Severe Heat Advisory: I'm melting!

I know I've said it before, but it is hot out. Unseasonably warm, if you can believe that from June in Texas. We've been hitting the triple digits every day for well over a week now, which usually waits til around the 3rd week of July.

Yesterday when I got home from work and errand running, I was a dripping ball of sweat. While I'm used to heat, yesterday was soemthing special. I unpacked my panniers, poured myself a glass of water and got on the Weather Channel's website to see what the actual temperature was. 104 F, with an advisory attached to it stating "Severe weather advisory - avoid prolonged exposure."

With the weather being as hot as it already is, I find myself a tad concerned about my ability to continue regularly bike commuting through the summer. I've had a few illuminating experiences with heat exhaustion and have no desire to pass out in a 7-Eleven. Again.


Look Ma, a Cold Front!

Yesterday was illustrative. It was 104 F once you accounted for heat index, and at those temperatures, you are miserably uncomfortable, and not in a fixable way. You walk into a building and your glasses immediately fog up. You sweat buckets just standing around, let alone doing what I was doing, which was dragging 20 pounds of groceries home in panniers in a crosswind. It was slow going, and the heat seems to have fried the brains of drivers. No really - people seem to drive more angrily when the weather demands they roll their windows up.

Got any tips for severe-heat cycling?