Road Bike Cycling in Northern Cyprus : No mad dogs and an Englishman

Ok....well still sufferring from some kind of heat fatigue and the after effects of the evil bug Cyclops hexed me with at about 1.30 i finally surfaced and decided to ride. No way was I going to et the heat beat me today.

There is a saying, 'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun'. I can report to you that this is indeed false. Not even Mad dogs go out in it here.

I settled on a route of some 70 miles and started riding. As soon as I turned the cranks I knew my route choice could have been less optimistic. My legs felt like jelly and the heat was already burning me through my factor 30.

Onwards I pushed like only an Englishman would in such conditions. All around me the fields were nothing but dust bowls, where Goat herds wander aimlessly seeking water, and puppy dogs die of thirst at the roadside as you pass, while the theme from the good the bad and ugly echos across the endless plain ( as a Man, I reserve the right to exaggerate!)

I was the only human being out there. Not one single car did I pass, not one singe tractor did I see. In the village I did see a young lad and his mountain bike sitting at the bus stop. Clearly everybody else wasn't English.

After about 12 miles I was getting dizzy. I have learned from previous experiences in the heat in Kansas that dizzy spells on the bike are to be taken very seriously. I stopped and hung my head hoping they would go away, but they didnt. It was decision time. Whether 'tis nobler on the bike to press on into oblivion regardless of ones safty, or suffer the sings and arrows or outrgeous misfortune and turn back while I still could.

Although I am not a quiter, I am also not an idiot. The right thing to do was turn back and get out of the Sun. As I headed back the dizzy spells increased and I was pleased I took the right decision for me, regardless of what others may think. After all nobody else was out there with me, they were all exercising their right arms at the bar.

I suspect that had I felt stronger I would have pushed on and completed the ride, but the dizzy spells were a warning sign. Black out at 40mph+ downhill and nobody would be thanking me for havng to dig me out of a hospital.

So, I gave Cyclops a time honoured Victory salute and resolved to ride another day in safer conditions.

The temperature out there today was 33c in the shade, and there is Zero Shade. It felt a lot hotter.