Dealing with Summer and Winter Last update: December 2025 includes contributes by Robert Farl and Fred Meredith The heat The heat is just uncomfortable, but the sun can burn you. So you’ve got to be prepared for both. (1) Wear a long-sleeve dress cotton dress shirt, unbuttoned in the front. This is cooler than a t-shirt, because it's ventilated: you don't have sticky clothing insulating you and keeping the heat in, like with a t-shirt. And even though it's cooler than a t-shirt, it still protects you better than a t-shirt, because it covers your arms completely and the back of your neck better. Women can still use this trick by wearing a sports bra under the shirt. (2) Soak your shirt in water. No matter what kind of shirt you wear, soak the top half in water before you head out. It's built-in evaporative cooling, and keeps you very cool for the first 15-30 minutes. Soak only the top half because otherwise your pants/shorts will get wet and won't dry so quickly. (3) Use a mister. Fill a small sprayer bottle with ice water and mount it to the second water bottle cage on your bike. Misting yourself with cold water on occasion is incredibly refreshing. Or if you want to be more elaborate, go for Kit O.'s suggestion: "You can get a device called a 'Misty Mate' at Academy or other outdoors stores. Fill it with ice water, hang it over on the handlebars, and clip the hose to your shirt. When you turn it on it will mist you nicely while you ride." (4) Avoid biking during the hottest hours of the day. Patrick Goetz writes: "The final thing no one has mentioned is the simplest of all: just avoid biking during the hottest hours of the day. I bike to work in the morning when the air is still comfortable and the sun at an angle, and leave in the evening under similar conditions. What a perfect excuse to suggest going to a 4-day 10 hour schedule during summer months. Otherwise, I save errands for either early morning or late evening hours whenever possible. To paraphrase an old saying, only mad dogs and republicans go out in the heat of the midday sun, and republicans are always out in their air-conditioned 3-ton SUV's, so they don't really count, and mad dogs have good skin protection. Keep yourself busy indoors between May and September at 12 and 5." The cold (1) Don't dress too warmly. You'll heat up naturally after 10-15 minutes of riding, so you should be slightly chilly when you start out. If you're warm when you start, then you'll be hot in 10-15 minutes, and soak your clothes with sweat. (2) Wear a cloth hat. Wearing a cloth hat will help you retain heat, and keep your ears warm too. If you wear a helmet you can still wear it over your hat; just loosen the helmet straps a little. If a hat interferes with your helmet, you can wear an earwarmer headband instead. Another alternative is a cycling hat with a bill, which will keep rain sprinkles and mist out of our eyes. (3) Don't wear cotton. Wear clothes made from synthetic materials, not cotton. Cotton retains and holds that moisture against your skin, which will chill you to the bone. Also, cotton takes forever to dry, so your clothes won't dry at work in time for your ride home. (4) Wear gloves. There are many choices in materials and styles, but anything is better than nothing. (5) Wear a windbreaker. You can get them in bright yellow or orange so you'll increase your visibility as well.