Phoenix Rising

By Jeff Pamer

Phoenix, like few other places in our country, lives in a reverse reality. The summer is something to be survived. The temperature rises, the blinds close, the a/c kicks on, and doesn’t seem to turn off for months. The metal bit of our seatbelts becomes a fun real-life game of the floor is lava. When we get home from the grocery store, we take a deep breath and let the sweat dry off. It isn’t all bad though. Fun pool days with kids and friends, leaving the state, and many, many other things. Probably.

Riding in the heat some may say is doable, and they aren’t wrong. So, I understand that I can sneak out for a ride at night, when someone in the middle of Montana, can’t in the winter. Here’s the truth though, even riding at night is kind of miserable in the depths of summer. It’s still over 100 degrees. When you’re moving on the bike, it’s ok, but it still feels like you are sitting in front of the world’s largest hair dryer, set on the hottest setting. If you venture out during the day though, the lights are where you really feel it. The heat coming off the asphalt, heat coming off your bike’s engine, heat coming off the cars around you, and finally, heat beating down on you from the glowing orb in the sky that brings us life, but in that moment feels like it’s sucking that very thing from you.

I’m being overdramatic, but I always am in September. It’s fall goddamnit. Why is it still 100 plus degrees out?!

Sometimes I ride to work in the summer, because some mornings are like in the high 80’s and I think: “it’s worth the ride back, for the ride there”. Which seems like a great deal, until I’m geared up to go home at 4 pm, at 110 degrees, and I’m staring down the barrel of 30 miles on the highway. Then I get home, drenched in sweat, heat radiating off me, and…well, it was kind of worth it.

As cranky as I can get in September, I’m also full of excitement, because it’s almost time for it to all be worth it. October through May, sunny almost every day, and the worst thing that happens is you regret not riding. Days of hanging in the garage wrenching, riding to work, riding with friends, and inspiration for writing seems limitless. Around this time of year, I start to think about the gear I need, parts for the bikes I want, and even shop around for new bikes. It’s intoxicating frankly.

So, thank you to everyone who may read my pieces with any interest, and in the same breath, I apologize for being mostly silent for months. The reverse hibernation of Phoenix can be hard on transplant and natives alike, but for us who ride, it can be downright depressing.

I can’t wait to see you out there on the road, with a new jacket, or a new bike, or all the same gear you had last year. None of that matters. What does matter is the smiles we’ll all be sporting, riding through the fall, winter, and spring, forgetting for a few blissful months, that it will be time to pay up for that freedom again in June.