Temperature Inflation

 Temperature Inflation?

Everyone is familiar with grade inflation and in the USA, the weather reports that concentrate on some subjective "feels like" temperatures rather than tell you what the actual thermometer readings are.  Few will argue that climate change is a hoax but Zio thinks things are going too far when some call for LeTour to be held in a cooler month.

Seems like the pros train for heat (note silly photo above) but all you read on English-language cycling sites is about how hot it is at the Tour de France. Here and here, for example. Oddly enough, the Italian-language sites Zio looks at don't much mention this. 

The TV images from Carcassonne the other day reminded ol' Zio of following Le Grand Boucle all over France back in the day. Back in the day when hotels in France mostly did not have A/C nor did the vehicles you drove around in. Back then you climbed off your bike at the top of a climb and bought a boisson from a roadside vendor. A drink described as "fraiche" but it came out of a big tub...of water.

Zio had to laugh when one of these sites noted "record" heat - from records that started being kept all the way back in 2007!

What has changed? The pros used to race around dressed in WOOL jerseys and shorts in 40 C heat for Pietro's sake. And don't tell me those guys went slow...TV images the other day showed the 2026 TdF peloton ambling along at 31 kph. Even ol' Zio can ride that speed! Maybe not for 5+ hours but he's a) not a pro b) he is an old-fart.

Notably silent (so far) is the rider's union rep. That guy who seems OK with racing every January in Australia when it's 40 C while screaming bloody murder every May in Italy when it rains or snows. It's not too hot for him?

Stick-thin modern racers have high-tech clothing with ice stuffed inside, hundreds of bottles handed-up, air-conditioned transportation and lodging, popsicles, ice-vests and more. Back-in-the-day it was a cabbage leaf under your cycling cap and whatever you could beg, borrow or steal to drink in-between jumping into a fountain or river.

Zio remembers back in the 1990's when Coca-Cola was a Tour sponsor. Their slogan was "Buvez Tres Froid" as the sign shows. There was a bit of a scandal when the Tour doctor claimed riders were getting sick from drinks TOO COLD! OOOooopps!

Zio wonders if the globalization of cycling has something to do with all of this? Back-in-the-day cyclists mostly came from places it was hot in the summer like France, Italy, Spain, etc. with the occasional Australian or British rider. Brits are notorious complainers about the heat since they have only one or two days of summer each year. Could this be behind all the current whining? Note this quote from one of the articles:

“So far, I’ve coped with it quite well,” Riccitello says. “I think just being from somewhere that is quite hot, I maybe adapt better. I don’t know. There’s only so much you can do.”

Riccitello is from Arizona, USA while we currently live in Sicily. For us it's "desert rat" time - awake at 6 AM, on the bike by 7 AM and back to our tiny island by 9 AM where we can enjoy a granita with brioche! Nobody is paying us to ride after all!