That's easy for a bunch of us Florida riders. Drain/drink a little water out of a store-bought brand with a twist open/close built into the cap (these work best); stick in your freezer with the cap loose. (water expands when it freezes). Wrap frozen bottles (remember to tighten cap) in a hand towel and stack in your bag.

Condensation will be absorbed into the towel to wipe your face, the "ice" will melt slowly, but always gives you a nice cold drink. When hotel-hopping, I have always found someone at the desk willing to re-freeze refills for ya if you don't have a mini-fridge in the room.

I know a lot of folks are hooked on those "aid" drinks, but it is hard to beat good 'ol water. Those drinks will freeze too (following the same guidelines) but I prefer water.

Oh yea....riding in a damp tee shirt helps too, but will assist your body's drain of fluids (like a wick) and will actually speed-up dehydration.

 

Thermos Flask filled with cool (not ice cold) water. HD or other cooling vets (feels really slimey but does work). Stop regulary (200Km to drink) Start-out early in the am and be off the road or in cooler area by 14:00. Back in the late 90's early 2000 there were a number of hotels that were letting you check in at 12:00 or 13:00 provided you were out by 06:00 the next morning. I thought this was an excellent idea but could not find one hotel (including the Best Western HOG's associate) last year that allowed it. Most check-ins were at least 15:00.

 

The best thing for really hot weather is long johns and leather pants. I know it sounds crazy but try it. When you are moving it is great. It keeps all of the engine heat off of your legs and crotch. As for up top I always try to wear a long sleeve white t shirt and use my cup holder with ice water.

 

Bring your lip balm or chap stick, that wind and sun for hours really beats you up.

 

If you're gonna be riding in REALLY hot and dry weather, a wet shirt won't do you much good. We can soak our clothes here and it's all dry in just a few minutes. A cool vest works much better. Other than that all I can tell you is to drink a lot of water and use sun block. I can't keep anything cold on my bike when riding in the summer, so we stop frequently to get more water. I might try a saddlebag cooler this year and see how it works.

 

I lived in Texas for 18 years, traveling the route you're planning more than once. I recommend a long sleeve shirt, plenty of sun screen (I like the spray on kind for my face), and for west Texas, we used one of those bota bags full of water, hung over your neck/shoulder. Use it to squirt yourself down at regular intervals. It evaporates in a minute and cools you off. And drink plenty of fluids.

Oh, and I personally refuse to spend another dime in Clayton, NM. I gas up in Texline instead. Just my way of thanking Clayton, NM for the thug with the gun escorting us out of town one morning.

 

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Ah, the fond memories I have of riding across Texas in August. Been there, done that--but won't do it again. Good luck. When we did it (Amarillo to Shreveport in one day) the thermometer hit 107°, and that is almost beyond human endurance. The bikes didn't flinch, but we did. We prayed for rain but didn't any, so maybe you'll be luckier. That was an unusally hot year, so maybe you'll have it not quite so hot.

In 1998 when we did that I don't think the cooling vests, etc. were available, or if they were we didn't know about them. We just made frequent stops to cool down, like about every 50 miles during the hottest part of the day. Wetting your shirt helps, but that doesn't last more than about 5 min. in that kind of heat.

Don't wear a short sleeved shirt unless you have some sort of sunblocker sleeve to wear with it! Instead, consider a breathable long-sleeve shirt like microfiber, preferably one with a sunblocker rating. You can find these at Coolibar, etc. On our trip across TX I wore a long-sleeve white cotton shirt, which worked fairly well and held a lot of water when I soaked it at stops. A Camelback or similar water reservoir would be good, too, and although I have one (Buell) I haven't ever used it since I avoid long rides in temps above 95° these days. Is it old age or just getting more sensible with age? On the 1998 trip I had an insulated water bottle purchased form Walmart that fit snuggly in my saddlebag guard bag. It could be pulled out on the fly, so I used that frequently that day.

A few years ago I bought a pair of these from Coolibar and they work well to keep the sun off your hands while breathing well to keep the heat down. The sun sleeves should work well with short-sleeved shirts, too, and won't ride up in the wind like some microfiber shirts will. You can also find microfiber shirts with elastic in the wrist to minimize this on some on-line biker-gear stores.

Something else that works surprisingly well is a bandana. It will keep the radiated heat off your face and really makes a difference, contrary to what you might think. Buy a light-colored and lightweight one, though, if possible.

 

107 "almost beyond human endurance"? Try 120+! I've ridden in temps above 115 so many times that 107 seems cool. It's all about what you get used to. However, if you're not used to it, it can be tough and even dangerous.

 

It doesn't get even close to that in S. LA where I live, rarely higher than 95° but with stifling humidity that brings the heat index up to well-above 100° most of the summer. Remember that the humidity is also usually high in TX, so I wonder what the heat index was that day we rode across TX. Probably higher than it would be at 115° in the desert SW. We're accustomed to high heat indeces here, or at least as tolerant as a human body can be, and we were all suffering on that ride in August, 1998. We made it 575 miles across TX that day and were all glad it was behind us.