How do you beat the heat?

[abejita]

My commute is only 2 miles each way, and I'm a trained & experienced cyclist.

Yehuda Moon refuses to wear a helmet at all!

Many times it doesn't have anything to do with your skill as a cyclist. What about the car that clips you with its mirror or gets a little too close. Even the most experienced cyclists have accidents and they can be game ending...even if you are going only 2 miles.

+1 on the buffs...I like to shove all my hair up in my buff so that it isn't all sticky on my neck.

[Cataboo]

It takes about 5 miles before I start overheating to the point where I need to take off my helmet and sit on the side of the road for a while. Once I get over that, I usually don't have problems with my head overheating. All my helmets are well ventilated. But head is getting too hot overheating is something I get while hiking in the heat as well.

Wearing wool or cotton instead of wicking on the really hot days helps meto avoid being dehydrated.

I almost always wear my helmet, except for the couple times i forget and have gone a few miles before remembering and go back and get it - but I probably cycled for about 20 years without wearing a helmet, I didn't start till I picked up cycling again a few years ago. I've had a few crashes, but I've never actually hit my head.

I just wear it all the time to get in the habit of it, just like I wear my pfd to paddle in 2 feet of water despite knowing that I'm not gonna drown even though it's 100 degrees out - but if someone with me doesn't want to wear it, I don't tell them to, 'cause it's 2 feet of water and it's their body/risk. Same with helmet wearing, if someone's willing to risk it - their choice. I'm sure most of us grew up riding a bike without helmets as kids.

[OakLeaf]

This reminds me of the time DH and I went motorcycle riding on a steamy 95° Florida afternoon in our usual "ATGATT" (all the gear, all the time). A day or two later, a friend of mine thought she had seen us, and was trying to confirm. She had a couple of the details wrong about the colors of our bikes and gear, but I finally threw up my hands and said, "If they were wearing so much gear that you couldn't tell whether it was us or not ... IT WAS US." Without exception, every other rider we saw that day was in shorts, T-shirt and bare head.

I had my cooling vest on that day, for sure. That thing has saved my bacon from turning into ... bacon, more times that I can count. But I just don't know whether it would be effective at bici speeds.

[texascampgal]

I'll ride in the heat any day... along with iced water in the Camelbak. Once I break a sweat, it's cool sailing... so to speak.

Winter rides... not intersted!