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northbend I can only speak of my experience around the areas near to our home in Jeddah, since that's where I do almost my entire cycling.
That said, Jeddah is hot and humid in the summer and really nice - even pleasantly cool - around December-January. No matter how hydrated I try to keep myself, I still find it hard and exhausting to ride between about 9 AM and 5 PM during the hot months (April to October.) Usually, I'd wear a white baseball cap under my helmet and always try to keep it wet, and keep my bottle filled at all times. Water is fairly easy to come by; there are plenty of small grocery shops if you have to buy any, and there are people who have charity outdoor water coolers in front of their homes or shops. So unless I'm riding in particularly empty areas, I've never had a problem staying hydrated.
Just like any other major city in the world, you gotta be careful, and you gotta know what you're doing. The local motoring scene is still far from getting used to - much less accepting - the cyclist as a regular road user. You got motorists subconsciously blocking you out of their field of vision because they're not used to seeing cyclists on the road. You got people who go against traffic and catch you by surprise pulling out of an intersection. Hell, I almost ran over a Pakistani dude on a Chinese Phoenix because he was going against traffic; I was just about to pull out of a side street, and naturally, I was looking left for oncoming traffic and didn't see him almost barreling into my right-hand front fender. Words were exchanged and fingers were flipped, but we were alright.
Speaking of which, the Asian communities have the most cyclists, but most of them do it to get around wherever they happen to be living and/or working. They mostly ride big, heavy Chinese rigs, and some of them ride BMX-like Chinese Cobras or Indonesian-made, locally-branded bikes. The Filipino community seems to have the most interest in recreational/sporting cycling, and the sport is gaining popularity among the Saudi and Arab communities, but I haven't met any Saudis or Arabs who actually cycle to get around.
That picture of me with Chinese bikes was at a nearby toy shop; most people around here still consider the bicycle more as a toy rather than a viable means of transportation. Wheels, the Trek dealer, is the only professionally dedicated game in town. Sun and Sand, a sporting goods outfit, sells some Fujis and a few SEs, but their aftersales support is virtually non-existent. There are no other established brandname (Giant, Raleigh, Specialized, Peugeot... etc.) dealers. As for the cheap, mass-market, Chinese-made, off-brand and off-off-brand stuff, downtown Jeddah is where the action is at, but you won't find any high-end, quality brands there, or quality spare parts, components, and tools. If you're looking to buy quality parts/components, Amazon and the like are your only friends.
That's about it.
