Wave

Rationally it makes sense to go for a run when the sun is setting because the heat from the sun is lower. In theory this means that the body is dealing with a cooler environment.

In practice, when I go for evening rides and runs my body remains warm for hours, and that heat, during a heat wave, in a minergie building makes it unbearable.

For a few days it was cooling, and I had stopped using fans. I questioned why. I suspect that it is because when the building is exposed to heat wave temperatures for several days the air heats, but eventually the buildings’ structure begins to radiate its own stored heat energy. This means that you’re dealing with hot air, which isn’t bad. It’s when the building becomes a radiator that it becomes unpleasant.

Yesterday as I cycled from Nyon to Geneva I felt my mouth become dry so I drank, felt it get dry again, and drank again. The wind that is usually cooling, or cold was warm. I was having a hair dryer ride. This is a term I use when the air is so warm that it offers no cooling effect.

We Ride at Dawn

One solution to avoid such a ride is simply to ride at sunrise like I did with Tête de Course. You wake up before sunrise and head towards the meeting point as the sky starts to gain some colour. The ride itself takes place at dawn, so you’re in 20°c rather than 34°c. It’s 10°c cooler than my bedroom so I wore layers to stay warm. If you don’t like the heat then this is an excellent way of getting a bike ride in before it gets too hot. It’s also a way of getting a bike ride before work.