Welcome to the start of summer! I know, the heat started a couple of weeks ago. But biking is still cool. Much cooler means of travel than walking, and much faster than running. Our secret is what the TV weathermen call the Wind Chill Factor all winter. We feel colder when air is moving past our bodies. It's the same effect, whether it's the wind, air from a fan, or -- if we move our bodies through the air.

How big is the effect? It's tough to say in the summer. Officially, a 12 mile-per-hour wind at 40 degrees F (kinda chilly) leaves you feeling like 33 degrees, so the effect is 7 degrees at those conditions. The weather folks don't calculate it at more than 40 degrees, but we know from experience that it's a few degrees.

Best of all, we can add to it. When it's warm, we sweat (except for the sorority sisters who perspire or “glow” instead). This water cools us down as it evaporates, much as we cool down when we get out of a swimming pool. So why don't we dump some water on ourselves, instead of drinking it and releasing sweat?

I use this trick every afternoon, as I ride home. Just a little water to wet down my legs, arms and sometimes cheeks. I usually spritz myself at the top of a hill, since my speed increases on the downhill. I think this cools me down 10 -15 degrees. Yes, I can empty most of a water bottle on my arms and legs for a 30 minute ride, but I don't get home all sweaty, and I don't get hot when I stop, either.

Instead of selective spraying, some cyclists just drench their jerseys. I've had better luck by directing my water to my skin, not my jersey, which may not even touch my skin. Besides that, if we are biking on business, you don't want to show up with a shirt or blouse that's half-wet. You may know it came from your water bottle, but other people don't know that.

Of course, the better shape you are in physically, the lower your heart rate fer energy output, and the less you will sweat. I use “cardio intervals” (typically 2 minutes of hard riding, alternating with 2 minutes at half-power) to help me stay n shape. This trains my heart to move to a lower heart rate much more quickly, so I ride cooler all summer (and winter, too, but let's not go there).