So we’ve hit one of the two times of year (the other being the dead of winter) where you really have to be hard-core to be out on the bike.  This afternoon I should easily break my record for hottest ride home.  It was already close to 90 when I rode in this morning, and the predicted high is 102, though with some luck we’ll be a bit off the high by 5:00pm.  We’ll see I guess.  I will say this: I see more cyclists out in the extreme heat than I do when it’s extremely cold.  Personally, given the choice, I’ll take cold, but that’s just me.

This has been an extreme summer for construction.  On a typical ride through Patapsco, Relay and Halethorpe, I go through no fewer than 5 construction zones.  Of particular note, the lower Grist Mill Trail is currently closed down for repairs.  According to the DNR web site, they’re repaving it and fixing drainage issues.  It’s supposed to take 4 weeks.  That part of the trail definitely needed some work; there were 1 or 2 very rough patches, and I’ve experienced first-hand how badly it has flooded out on occasion.  Should be nice when it’s finished.  There’s also some kind of work going on along the entrance road, not far from the viaduct.  I haven’t seen anyone there for a week or so, but there are two rough patches where it appears that they dug a trench across the road to lay some sort of pipe.  Probably more drainage-related stuff, though there’s nothing about this on DNR’s page.