Day 1 Niantic to Danbury, CT

22 July 2011 Friday Day 1

On The Road Again"

The Teams plan to cross the Hudson and stay at Bear Mountain for the first night was nixed buy the 100 degree heat wave consuming New England..  The day started at the Grand Street boat launch in Niantic just as the last cross country trip did.

It was already getting warm as we rolled through Gilford around 11am.  By the time we cleared through New Haven it was smoking hot.  It seemed like every road we traveled was void of any shade offering trees.  We started sizzling like three sausages in a frying pan.  The heat radiating up from the blacktop into our face made it even worse.

The normal cooling downhill’s were replaced with 100 degree heat blasts.  It almost felt like you had a hair dryer blowing on you.

None of the riders were able to get any breakfast into their bellies prior to leaving.  The intimidation and excitement of the ride robbed them of hunger.  Ken said he could not even get half a bagel down and Tim said he had nothing. Joe managed to eat a little cereal.  In Branford they stopped at a farm stand and each grabbed a peach and a cucumber.  Not much fuel for a 125 mile ride with 70+ pound bicycles.

Ken’s bike is equipped with a thermometer (see cockpit photo...:-)

that is mounted on his handlebars and blocked from the direct sunlight by the rider.  By the time we reached Ansonia the air temperature had reached the 100 degree mark. We were drinking gallons of water but could not get in any food.  Our bellies were filled like water balloons and we were still thirsty. Drinking more water started to upset our stomachs.

At the top of a big climb the Ansonia Fire department had a pumper truck in the park spraying water in the air for the kids.  It was like finding an oasis in the desert for us. The bikes were dropped and a body core cooling stand under the spray was in order.  The fire department also offered us some Gatorade as they could see we were in a bad way.  The water mist and drink revived us temporally.

 Drinking gallons of water to replace what you sweat out is critically important. And as any as any rider knows you need to also replace the salt you are losing.  If you do not replace the salt you lost cramping can start. For the first time this happened to Joe and then a short time later Ken.  The remote roads we picked for our route had no convenience stores to grab a bag of salty chips.

The heat was taking its toll and we needed a quick break in the shade.  We pulled up to a shady yard and took a break.  Ken noticed a hose in the front yard and asked the homeowners if we could use it to cool off.  The friendly couple said of course and also brought us some cold bottles of spring water to drink and a couple frozen bottles to go.

The decision was made to cut the day short and stay in Danbury. Our sun baked bodies could take no more.

Later it was learned that the all time high temp was set in Ct at Bradley today.  Friday was the hottest day on record for some Connecticut towns and cities as the mercury topped out at that scorching hot 103 degrees at Bradley International Airport, which by the way is a new all-time record high!!!

100.5 Very Hot Miles

6039 Feet f Climbing

Temperature 77-101