The last couple days

Well here we are again.. it’s summer! The weather is blisteringly hot… the roads are melting and my bike tires are dragging tar back into the house after every ride. I’m getting through litres and liters of water a day, and the sunscreen has become as vital as the air we breath.

I thought that once I had finished with school, I would have a lot more time to catch up with this sort of stuff.. but that hasn’t been the case.

Yesterday I went out on an MTB ride in the morning (I’m racing the MTB Midi Libre this weekend) and I discovered a stunning view. After riding through a bunch of fields, I found myself on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Tarn, with a view that covered everything from Albi to Gaillac. In the distance I could see the heat hazed Mazamet Black mountains. I couldn’t see the Pyrenees though, it was too hot.

So after my MTB ride, I came home and had lunch on the balcony. Even though I sat in the shade (of course) it was a sweat fest of a lunch. Then I relaxed a little bit with a coffee to digest, before heading out for a 50k ride on my time trial bike in the afternoon. I chose a hilly loop as I wanted to really get a feel for the TT bike on hills (it sucks). So I headed out in possibly the hottest weather we’ve had yet, with only one water bottle. I did the hilly ride in 1h30, but when I got home I actually got a little scared. I was in a bit of a state. My body wasn’t reacting too well to the effort and fatigue from the ride in such heat… I think I pushed a bit too hard considering I was already tired and obviously dehydrated… still.. it was fun and a cool ride. So to cool off, I went over to hang out in a friend’s swimming pool in the evening.

After a stifling night, I woke up this morning feeling crappy. I’ve consumed VAST quantities of fluids since yesterday evening. It’s stupid hot again, and I’m about to head out for a ride. I was planning on doing my very hilly 100k loop, but seeing as there are no places to stop and get water on that loop, I’m going to do a different one.