Today I tended personal business 50 miles away on the bike. Temps are over 100 now. The air blowing through my mesh jacket and vented full faced helmet felt oven warmed. Today I'm thankful for the small bikini fairing and I got a lot of wind as I sat up straighter. Chugging through city traffic got even warmer, and redlights in the sun with the heat radiating off the pavement was, HAWT.

When I returned home I really enjoyed the bottled Dasani. What do y'all do to stay cool in these hot temps? Most riding now is in the mornings and the evenings bring more deer out, but I ride and try to be careful. One good thing, you rarely (never in this heat) see one of those big water snapping turtles trying to cross the highway now.

I don't have a faring on my bike but I was riding around and had to ditch my mesh jacket with temps at high 90's low 100's and high humidity. But I take breaks often to rehidrate because it dose not just lead to feeling bad it can also distort your brain and slow down reflexes from what I have seen and read. That dose not include passing out while on the bike moving or stationary. I carry at least 1 bottle of water even if it is worm because it will hydrate you faster then cold water because cold water must worm up before your body absorbs it into your system.

But stoping at a yogurt shop with A/C is always a good way to help cool off ( or any other store or food joint). Even if your just window shopping for an hour or so but you can get sick going from one extreme to the other so be vigilant.

It is at times like this I am thankful I live in northern Wisconsin. Even with the heat, it's still cool enough in the early morning that I wear a hoodie to keep warm. Up until last week, it was still in the 40s when I rode to work in the AM.

Temp was 102 coming home from work yesterday. (Thursday)
Stay inside with the grandkids today.

Temps over 100 are pretty common here in tucson. Frequent breaks and lots of water. Repeat as needed! Lol

water on the bike with a "sport cap" that I can drink while riding.. and if ya hit any rally's.. they just about all have a vender selling those neck things ya wet down and wear around yer neck while riding... they really work

We usually have weather in the 70-80's here in the SF bay area,it rarely reaches triple digits. We have cooling sea breeze's that moderate and create local mini climate zones,the farther one is from the bay the hotter it seems to get.In triple digit heat I break out the smallest helmet I have and wear minimal clothing around town,usually wear a wet doo rag ovr the back of the neck.On the freeway,its still the full face and a doo rag tied around the neck soaked in ice water, and wear my Shift mesh jacket,w/out the armor !!

Man...Ya'll be careful in this heat, K? I got heat exhaustion ridin' from Lake Wales, to Gainesville about 20 years ago...I was pregnant with my son, too. I could've lost him over that. I started out from my house, at about 9 in the morning, and temps were in the upper 80's. By the time I got halfway there, I was strippin' off gear. Mostly black, cause that's how I roll...first the jacket, then the vest, and helmet on the back roads. At that time, Florida still had a helmet law. Sweat was just pourin' off me. (An unusually high amount...) When I got to the rally, all I could find to drink was lemonade or beer. I was feelin' a bit queasy, but I chugged down two lemonades. I stayed for an hour, and then decided to head back home, cause I just didn't "feel right". I stuck to the backroads, cause I couldn't handle the helmet (at that point I didn't care if a cop saw me) but I only made it about 40 or so miles, before I had to stop somewhere...ANYWHERE!!! All of sudden I felt really dizzy and lightheaded, and I was gettin the worst stomach pain of my life! That and I knew it was gonna come out me, ALL of it, any which way it could get out...

Suffice it to say, I made it to a lil' MOM&POP, and made the restroom in the nick of time. THEN, I had to go sit on the curb out front of the place, IN THE SHADE, for more than two hours, just dousin' myself with a hose. It took that long for me to cool my body down enough, to feel even semi-normal. With SEVERAL trips to the restroom, in between.

That's what HEATSTROKE does to you...in the BEGINNING. If you progress beyond the "losin' all bodily functions" stage, your close to death!!!

PLEASE!!! Don't mess around with this. Your life may depend on it!
PS!!!  HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE  WATER ONLY!!!

Who LOVES ya???

Ride Free
Tweek

Just a quick 2 cents from the Limey...lol...

Do you have any leathers that even though they are the vented ones they are a bit old now...use those ones in the very hot weather, and I will tell you why.....

Have TWO bottles of water with you...one is the bottle you pour small amounts at a time INSIDE your leathers in extreme heat, you steam for a few seconds and then feel the cooling action-repeat as neccesary.....

2nd bottle is for drinking.....Now get this...WATER is NOT the best thing to rehydrate you...what you must do is get a measuring jug, in it put one TEASPOON of SALT, add to this one TABLESPOON of any kind of SUGAR, then pour on boiling water to the ONE PINT mark and stir to mix...as its cooling taste it, you should not be able to taste salt or sugar if you got the mix just right...This is a basic electrolyte...it is the basics to the fluids in your body, and as such is readily absorbed by the body in its entirety...

When you sweat while riding you are not losing just water, you are losing sugars and salts...this is a direct replacement...

For all you guys in those hottest regions, it is essential you maintain fluid levels but its the lack of salts and sugars from the body that makes you so tired after one of those long days, before eating and drinking in the evening take a whisky glass full of it and within 20 minutes you will feel fully revived...now go try it.....

Be sure to keep a pint of it in the fridge during the hottest of times and make sure you replace with fresh EVERY day...keep it fresh as the sugars will cause a reaction after 24 hours out of a fridge, or 40 to 48 hours in a fridge...

Just make it fresh 1st thing in the morning...

ONE teaspoon salt
ONE Tablespoon any kind of sugar...
In ONE PINT of boiling water...

