In order to beat the heat...
...one must NOT give in to the temptation of lingering in bed at 7am in the morning to get a few more winks of sleep, but instead check the clock with bleary eyes, pull on the cycling shorts, roll the bike out of the garage, and set off down the road while the temps were a glorious 59°f (15°c), a short lived gift that was soon to be chased off by the forecasted 90°f (32°c) heat and humidity in less than a few hours.
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While the morning was blissfully clear, calm and cool, the "almost July" sun was hot and bright, slicing through the dense roadside foliage with a sharpness that hurt the eyes, even through the expensive lenses of my high dollar shades. I kept to the gravel roads as much as possible to take advantage of the deep shade, thankful that the recent rains had left the road surface soft enough to pack a faultless firm and fast under the tires of numerous vehicles traveling the roads afterwards. The firm surface left me free to really move along, testing (still) the mettle of the new Gazelle on the tough hills for the route I'd chosen.
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While the snapshot doesn't do justice to the 13% grade of this hill, the fact that most analogue bikes have to climb in "granny gear" because it is steep meant that I had to employ Turbo and a low gear. I chose this route because of this hill to give the Gazelle the acid "climbing" test. Happy to say, it passed with flying colors, performing even better than the LaFree. Going to give credit to the Gazelle's more powerful Class 3 motor vs the less powered Class 1 LaFree.
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There was still ample lingering evidence of the uprooted trees and debris caused by the violent storm, although most road debris had long been carted away. What was left was torn up ground from tree rootballs having been removed, and chainsawed tree limbs discarded in the brush where they had fallen. At the top of the hill I came across this scene of an uprooted shed that, seizing the unique opportunity for a fanciful adventure, had joined the fierce winds mid-storm and taken flight to see what the rest of the world had to offer. The giddy wind, clearly in a comedic mood, had taken the shed on a whirlwind journey across the field directly into the embrace of a more firmly anchored shed on a stone base. And thus the two sheds clung together like a couple dancing at a wedding, the slightly inebriated one gleefully recounting its heady windbourn adventures in a rather risque dance move to the amusement of the upright shed while both waited for the estate crew to come drag the wayward shed back to the field from whence it had flown.
I'm sure the estate crew, already overworked by storm debris cleanup, was not going to be amused.
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I had just turned down this road and found myself following a power line truck enroute to yet another site of storm damage where the power poles had been damaged or snapped by falling trees. A brand new power pole proudly rode shotgun on the top of the truck, ready to replace a damaged pole somewhere along the road for the next 30 to 40 years until it, too, would be replaced by storm damage or simply old age. The truck, clearly on a tight time based mission of high importance demanding a traveling speed much faster than my languid pace, was quickly lost on the many bends of the road. I turned off onto another road without glimpsing the power truck again. I am sure, however, I will see that pole again standing alongside a local gravel road somewhere, tall and capable under the heavy power lines it will shoulder for decades to come.
By now the air was starting to warm up, stripping the coolness away, the sun was rising higher and hotter, and my right knee was sourly hinting that I still needed to make a minor adjustment or two to my riding position on the Gazelle.
Time to go home to enjoy the AC, a quick brunch, and maybe an afternoon nap to round out the remainder of the day. Zucchini is on the menu for dinner tonight.
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In fact it still hasn't rained and its now after 1pm, the forecasts are very erratic these days....still no sign of summer here but I'm happy with the lower temps, 16C is just perfect for cycling! I may take my bike to the racing on Sunday but I will wait and see what the weather is doing as it will be a long day, I will only take the car if its absolutely necessary....
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