a wet tee-shirt contest where everyone wins

I decided I would not let yesterday's insane heat keep me from my appointed errands, including trips to the synagogue for some lesson-planning and classroom organization; the shop which sponsors our race team; a warehouse where I was due to pick up an order for work; and lunch. I packed two water bottles for the day: one from which I would drink, covered with a VAP MaxChill sleeve (http://maxchill.com/Home.html); and one from which I would douse myself as needed during the day's riding.

Upon leaving the house, rode until I got uncomfortably hot (about halfway to my first stop). Then I pulled over, took out the spare water bottle and proceeded to pour some of it directly on my shirt: shoulders, sleeves, back of the neck (aahhh!) and down the front. Mildly shocked at first and then pleasantly chilled, I rode on.

By the time I got downtown, I'd ridden the shirt almost dry, and the temperature had risen to 85 F.
Along the way I refilled this waterbottle each time

By the time I finally got home in the late afternoon, the thermometer had hit an even 100 F and I had refilled and used the dousing bottle four or five times, staying comfortably cool while riding in the heat.
Still, I was ready for a trip to the air-conditioned movie theatre that Sweetie had promised me that evening -- where we watched "The Most Excellent Marigold Hotel", a story about British pensioners living in a positively sweltering India.

The temperature had dropped to about 82 F by the time we went to bed last night.
Today's high is expected to be a repeat of yesterday's 100 degrees F.
After today, temperatures will drop abck to Oregon's more normal -- and reasonable -- 80 degrees.

If you go out today, remember to hydrate early and often -- inside and out.