I'm in Austin, TX and at about 100F today I was quite comfortable riding home from work in a 3/4 helmet with full face shield, my Triumph Pioneer armored/perforated jacket and a pair of the Triumph armored/ventilated gloves.
Ventilated gear works fine -- if you don't have a big windshield. The Plexistar II that I used to have on Mutato in Minnesota would have been excessive down here and wouldn't have supplied sufficient airflow. Most of it's in a cornfield in Wisconsin, but that's another story...
One of those counter-intuitive things about hot weather riding is that wearing shorts and T-shirts can bring about dehydration (and heat exhaustion) a lot faster then wearing a ventilated jacket and long pants. A jacket with breathable material will actually slow sweat evaporation and production. You won't feel (or be) as cool, but you'll last a lot longer.
Anyhow, the gear isn't the whole story on heat exhaustion. The big problems are dehydration and loss of the electrolytes that support cellular function.
Lose too many electrolytes and you die, even if you're adequately hydrated. Sports drinks help since they provide the major electrolytes but they can still leave you weak and dizzy with a screaming headache because they don't provide everything you need to replenish. (Experience.)
Gatorade (for example) provides sodium, potassium and chloride. Period. That leaves lots of metabolic minerals depleted -- like magnesium, sulfate, calcium, zinc, copper and a variety of other trace elements.
After a couple experiences with heat exhaustion I spoke to a guy I knew with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and he suggested carrying some sea salt for hot days since that contains a broad spectrum of mineral salts and trace elements.
Do some research and see if it makes sense to you.
Jim
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