The first two days of the Friends for Life Bike Rally this year (see here and here) were ridden during heat alerts. Increasingly I’m worried about spending time on the bike in July and August in Ontario. It’s hot. It’s often the kind of hot that prompts the weather alert to remind you to “avoid outdoor exercise.”
I trained on one of those days in the month leading up to the rally and discovered heat cramps.
There are also scary thunderstorms. See Dodging thunderstorms: It’s getting harder and Sam’s stormy scary bike ride
I know it’s a small thing in the scheme of changing climate and ecological disaster. I know lives and entire ecosystems are at stake and it’s trivial to complain that global warming might be making my favorite athletic activity a lot less fun.
Still, it’s a loss. And it’s a reminder of the changes ahead of us.
Did you watch the Tour de France in the heat waves this summer?
See As Europe’s heat wave melts roads, Tour de France races into an uncertain future and Tour de France: future heatwaves may make it untenable to hold the race in July.
The bike rally needs to be at the end of summer so people have time to train and get ready but I do wonder about the sustainability of July/August cycling events whether it’s the Tour or the Bike Rally.
How is the changing climate affecting your summer activities?
