and a little nauseous. At 3 hours I recognized I better stop before it got worse. That night I threw up several times and felt like S!@#. I drank plenty of water and was working in the shade. I was really surprised at how quickly the symptoms started. Normally, my early warning symptom is a slight headache, when get that I stop. This time, no headache, straight to throwing up. Make sure you educate yourself on the symptoms. 
Yea last Friday was nasty. I was on 1/4 and had the flash of a headache come on then rapidly disappear. I'm no fool and called it a day. I was lethargic the rest of the afternoon. Likewise I was heavily hydrated but have learned from past mistakes to now recognize when to bail on a ride

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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31 minutes ago, jcarneytx said:

Seemed downright chilly this morning. 

Work and other obligations have been tough this week. I got a good morning ride in on Monday, but I'm not dickin around tomorrow after today's cool temps. Biking comes first.

Forecast is 70 at 8am. I'll take it!

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Columbia Omni-Freeze Zero update.

FM6128_683_f?wid=767&hei=767&fmt=jpeg&ql

I've worn these shirts now in humid CenTex while chain sawing and stacking wood in 90-100 degrees and high humidity, where the shirt moved the sweat away quickly and didn't saturate, cling, or drip. Compared with the day before, wearing another Columbia button up wicking shirt that just held sweat.

Now, further testing by the Ridenfool Institute of General Foolishness has been conducted in arid New Mexico where the cooling effect has been most noticeable while riding in the high desert where it made an aggressive day ride much more comfortable than it otherwise would have been.

I'm hooked on these in long sleeves for Summer wear providing shade and relief from sweat build up.

For more detail on the official Santa Fe test ride, click here.

Edited by Ridenfool
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  • 1 month later...

Weather Underground <wunderground.com> has a new graphic presentation of relative humidity on the 10-day forecast; I'd really not noticed it before. 

Lately when I ride to the gym in the morning,  I'm instantly soaked in sweat while locking up my bike, like, "I really need to take a shower before working out" sweaty.   Looking at the graphic, relative humidity peaks about 92% at 8 am and then continues to drop slowly to about 30% around 6 pm, so mystery solved.

Yesterday, the mercury thermometer in the shade on my front porch peaked at 107 degrees.  A record high of 103 was recorded at Camp Mabry.  It still has not rained at my house since sometime in July.  Those pop-up  thunderstorms  here and there have missed us completely. 

Forecast shows a wee bit cooling at the beginning of the week, with some chance of rain.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

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