A couple of rides on Friday and Saturday were real scorchers as the weather in Minnesota turned into a real late-summer muggy atmosphere. We don’t get too many of these types of days in the Great White North, but when we do – they are the real deal. Temps in the 90s and humidity levels not too far behind.
All these carbon and high-tech components do little to stave off the heat
But that doesn’t deter me from riding, even though I’m not able to push too hard. I’ve got thick Scandinavian blood running through my veins, so I’m much more conditioned for riding in cold and wet 40 degree temperatures. When the temperatures exceed 90 and the humidity levels match, my body doesn’t quite know how to handle the combination of aggressive cycling, little-to-no sweat evaporation, and gentle winds that do nothing but blow hot wind in my face. It’s a power-draining experience and it seems like my legs just don’t want to turn the pedals with any authority.
My black jersey is actually the coolest of my options, with fabric that is nearly transparent
Friday’s ride was a basic Medina loop – coming in at around 21 miles. I didn’t have any real goals for the ride, other than a one hour target. I took off work a little early on Friday afternoon but found myself lounging around the house instead of getting anything truly productive accomplished. By the time 5:00pm rolled around, I figured that I needed to at least do something worthwhile, so I put on a kit and hit the road.
Friday can be hit-or-miss when it comes to traffic. It seems that more and more people are taking Friday off from work and heading out of town by 12 noon. This means that an afternoon ride really isn’t that busy and the mad rush to the northern parts of the state has already left the area. Knowing this, I headed out to the northwest – looking for those newly paved roads that I described in earlier posts.
Sunday’s trip to the Uptown Art Fair needed lots of hydration to stay comfortable
While just outside of Loretto, I heard the familiar “cling, cling, cling” of a dog collar and looked over my left should to see a mid-sized brown dog barreling toward me with all his might. In the distance I heard his owner shouting at him to come back home – but there was no stopping him and he was soon on the road trying to get on my tail. Fortunately, I had a clean jump on him and was in no threat to have him catch me. After a couple of aggressive yards on the pavement, the dog realized his disadvantage and canceled the pursuit. I was a little disappointed that he gave up so early as I could have used the chase to get some energy (and adrenaline) pumping through my system. Every dog on the road reminds me of the scene from American Flyers when they meet up with “training partner” Eddie. Dogs can definitely inject a little bit of excitement into any ride.
Saturday’s ride was a little more low-key with the high temperatures curbing any speed and duration. I cut the ride short and was just eager to get home, out of the heat, and into the conditioned air inside the house. 19 miles on the road under those conditions is enough for anybody – let alone a hack cyclists like me.
Sunday offered a little more excitement, continuing the common theme of sweating buckets outside. My daughter wanted to go to the Uptown Art Fair and bring her dog – so I met up with the Ex and her mother to hit Lake Calhoun briefly before walking through some of the fair.
The Minneapolis Lakes are awesome and offer a lot of postcard moments for taking photos
Sunday’s weather trumped all the other days in the weekend, as temperatures were easily in the mid-90s, the sun was baking everything with its rays, and the high humidity made everything instantly wet. We parked in an open lot near the Calhoun Beach Club and walked over to the fair. This gave a chance for the dog to get a little relief in the lake before getting stuck surrounded by thousands of people on high-temperature pavement. The dog is a flat-coated retriever and has a thick black coat – making for an uncomfortable experience. We did our best sticking to the grass and the shade for some relief.
The ducks were plentiful but just out of reach
The art fair was simply that – an art fair – and I didn’t find anything that was too out of the ordinary. There are far too many people that are jewelry makers and way too many photographers of flowers to result in anything extraordinary. The one unique stand involved an artist who created near photo-quality images using nothing but embroidery silk thread. The art work itself wasn’t too impressive – but the sheer amount of time and patience that went into creating each one was truly astounding.
On the way back, the dog got another dip into the lake, this time to chase after some ducks and fully submerge her body for some relief. She was funny as she dove her head completely under water – looking for anything to aid in cooling herself off. On the way out, she decided to roll around in the sand and get incredibly dirty (see the pict for some evidence of that). Thus, it was back in the water to “wash off” and at least get presentable for the ride home in the car.
The way back included a quick stop at YUM! for some cupcakes – which was a nice way to end the weekend and put a close to the suffering imposed by the heat.