.....and hey, all this info from a London bred Limey who rarely sees the temperature get up to 80 here in London...Let alone all day over 100...lol...

but I will guarantee you will be revived in 20 minutes after a long spell out in the sun ok?

.....Is this how long 2 cents worth is?  Sheeesh I talk a lot of good sense dont I?

You can buy water with electrolytes already in it, it's called Smart water. I carry it with me on all my trips.

Down here in Florida, we have three really hot, hot months of the year .. July, August and September. Its not just a day or two .. or a week .. its three months of temps in the high 90s and low 100s. By 10:00 in the morning, its already major hot .. especially if you're in direct sunlight. There ain't no way around it if'n you wanna ride your bike. So, I just make sure we take MORE breaks. Get off the bike, find some shade, rehydrate and cool down. Its not a contest to see how macho you are. Its not the destination. Its enjoying the ride.
So .. take all the advice you can get and use it.

well I freeze water and cooler it so I have at any given time 4 liters of water with me, a white long sleeve T shirt keep the sun off me and yes that in its self cam be cooling. Since we have High humidity here we really don't dry out of I drink on the fly, sometimes I take the Tshirt and soak it in a bathroom and put it on, in drier climiates the water blowing thru the wet T shirt act like air conditioning, for here its damp cooling system for about 10 minutes. then its just hot and wet.....................however plent of creeks perfect for a full body dunk

Negligible experience riding motorcycles in hot weather, horses are another story, but have spent gangs of time working in the sun where the temperature was >100°F

WEAR A LONG SLEEVE SHIRT - A USN style, light denim, chambray shirt is ideal. - Keeps the sun from cooking the skin - Wicks the sweat away, lets the air circulate.

Everybody knows to hydrate, tho I did most of mine in the shade before/after the temperatures reached their peak. - Old men told me to do it that way, they might or might not have known what they were talking about.

+1 on what Jetman said about salt. - Those of us who try to eat healthy probably do not get enough - Have been in circumstances where people literally dropped from heat exhaustion - The corpsman would pull them into the shade & give them a drink of salt laced water & they revived immediately (Tho I think a teaspoon per quart/liter is sufficient, boiling is not necessary & sugar should be avoided)

I hear the electrolyte effect, and it's a good thing. And hydration is ultra key, when you've over done it. When I said
water only, I meant more of don't drink lemonade or beer. Those will both actually dehydrate you, even further....and I'm with Dragonwood on the buying the "pre-made" stuff. The homemade mix, would end up just goin' bad in my fridge.
All in all, some great advice here, and I think the key is, we all need to practice, what's bein' "preached"...eh?

Ride Free
Tweek

Body fluid levels under totally normal conditions are that the fluids are made up with those approximate constituant levels...approx 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar to 1 pint of water...thats what your blood has, and all other body fluids too...go look it up...
 
When its been very hot and you are starting to feel tired because of the heat you have burnt off your blood sugars, these need to be replaced just as much as the salt in your sweat does...Taking in the solution I suggested will cost you virtually nothing.....I have seen those "Health Supplement" drinks for sale up to $4 a bottle...
 
Sure, go ahead and buy salt and sugar in water for $4.....Take a look at the quantities on the bottle...funny enough, it states the same approximations...lol...

Just sayin...

Thanks for the heads up on the cheap homemade rehydration recipe Jet !!! I'll be more carefull in the future myself gettin older n forget this old body dont take the punishment like it used to LOL & my pocket cant afford bottled water !!!

The other day it was 107 plus the heat index made 111. No dark colors or jackets for myself.I pack a small soft sided cooler with ice packs to keep my cool collars nice until the heat of the day, plus a mister bottle.Never do I leave the drive without extra fluids packed.Today after riding two days straight since 6 am Friday morning when stopping for fuel, never did I leave helmet outside in the sun when going inside for a bathroom.When it got to be around 2-3pm stops were more frequent and I had an aah haaa moment when I spotted an Ice Bag machine outside while needing gas & bathroom .....I placed my half helmet inside the cooler along with a freshly dipped cool collar;-)Needless to say I was one happy camper for the next twenty miles.My saving grace Friday around 2pm was a gas station that offered a fruit bar,which I quickly packed up a quart of mixed fruit to cool down my insided as well as hydrate the body.There was just not enough water in the state of Texas today while heading home,folks were looking at me when I pulled over and took out a bottle of water.....half to drink and the other half to pour around my neck and head.

I'm surprised someone hasn't invented a helmet with a cooling system built into it. I believe with the miniature technology we have today it would be possible.....I'm sure it would cost ya out ta wazoo!

Forgot something important;
Wear your sunglasses whenever the sun is up, on or off your ride, and a hat with a brim when you are not riding.

Thought sunglasses were gay & never wore them except when on the water or skiing.
Some girl, sometime or another said she didn't like guys wearing ball caps so never wore those either.

Result = Eye doctor tells me I am going to get cataracts but I can delay them by wearing sunglasses & brimmed hats

Hey nightdragon, I figure someone will invent a riding suit with an AC.

...And there I was thinking you Americans had every posssibility covered...sheeesh!!!

( I bet some people in CT. MA. and NY are already using suits like that...Heck, some of the people I ride with over there have got suits they plug into their Goldwings with plug in thermals, plug in oversuit to keep warm, I bet they have the opposite too...lol...

Being a FL native but a recent transplant to NH, I've come to appreciate our brief but fantastic summers. I may complain a lot about the fresh 3' of snow in March but I guess everything is a trade-off.
Stay cool, guys!

...Anywhere near the dragstrip in Essex County?

they make shirts for stock car racing that are cooled with water