Well I just got across the Southern California and Arizona desert, from San Diego to Flagstaff, and well it was pretty rough. I think it got up to 116 or so around Blythe. I managed mostly by doing a lot of riding between 5:30 am and 11 am. After that I would just do one or two hour sprints between towns and chug ice cold drinks when I stopped.

I usually ride light and I found that I could go about 30 miles in the middle of day heat before I started losing my mind and thinking about snow and ice. Also, I would splash myself with water and take a big gulp every mile. I carried 5 litres, but never used more t han 4 litres or so at a time. The longest stretch was 72 miles from Julian to Brawley, but it went very fast and I only needed 3 litres.