August in Miami has been a challenge. It's cooler than inland Florida. But the humidity is something that has to be experienced to be understood. Take away the breeze (nature's or a fan's) and the humidity thickens the air like flour thickens a sauce.
Since moving to Florida in 2000, our summer biking has been limited. It played second fiddle to water skiing. Now that we live in Miami, we bike five days a week and we took the strategy used by most of the bike people we know. Bike early.
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| The view from our front steps as we head out on a morning ride. |
August biking begins in the dark. The highrises of downtown and Brickell are dotted with light. Dawn is a bare promise on the eastern horizon. Car and bus traffic is light. Pedestrians are few, but runners are plentiful. A few of the cyclists we meet are on road bikes. Most are commuters on mountain bikes, city bikes, and fixies. There are urban roosters and chickens that live in the shrubbery of the shopping areas and parks. The roosters are just beginning their morning cock-a-doodle-doos as we pedal past their leafy roosts.
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| Dawn at the EBC ride. |
It's a sweaty ride, but it's not an unpleasant one. We're faster now.
After the EBC ride we ride around a bit to add some miles. But a metric? Not today. A sprint? Nah. The heat and humidity flat out makes us lazy.
On the bright side, the peak average daily temperature was a week or so ago. While we still have weeks more of sticky weather, the end is in sight. Groups are beginning to put out publicity for the big early fall rides. Remember, this is Florida. Our biking season pretty much starts in September/October.
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| Sunflowers at an outdoor eatery. |
