During the podcast, the TR crew suggested doing 30 min hot and then find a way to be cool for the rest of the ride.
A long time ago, I stumbled into something like that but with much less baggage to make it happen. I lived in Boulder and just wanted to ride as soon as I got home from work. It would be insufferable (95F with much atmosphere so the uv was higher than sea level too). I’d start my ride casually on the way to the mountains and by the time I got to the steep stuff, the sun would have dipped behind them bringing a lot of relief just when I wanted to do high intensity. My rides would be…
- 30 min of zone2 in high heat and direct sunlight
- 60-90 min of high intensity with moderate temps and no direct sunlight
- 30 min of threshold in the 70s with a cool breeze to get back home
I now live somewhere else but this can be done just about anywhere - even in TX, 6pm rides are quite nice even in mid summer and even when the temp stays pretty high (think 90F at midnight). Just having the sun dip a little and dropping from 100F to 90F is big difference. Wherever you live, try this…
- Leave the house about 30 min before it will get nice.
- Do zone 2 until the conditions are nice and then start your intervals, climbs, etc.
Do this daily for 3 weeks and you’ll get to the point where you can ride at 2pm on the weekends without really suffering. YMMV but it works for me.
