Our start was a bit later than usual today. On previous mornings, breakfast was served at 6:30, putting us on the road by 7:30. Today, however, we didn't roll out until 8:30—though we were greeted by a pleasant mid-70s temperature.
The first 10 miles (of a 56-mile day) were a glorious, continuous descent. It was pure fun, but every cyclist knows the golden rule: you will eventually pay for every downhill with an uphill later in the ride.
In our case, the payback wasn't delayed for long. The initial descent emptied right into a steep ramp, with pitch occasionally hitting a brutal 18% grade. A larger, sustained climb immediately followed, and by then, the heat was really turning up into the mid-80s.
It was around this point that I started wondering if there’s a mathematical formula to quantify a ride’s difficulty—factoring in distance, elevation gain, temperature, and maybe a few other suffering parameters thrown in for good measure.
The reason for my delusional mid-ride math? If I had to rate today on a scale of 0 to 10, it was easily an 11. Post-lunch, I found myself grinding up a 14% grade in 101°F heat. Extreme heat turns every effort into an ordeal. Where a climb in moderate 70-degree weather is actually fun, the exact same hill in the upper 90s is downright soul-crushing.
And that pretty much sums up today. We came to ride, and ride we did.
Despite the brutal temperatures and relentless climbing, I couldn't help but be captivated by the endless fields of sunflowers. We certainly have similar fields back home in the US, but there's something magical about touring Europe and taking in the view of these "happy flowers" standing tall and tracking the sun throughout the day. In the middle of a tough ride, the sight of them never fails to make me smile.
Happy Biking,
Brian
Absolutely stunning. Now go rest those legs.
ReplyDeleteBrutal climbing? And this is a vacation?
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