7 July 2024
"This is your fault," I said to Our Jeff as we sat our sweaty bottoms down onto the blacktop at the intersection of Ridge and Lindbergh Roads.
"I know," he sighed.
We were taking a snack break 20 miles into Dave S' 36-mile "Cabot Trail Training #1" ride, the first ride of the season to officially bill itself as preparation for the 5-day trip that's now a bit more than a month away. I've been training all year, though, so much so that some of my regulars have begged off my rides until sanity returns.
The humidity wasn't as bad today as it was yesterday morning. I hadn't listed a Saturday ride because the forecast was threatening rain and a heat index over 100 degrees late in the morning. Pete G stepped in and suggested a flat (such as that is) route from Pennington at 8:30 on Saturday morning. The air was already thick when I set off on Janice at 8:10. I met Pete, Heddy, Martin, and Jack H at Twin Pines.
Pete is the master of cicruitous routes. He knows all the worthy neighborhood side streets and which curbs to jump to get onto hidden sidewalks or dirt paths that link two streets.
When the sun was behind clouds (some of which looked like rain), the temperature was tolerable. When the clouds moved, we baked. I was finding it hard to breathe.
Halfway into the ride, we stopped at Village Park in Lawrenceville, where there's a water fountain and indoor bathrooms. I knew I was dehydrated when the thought of eating made me feel woozy. I had plenty of water and electrolytes with me. There was even some left when I rolled into my driveway after 42 miles.
After I showered, as I was cleaning out my water bottles, I felt intensely dizzy. I grabbed the drink I had on the counter and sat down. The room stopped spinning, and I started sweating. Then I began to shiver. I checked the weather record and saw that, as I was finishing the ride, the heat index was 103 degrees. I felt better after lunch.
I spent the rest of the day within arm's reach of something to drink.
After yesterday, I was worried about being able to complete today's training ride. The heat index wasn't as bad. There had been some rain overnight, and the air was cooler at 8:30 a.m.
Dave had a big group, 8 of the 13 being Caboteers. The plan was to do a relatively short ride with some long climbs (Long Hill, Lindbergh), but he threw in a few little steepies (Rainbow Hill, VanDyke) as well. Heddy said his route was nastier than mine. "Is that a chalenge?" I asked. "NO!" she replied.
I found myself off the back of the front on big climbs, which is my usual position on hilly C+ rides these days.
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