Leaving Kathy’s house in Orange the next morning I pedaled the half mile to Interstate 10, where I would stay for a while. As mentioned previously, I wonder at my choice of roads… Interstate 10?? Why did I select an interstate? Was the traffic just not that heavy 40 years ago?  Or, was it the breeze from all the semis blowing me down the road and keeping me cool? Bad maps? 

Or, more likely, the "young and dumb" as noted in the title.

I rode through a few sprinkles, the sky mocking me with a teaser of what’s ahead, after which it quit teasing and turned into an outright bully. I dodged the rain all day.

According to the bank sign visible from the fast food joint where I stopped for lunch, the temperature dropped from 99 to 78. After the rain, it would dart back to near triple digits again.

Back on the road, the sun was hemorrhaging heat, and the heat was causing that effect where it looks like there’s a mirror on the road in front of you. When I stopped I could feel it radiating through my tennis shoes and, had I not been wearing them, I suspect I would’ve had blisters within seconds. 

My journal states, “It feels like I’m pedaling against the wind from a  hot hair dryer.”

 With the accompanying humidity, there’s a “pressure” sensation, especially before an afternoon shower. It reminded of a poem I’d read:

 When the Devil came to Texas,
He beat a quick retreat.
He loved its wicked people,
But he couldn’t stand the heat.