The One And Only Hot Sunday Ride

Gale warnings? Seems like the theme for 2014 so far!

This past weekend was the Holiday, of course, and coming into it I had some grand cycling plans in mind. That all went straight out the window on Friday. It seems that both Mrs. Guitar Ted and I came down with some sort of virus.

I could hardly stay awake and hurt so bad in my muscles I thought I'd played in a football game on Thursday. (That would be American Football, by the way.) Well, needless to say, I stayed around the house all day. In fact, it lingered right on into Saturday, and I couldn't muster any strength to pedal a bike at all. Certainly, this was frustrating, seeing as how Friday was especially beautiful out. But, what can you do? Rest, drink lots of fluids, and stew..........

Sunday dawned with thick air and heat. I felt pretty good, of course, and after I thumped my '99 Jazz Bass V at church, I set my mind upon getting out for at least something of a bicycle ride. I had to wait on certain family members to get their activities done, but later in the afternoon, I actually was pedaling the Tamland 2 down the bike path Southward out of town.

My favorite time to ride gravel- when the flowers are in bloom!

Sure, it was windy out of the Southwest, and the flags were standing straight out, but that's been par for the course all year so far, it would seem. I've ridden in the stiff winds so much that I hardly complain anymore. It isn't any easier, but it isn't a bummer either. I was just glad to be out- finally- and getting some miles in, however windy it might be.

What was somewhat of a concern was the humidity. If you haven't lived somewhere that humidity is commonplace in high percentages along with heat, you may not understand. The heat is something else when it gets humid. It was in the 80's, but with the humidity, it felt like my jersey was being held up against a hot oven, and the air is heavy. Even with the wind wailing away, it gave little comfort. Stopping was not a good idea, because your body heat would only add to the cooking effect. The images here were taken while stopped, and believe me, I was feeling the furnace effects of being stopped!

There was a lot of chunky gravel out there yesterday.

My concern was that I had been just ill and may still be, and here I was stressing out the system out of the gate. Or......maybe I was sweating it out of me? I don't know, but on I went at a steady pace until I chose a road to go East on. Then I had a mostly tailwind.

Of course, I flew onward and was emboldened to push the envelope a bit. I came up finally to my Northward turn and continued on with putting the wood to it. It felt good to be turning over the pedals and feeling speed again. The Tamland is just a smooth riding bike, and if I were to put one of those cushy seat posts on there I am sure it would be a super-plush ride. That helped keep me going fast. It was fun, but I had to wonder if I was overdoing it a bit.

Well, no worries, in the end. I made it back, and I felt satisfactorily tired. Then it was time to cool down. In the meantime, that nasty Southwest wind blew up some thunderstorms and we had some good video of a couple of tornadoes posted afterword on Facebook from around the area. Fortunately all were in the rural areas. A bit of excitement to tack on after a nice little ride. Call it the fireworks for the Fourth!