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dreamsharkEvery year it takes me a little longer to advance my physical fitness to the point where I can easily bike 5 miles, which is the distance from my house around the closest lake and back. First there was ice in the streets. Then it was raining all the time. Then it was nice for a couple of days but I was tired because I went for a walk the day before. I finally made it to my Level 1 Fitness Level last Saturday when I biked around the lake to bring minnehaha a mask and a book, and I was barely even tired afterwards.
Yay! I vowed to keep biking around the lake every day, or at least every other day.
Then the weather went into sauna mode. Ye Gods, is it hot and humid! As the Strib Weather Guy says, you don't need a made up "Heat Index" when you have dew point. 60's is humid. 70's is tropical. 80's is life-threatening. The dew point has been hitting the high '70's for the last week. So I started going to bed earlier so I could get up at 7:30 and bike in the morning while it was still relatively cool. Yesterday at 7:30 it was already 81 fricking degrees, so abort that. Today it was only 74, and the dew point was down into the 60's - not even "tropical" yet.
So I actually got on my bike and rode around the lake. It wasn't bad at all. The concession stand has iced cold press coffee on tap in this weather, and if you prowl around enough you can usually find a table in the shade (tip: check out the hidden tables between the concession stand and the bandstand). And my favorite bench by the Peace Garden is usually available ever since the Japanese Lilac Tree overgrew into a bower and hid it from view completely, so I took another break there. Of course that means that by the time I got home the temp was well into the 80's, but now I've gotten my exercise for the day (or more likely, week) I feel totally justified hanging around in the AC all day.
minnehaha a mask and a book, and I was barely even tired afterwards. Yay! I vowed to keep biking around the lake every day, or at least every other day.
Then the weather went into sauna mode. Ye Gods, is it hot and humid! As the Strib Weather Guy says, you don't need a made up "Heat Index" when you have dew point. 60's is humid. 70's is tropical. 80's is life-threatening. The dew point has been hitting the high '70's for the last week. So I started going to bed earlier so I could get up at 7:30 and bike in the morning while it was still relatively cool. Yesterday at 7:30 it was already 81 fricking degrees, so abort that. Today it was only 74, and the dew point was down into the 60's - not even "tropical" yet.
So I actually got on my bike and rode around the lake. It wasn't bad at all. The concession stand has iced cold press coffee on tap in this weather, and if you prowl around enough you can usually find a table in the shade (tip: check out the hidden tables between the concession stand and the bandstand). And my favorite bench by the Peace Garden is usually available ever since the Japanese Lilac Tree overgrew into a bower and hid it from view completely, so I took another break there. Of course that means that by the time I got home the temp was well into the 80's, but now I've gotten my exercise for the day (or more likely, week) I feel totally justified hanging around in the AC all day.
