The Heat

[bcarlson]

SW Michigan, land of potholes and a-holes (mostly from Illinois - sorry )

Been mid to high 90's all week and last weekend. Two things that are the worst in this heat. Wearing the gear and the road tar gets all gummy and nasty.

[SuperRookie]

Definetly over 100, I can tell you that. Then again, it's been over 100 for 37 straight days. Anybody want to visit?

OVER 100 for 37 straight days? I never complain about the heat, but if I get the urge I'll just think about that and NOT complain

[kellanv]

yesterday we had a reading of 106 degrees, with a supposed heat index of around 115...gross

welcome to Texas

[Henriettaah]

Even in the UK we are having average temps of 35C (95F) in the shade, not sure what that equates to in the sun - all I know is that its meltingly hot So much so I'm picking a mesh jacket up tomorrow.

Today, we had a mean temp of 30C in the shade with humidity of 91%

[kabob983]

Even in the UK we are having average temps of 35C (95F) in the shade, not sure what that equates to in the sun - all I know is that its meltingly hot So much so I'm picking a mesh jacket up tomorrow.

Today, we had a mean temp of 30C in the shade with humidity of 91%

Umm...ICK! You'd think the UK would be alot cooler than here in Birmingham humid&hotsville USA, but apparently the difference is minimal. It's only 91 today (heat index at 97). The gf said that St. Louis got hammered with a storm yesterday and most of the city is without power (supposedly until Sunday!). I feel sorry for her, as they're near 100 again today I believe and without air conditioning!

[flynrider]

We're only at about 108F today, but it's supposed to kick up to 114F by tomorrow.

On the way to work this afternoon I stopped to help a biker pulled off on the side of the road. He was fully decked out in gear with armor. The poor guy was suffering from heat exhaustion. He told me he'd been riding in city traffic for about an hour. He was dizzy and nauseous and his head look like he'd just stepped out of the shower. I put him on the back of my bike and rode him a few blocks to a convienience store, where he sucked down a 44 oz icy Gatorade and sat in the air conditioning for awhile. Eventually, I took him back to his bike where he decided to skip the armored jacket for the rest of the ride across town.

This happens a lot around here. When it's 110 at the weather bureau, the actual temp 3 ft. above the asphalt is around 130-135.

[Relapz]

We're only at about 108F today, but it's supposed to kick up to 114F by tomorrow.

On the way to work this afternoon I stopped to help a biker pulled off on the side of the road. He was fully decked out in gear with armor. The poor guy was suffering from heat exhaustion. He told me he'd been riding in city traffic for about an hour. He was dizzy and nauseous and his head look like he'd just stepped out of the shower. I put him on the back of my bike and rode him a few blocks to a convienience store, where he sucked down a 44 oz icy Gatorade and sat in the air conditioning for awhile. Eventually, I took him back to his bike where he decided to skip the armored jacket for the rest of the ride across town.

This happens a lot around here. When it's 110 at the weather bureau, the actual temp 3 ft. above the asphalt is around 130-135.

Gotta love it out here. Our overnight low is higher than most of these peoples daytime high. At least it's been humid the last week or so, eh. As for the "it's not bad when I'm moving" crowd... It's a relief to stop moving out here. It's literally painful when I first get on the bike. You know that sensation when you first open the oven when you are cooking? That's what if feels like for the first 10 minutes or so when I ride home from work, stopping at lights is the only relief.

Thanks for that info about the 130-135, i knew that above the asphalt was higher, I just wasnt sure what it actually was.

What's a heat index? I've never heard of that. Just the UV index.

[jonnythan]

What's a heat index? I've never heard of that. Just the UV index.

The heat index includes the humidity in the calculation.

For example, an air temperature of 100 with 80% humidity is the equivalent feeling of about 120 degrees with 20% humidity.

100F, 80% is hell on earth.

Having spent a week working on the cliffs the desert of NM near Carlsbad caverns, where the air temperature regularly hit 110-115 with 10-15% humidity (heat index ~105), I would take that every day of the week over 90F with 80% humidity (heat index ~117)

[dieziege]

I used to buy the "100f 80%RH is hell on earth" thing until one time when I visited St. Louis Mo. (this was back when they had some huge flooding, long time ago now) and was walking around seeing the sights and thinking how pleasant it was... and then I got back to where I was staying, turned on a radio, and they were yapping away with, "don't go outside you'll die bla bla bla bla 95 degrees bla bla bla heat index 108 bla blabla" and I was thinking to myself "are these people insane?"

A real 110 w/ humidity so low you can't sleep because your nostrils, mouth, throat, eyes, and everything else dry out if you don't run humidifiers 24/7 and drink huge amounts of water is far more miserable than 100 where at least you don't dry up and start cracking. I know people who take slugs from bottles of olive oil to try and keep their throat from self destructing. And going outside really can be dangerous... as in I've had to call ambulances for people... that's bad. 95 degrees where you can take a 5 mile walk around town and end up with nothing but a sweaty shirt is nuthin.

But everyone has different standards. I was in Dallas last summer and people thought I was nuts because I was walking about half a mile from my hotel to the job site each morning... I thought it was easier than driving but they thought it was suicidal to walk around in the heat and humidity.

[KarateChick]

Laugh all you want at us Canucks...but today it hit 28C (82F) and its going to get to 32C (90F) this weekend so that's plenty hot for us (or me at least). Just have to ride faster to create more of a breeze...