Hot again and early in the afternoon, heat index of 107ºF. Not quite as hot as yesterday. I scouted Banta Rd. and decided against it because it didn't have one single piece of shade and looked more long than steep. So I did the steeper shorter shadier road to the north. From my brother's house on Conklin Rd. I went up Fallbrook Rd to Ross Hill Rd to State Line to Bradyville to Conklin Forks then back to Tom's house. About 9 miles and a 650' (ish) climb. The top of Fallbrook was formidable, and I did something I never do. On the steep about 150m from the summit, I stopped and rested in shade. This was my 3rd day in a row and I didn't want my HR over 180 for any length of time and it surely would have been if I hadn't stopped. I was already in the mid 170s by that point. After I got to the high point I stopped, and on the way down, took some photos. The 'Conklin Forks' is beautiful, timeless, really pretty much unchanged since my youth, when I was bombing around these roads in a black '69 Cougar smoking dope in 1977. Never in my wildest dreams as a kid would I have imagined doing what I've done in the past three days at age 65, with the heat index of 104 to 112ºF.... 48 yrs later.
The initial climb is an estimate of 2 GPS data sets.
HR was over 153 for 48 min, but not consecutively. When I rested near the top, I let my HR recover to 140s before the final push, where I stopped again and took the photo. Happy that the HR graph looks more like a set of intervals than my typical climb.
The hybrid Cannondale bike was not real light, but it sure was a climber. The low gear was a 28T crank and 34T sprocket. On my road bike, it's 34/34T. It's an older model, probably sold new for about $600.
Cover up. Melanoma is deadly.
ReplyDeleteBike by Cannondale. Sunscreen by Neutrogena SPF 70
ReplyDeleteSunscreen should be last line of defense. In order, avoid mid day sun, cover up, what can’t be covered, sunscreen. There are very good long sleeve light weight sun block sport shirts now. And scull caps for under the helmet.
ReplyDeleteI actually like training in the heat and sun, but always use the lowest toxicity (EWG rated) spray sunscreen to get every part of my back and skin. When I'm doing intervals at the track, I always warmed up in the shade and rested in between when possible in the shade. Those workouts were very brief also. Like less than 15 min. The bike climb I do at home is about 90% shaded
DeleteTrain before 9.00am or after 5.00pm.
ReplyDelete