Hi Helly, welcome to the board. Did I see a post recently asking whether there were any riders in the Davis area? How near you would count Davis to Sac'to depends on your schedule and transport -- didn't feel all that close when I was a car-less student at UCD -- but it was a thought.

I also have a thought about dealing with heat. Haven't tried it yet on myself, but this is based on how we used to cool down our house and chickens on the farm in Santa Rosa. No air conditioning, so the solution was wet sheets and open windows. Evaporation cools, so we hung wet sheets over the windows and opened them to get a cross-breeze going (and for the chickens, because they would actually die from the heat, we also hosed them (chickens and sheets alike) down every hour or so). Worked pretty well.

Breeze is no problem on the bike, so what about sprinkling some water on your jersey just before heading out, or putting on a wet scarf under your helmet. Maybe a bit silly-looking, but if it makes you more comfortable on that short hot ride home from work ....