If I was planning a trip down south, " bama, miss, ect, when does it start to get uncomfortable for riding? I read a post from someone down south who mentioned how hot itwas in June. I know this seems like a silly question, and I have been south lots but never that far south. So for you guys down there, is june to " late"? Beginning of May a better idea? Sometimes its still a wee bit chilly up here then. Late April? Possibility of a snowfall here.....
It is 1/28 and forecast to be 75* here today. July and August are the really hot months in this area, I don't ride much during those months.
I get hot easy but its already stinking hot here in central FL. We yet again got no winter of any kind here. It's not the heat that gets me but the humidity, it can be 78 here and I chan hardly tolerate putting a mesh jacket on cause I sweat like a gorilla.
Don't even think about hanging around FL to TX when July rolls around. Early june is good. April is the best bet. just .02 from a texan « Something yellow this way comes »
Stinking Hot is a completely relative term . You know from experience in Ontario . There as down south. people standing within sight of each other on the same day can have totally different descriptions for what they experience of the temperature and humidity . Some consider 25C too hot and burst out in sweat at the mention, others feel it might be chilly . This phenomenon has gotten worse as people live their lives at home and work mostly in air conditioned boxes.They never get acclimated ,loose all perspective listening to weather reporters talking about exaggerated numbers for humidex numbers or"feels like" temperatures, windchill values and on and on. Go south to any point and any time in summer with the expectation of warm weather like any hot day in Ontario in summer . You will enjoy yourself ( I always do) Local whiners knowledge can be a disservice ,you will just be the tourist going through. Enjoy. Sure beats frost and snow ! If you notice yourself beginning to stink just take a good shower at the motel and re apply deodorant as required ��
I live in central Mississippi and August is the hottest month. For those of us that live down here and grew up with the heat it's not a big deal, but, for others the heat can be deadly. If you ride down here during July/August time frame wear cool, loose fitting clothing and drink plenty of water. The temp rarely goes above 102°F/ 39°C, but, the humidity is around 90% all the time. You will keep dumping buckets of sweat but it won't evaporate and cool you off like it does in drier climates. They send guys from up north down to Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS to acclimate them to the heat before sending them to Afghanistan. I'm not trying to scare you from riding down here in those months, I just want you to be prepared. I'm making a couple of trips to Alaska this summer but send me a PM when you make it down here. Maybe we can do some riding.
Thanks for the replies. July and Aug are definatley no goes, I have been down to the gap in aug, yuck. I figured late April or very start of may would work. It just means I have to wear/ take cold weather gear as I could be leaving/ returning in a cold snap. I have never gone down to busabash at the gap held in late April as its always to cold and icy here still to ride. Crap, more " stuff" to pack!
I still hate the heat after 29 years! Like others have said July/Aug are the WORST but doable. I got a mesh jacket this year and was thinking about one of the cooling vests. It's really not that bad if you stay moving, it's the stop lights that are killer. Stay hydrated!
Never ride I-75 thru Georgia in the middle of July. Nothing works: jacket on, jacket off, dumping water on yourself, stopping, going, going faster, going slower, sitting under a shade tree, nothing. DAMHIK
I'm from Louisiana and it "stinkin hot" all summer. You can get use to it after a few days but what you can't get use too is those fuckin mosquitoes eatin your ass alive after the sun goes down.
If you found it not tolerable at the Gap in August, you might have issues anywhere that isn't in the mountains in summer. Deal's Gap is going to be at least 10 to 20 degreees Farenheit COOLER than in the flat lands. I ride all year around in central North Carolina... but sporadically the last five or six weeks of summer. One of the reasons is I ride an air cooled Buell and hot air in will not cool that bike down... plus the fan exhaust under the seat will fry you. I tend to turn the bike off at stoplights. LOL! I can probably dig around on NOAA for you if you want specific average and high temperatures for any region. It is all public information form the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have been tracking temperature, humidity, rainfall etc for several decades and it is all available on line. If you know what YOU can tolerate compared to that, you may have an objective answer to your question.
Here is one link you can try... http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/most-popular-data For instance... if you want to look up last August min, max and average temperatures... you can follow this link... from the first link to "Edited monthly data, parameters Alabama, then Birmingham..." but it looks like you have to convert from F deg to C deg. http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS-E63E57B0-5639-491A-A46F-E2D0CD701E1A.pdf
��I know really well the dangers of heatstroke and its symptoms and how to avoid it. In my work I have experienced occasions of extreme heat , for instance how about sitting inside a steel dragline bucket in the sun on a 30C day and doing welding repairs for an afternoon , or shoveling grain in the bottom of a silo on the hottest day of summer My remarks were made on the premise of a healthy individual going into a hot climate to do non exerting movement as on riding a streetbike and that person being informed and reasonable.As I explained people in Ontario like elsewhere are too quick to start complaint about the heat and have no perspective A day after bitching about the heat the same folks may be bitching about the cold. Those are what I call Whiners�� not the person who gives a simple opinion �� Key West or Louisiana or Death Valley in July or August can be very enjoyable. If you are prepared
In TN it's not terrible in June, but July and August can be tough. Some of it will depend on your ability to tolerate the heat. I had a friend in high school that moved from Koos Bay, OR to Louisiana in the summer. He couldn't wash his car without having to go back into the house to cool off while we were practicing football in the same heat.
