Summer again approaches Austin, America and well the northern hemisphere. With a 100 degree day forecast, the heat is on, again. It’s been almost a year since my post Surviving the Summer Heat on a Bicycle. While full of useful advice about not just hydration but acclimation and other stuff, there’s no need to repeat it, but feel free check it out. Even knowing what to do to minimize the effects doesn’t change the fact that it’s just sweaty and uncomfortable. In addition, I’ve attended several protests and demonstrations for Black Lives Matter (see posts here and here). One involved a march that was in the hottest part of the day. People were ducking into the shade, and numerous volunteers were handing out water. Add into that the increasing temperatures from global warming, and it’s that least wonderful time of year: summer. How can we make it less of a bummer?

Three places I usually like to go to beat the heat were: escape to cool pool, hide out in the air conditioning of a movie theater, or go to the public library. With the gym I joined closed to be a summer camp, most movie theaters still closed due to the pandemic, and the libraries only doing curbside pick-up, those options are out. That leaves staying inside to watch streaming television, read, take siestas or maybe some chores and yoga.

But I still have to get in my daily walk and bike ride. Now that I have to do something called w-o-r-k for a person called a b-o-s-s at a place called a j-o-b, I will have to do things around that schedule: super early or late. I’m fine with night rides but they are riskier, and it can still be very hot after ddark. That does reduce the heat but means changing my schedule pretty radically. Fortunately it’s only for a short time. Maybe some of the above escapes will re-open for the evenings and weekends at some point soon, too.

I’m fortunate to live in a country with widespread access to air conditioning and not so scorching as the desert or rainforest. Even so, many poor people don’t have AC and just use fans. They hang out on the stoop, just dealing with it. That’s what I was doing, though inside with the front and back doors open. Then the roommate returned and turned on the air, making it comfortable but now harder to acclimate to being outside. Once it’s 100 though, I’m turning the air on anyway.

Where am I going with this? Nowhere fast, that’s for sure. One is allowed a little kvetching in their blog once in a while. While the best thing to do is like the above graphic says, limit your activities, I still have to get places and the bus is too slow. So a biking I will go. Now that I have my speed sensor reinstalled, maybe I’ll start doing some miles on my old school home trainer. It feels like cheating though maybe that’s ok. I’m not getting younger, and as a fathlete, not any thinner either.

Hopefully you survive the summer heat too, and my tips linked above help. Take it easy and stay safe out there.

What are some ideas you have to beat the heat?

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