Gross!!!!

Summer in DC is notoriously hot and muggy. I lucked out this year by spending the first half of the summer in the comfortable Great Plains and Pacific Northwest. Once I came home, I knew I was in for a difficult transition.

I have tried denial. This involves riding my bike very long distances in the hope that all those bike tour miles would make me impervious to the mid-Atlantic sauna. This was a total fail. I’ve mowed my lawn a few time since coming home. I’m only outside about one hour but I am soaked from head to toe when I’m done.

My pulmonologist warned me to stay hydrated but it’s next to impossible to do that here. I find myself spending a couple of hours each day sitting inside drinking fluids just to get my body back to where I started.

Then today’s ride upped the disgustingness. (This should be a word. I bet it is in German.) I waited until 5:30 then rode Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent, along the Mount Vernon Trail to DC. Then I rode home. No hills. Moderate speed. No big deal. I was soaked for most of the ride.

On the way home the sun went down. The last few miles of the trail are along the river. At this time of year, clouds of small bugs swarm along the river bank at sunset. I’ve dealt with this before. Typically, you ride along in peace then you hit a cloud of the bugs, swallow a dozen, rub them out of your eyes, then continue on. Until you hit the next cloud a mile later.

Tonight, I hit one continuous cloud of bugs for about three or four miles. I was already hot. I had sweated through all my clothing. And now I was engulfed in millions of bugs. I had to put one hand over my face to keep them out of my nose and mouth. I was wearing a baseball cap instead of a helmet. This kept the bugs out of my hair.

When I got home and went inside, I could see black dots all over my legs and arms. I could feel bugs crawling on my shoulders. Ayyyyy!

GROSS!!!!

I can’t wait until I can bitch about cold toes again.