I said I'd post my results after receiving so many great tips about hot weather survival:
It wasn't as humid yesterday, but it was hot and the breeze got hotter as the day wore on. Wearing my new Moose Sahara pants/jersey, I could feel the air moving through them MUCH more than my O'neil gear. This did a great deal to keep me cooler. I was still pretty hot from the knees down, as the Sahara pants have leather inside the knees and my boots are, well, boots. The way the pants breathe, combined with the jersey made a great difference in my comfort level. Wearing the Camelbak and having it full of cold water was a big help too, and once I finally figured out how to avoid those initial warm sips (squeeze out some before drinking) having a cool sip while riding the trail as the breeze flowed through my outfit had an immediate cooling effect.
The biggest kudos and great tip: (drum roll) A wet towel kept in the cooler! Wow! Draping this over my head and back of my neck between rides was like straping on a air conditioner! This was an amazing treat while resting between rides and was the single biggest cooling trick of the day. Even after the towel lost some of it's coldness, the breeze moving through it caused the evaporative cooling effect to continue keeping me cool. I'm going to do this every ride now, and so will the folks I was riding with, as I shared the towel and everyone loved it.
Thanks everyone for the tips in the other thread....this should really extend my riding season...and I was much less exhausted after the day by combining all the ideas. :cool: :ride:
It wasn't as humid yesterday, but it was hot and the breeze got hotter as the day wore on. Wearing my new Moose Sahara pants/jersey, I could feel the air moving through them MUCH more than my O'neil gear. This did a great deal to keep me cooler. I was still pretty hot from the knees down, as the Sahara pants have leather inside the knees and my boots are, well, boots. The way the pants breathe, combined with the jersey made a great difference in my comfort level. Wearing the Camelbak and having it full of cold water was a big help too, and once I finally figured out how to avoid those initial warm sips (squeeze out some before drinking) having a cool sip while riding the trail as the breeze flowed through my outfit had an immediate cooling effect.
The biggest kudos and great tip: (drum roll) A wet towel kept in the cooler! Wow! Draping this over my head and back of my neck between rides was like straping on a air conditioner! This was an amazing treat while resting between rides and was the single biggest cooling trick of the day. Even after the towel lost some of it's coldness, the breeze moving through it caused the evaporative cooling effect to continue keeping me cool. I'm going to do this every ride now, and so will the folks I was riding with, as I shared the towel and everyone loved it.
Thanks everyone for the tips in the other thread....this should really extend my riding season...and I was much less exhausted after the day by combining all the ideas. :cool: :ride:
