STUPID HOT!

Total for this ride: 59.0 miles
Total for this year: 1218.3 miles

So what's "stupid hot?"  It's the next level beyond "wicked hot."  It's when the temperature and humidity get so high that you'd have to be STUPID to be out in it.  And yet... that's exactly where I was today.

OK, so I knew it was going to be hot.  I at least have the good sense to keep an eye on the weather, and there was no question that we were going to break into the 90's today.  That's why I planned a ride up by Lake Ontario -- I figured it would be a few degrees cooler up there.  I thought I was being smart.  But in the end, I was sorely wrong -- and therefore stupid -- as the image at the end of this posting will attest.

The ride started out well.  I took off from the Bear Creek Harbor on the lake shore about 9:45 a.m.  Again... getting an early start in the hopes of avoiding the afternoon heat (again... it turned out it didn't make a bit of difference when I started...).  Did the first leg of the ride, 15 miles out to Sodus Point, at a very respectable 15.6 mph.  Finally got a chance to see the lighthouse I've been wanting to check out for years, rolled through the part of the village I'd never seen, refilled my empty water bottle, and took off for the next leg of the ride, another 15 mile segment which would take me around the perimeter of Sodus Bay to the Chimney Bluffs State Park.

Again, things started out well, but about a third of the way there I ran into road construction on Shaker Tract Rd.  Fortunately, the crew wasn't working today, but the road was sort of a mess.  The ashphalt had been stripped off, leaving a rocky surface which had recently been oiled.  I stayed on the tracks where cars passing through had compacted the rocks at least a little, but it was still bumpy and it slowed me down.  After a couple of miles of this, I was thankful to hit Ridge Rd. and start east again.  After going over a bridge at the south end of Sodus Bay I turned north and rode the last 6 miles or so to the entrance of Chimney Bluffs State Park.

I was mildly disappointed with the park.  I mean it was clean and all, but I didn't see the bluffs.  I guess I would have had to ride another 5 miles or so to a different entrance.  But it wasn't clear that I would even see them from there.  Most of the park consists of hiking trails, and with my cleats on I certainly wasn't going to be able to do any hiking, so in the end I took refuge under the shade of a tree, ate a quickly melting power bar, downed some water, and got back on the road.

I think it was after I left the park, and maybe when I got back to Ridge Rd., that I began to notice that the heat was taking its toll.  I was drinking like crazy to ward off dehydration, and I started taking rest breaks more frequently.  After the break at the 30 mile mark at the park, I took another at 38 miles (where I downed a huge PowerAide drink), one at 48 miles (stopped at some sort of clinic and rested in the shade of the awning leading up to the front door), and one at 52 miles (just pulled over under the shade of a tree).  By now I was actually paying attention to my physical condition ("...checked my vital signs to know I'm still alive and I walk alone...").  I knew I was going to have to be careful -- in spite of the fact that it was near 100 degrees with God knows how much humidity, I was occasionally getting some chills, which was a bad sign.  I struggled to remember everything I learned about heat stroke and heat exhaustion in my lifesaving and water safety classes about a hundred years ago.  I couldn't remember which was which... I knew in one of them the victim quits sweating.  That wasn't my problem.  I was sweating like a pig.  But other than that, I couldn't remember any of the symptoms.  If I came down with one, would I start cramping and vomiting?  Or would I just pass out (that would be bad)?  I remember something about "if the face is red, raise the head - if the face is pale, raise the tail."  But how would I know if my face was red or pale?  I know!  I'd take a picture of myself (if I hadn't passed out).  But then I had my contacts in - how would I see the little image on the display?  Wait - I brought my reading glasses in my handlebar bag, so I'd be set!  These were the weird thoughts going through my mind as I was struggling to put in those last several miles.

Needless to say, even though I was totally zombified at the end, I did finally get back to the truck safely.  I loaded the bike, cranked the A/C on the MAX setting and made the long drive home.