On great thing about the military besides the pay (insert sarcasm) is being able to travel to different parts of the world. Recently, my family and I relocated from beautiful New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, to the bone dry desert of Yuma, Arizona.
I heard that a couple of my coworkers are bike commuters. I thought that it was pretty interesting because the afternoon highs have been reaching 115 degrees. A tad bit warmer than I’m used to.
I figure there really isn’t an easy way to getting used to commuting in the heat. So this morning, I got up an hour earlier to ride into work. I took the KMX that I picked up from RL this past weekend. That thing is such a blast to ride. Besides having a pretty cool ride, the commute itself sucked! Sure work is only 4 miles away. But it was somewhere around 90 degrees at 7:00 am and it felt like I was going up hill about 80% of the time. My legs were burning about half way there.
Once I got to work, people instantly crowded around the KMX wanting to check it out. One of the comments I heard was “that’s some wild a$$ sh!t�. It’s funny because he kept on saying it for about five minutes.
Besides the 115 degree heat that radiated from the sun and the road, the commute home wasn’t too bad. It was mostly down hill but had to travel into the wind. One very interesting thing I saw on the way home was a coyote. No not one of those guys who smuggles illegal aliens through the border, the less notorious one (the animal). That was an interesting encounter. He was about 10 feet away from me getting ready to cross the road when I rode past him. I didn’t know who was more scared, me or the coyote.
Commuting in the desert is definitely a tough commitment. Hats off to those of you who live in harsh conditions and still insist on being bike commuters.
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Am I the only one curious about who the authors of each post are (such as this one)?
Oops… The author shows up on the main page, but not on the individual entry page where I usually read it…
Drew,
Randy is actually my brother and he’s a Staff Sgt in the US Army. He was station in PA for the past 3 years and recently relocated to Yuma Az. He’s always been part of Bike Commuters, but he took a short sabbatical in order to manage his relocation affairs. But he’s back and he’ll be commuting in hellish conditions, he’ll be able to give us some insight on how to do it right without killing ourselves!
Drew,
If you ever wanted to know something about any of us, just ask. So I’ll start it off….I like long bike rides along the street. I love buffets, my favorite color is tan, and I love poopies!
I live in Tucson and once over heard a Target employee say “You went to Yuma? Can’t wash that off!”
For Tucson, I find that hydration and reducing loads are the key. On super hot days, I use my xtracycle and wear a camelback. That way I don’t feel the burden of the load and my back can breathe. Cold showers after I get home are also are nice, except when we run out of cold water. Other than that, be sure that the bike is completely checked over. No need to do road side repairs in the heat that could’ve been avoided.
I will be fixing the “missing author bug”, thanks Drew for pointing it out.
I commute in Bullhead City, about 200 miles north on the Colorado River. When it gets hot, I find wearing a denim shirt helps keep me cool as I completely soak it before leaving on the commute home. The shirt dries out after about 4 miles, except the collar stays damp all the way home. It all helps in trying to stay cool.
That sounds pretty interesting Gary. I imagine the denim would keep the wind from circulating, but having it wet is an interesting theory. I just might have to try that.
I was stationed in Yuma and lived there a total of 12 years back in the 70′s. Moved to Minnesota and now bike all winter here….talk about climate change!!! You adapt eventually….