We humans love to complain. It's difficult to make us satisfied. I'm not different. When it's winter, I know it's supposed to be cold, icy and snowy. Yet, the longer winter lasts the more I keep thinking about those dry summer days when I don't have to worry about wet weather, mud and freezing hands.
But then summer comes quickly and I start complaining that it's too hot and too sunny. Actually, I'm one of those weird ones who would rather ride a bike when it's cold than hot. Anything above 75F (24C) is too much for me. I can't understand how people in my family can say they miss those 85F summer days. But they don't ride bikes, so maybe that explains it.
In fact, after years of cycling I came to a conclusion that the perfect cycling weather is 50-60F (10-15C), dry (no precipitation), not windy and partly cloudy. You don't need it to be any warmer when you're on a bike.
My biggest problem with summer cycling is the sun. There's too much of it. I overheat easily and even bringing enough water doesn't help. It's not so much about how much I drink, but about the constant exposure. I can't always ride in the shade and when I stay in the sunlight for too long my head overheats and I get bad headaches.
(Source: yehudamoon.com)
- wear a tinfoil hat to reflect the sunlight - out of the question for obvious reasons
- soak my hat with water periodically to keep my head cool
- ride very early in the morning, from dawn to the time before it gets too hot and sunny
- ride late in the evening, possibly into the night
The last three options look quite good on paper. Wearing a wet hat may work, but I'll be using a lot more of my drinking water this way.
Riding late in the evening is a good idea in general. Unfortunately, it would interfere with my family plans, since riding from, say, 4pm to 9pm means I would e.g. miss a family dinner.
Riding early in the morning is likely the best option here. I could be out at 5am and ride until 9am, which means I could be back for breakfast on time. Maybe I could even squeeze in a ride before work, on weekdays. The only problem of course is getting up before 5am - a bit too early for my taste, to be honest.
I'm going to give it a try. Meanwhile, if you know any reasonable options for riding in sunny weather, let me know in the comments.
