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Written by Zach Magoon
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Tuesday, 26 September 2006 |
Ahhhh Autumn--this is my favorite time to ride. No more hot commutes, arriving to work drenched, or having to worry about dehydrating on the way home. Now it's just cold toes, hands and ears--the best. Fall is a bit tricky to dress for so let's talk a bit about clothes.
I begin my rides in the morning not too long after sunrise so it's pretty damn cold out when I start but it manages to warm up a good 10 degrees by the time I pull into work about 1.5 hours later. By the time the end of the work day comes around it may be in the high 60's, so dressing for these varying temperatures can get a little tricky. I'm a big fan of arm and leg warmers. And don't skimp on these--lycra is good, but it's not as warm and gets stinky a lot faster than its wool counterparts--my pick is either the Salsa or IBEX Wool Knee Warmers --I love that little bit of skin that still shows between the bottom of the warmer and a pair of socks--somehow it doesn't get cold. Of course you can go for the full leg warmer, but that just makes you one step closer to wimpy--I mean if it's that cold wear some tights. I just like the leg warmers because I don't have to carry a whole set of long tights in my bag on the trip home. The same goes for arm warmers--go wool--less stinky and less crap to carry if it's warm enough for short sleeves for ridin' home.
When it gets a little cooler--don't break out the jacket too soon, you'll overheat within a few minutes--This morning it was 39 degrees out and I was quite warm in a long sleeve jersey (team issue Bikeman of course) and a Sock Guy long sleeve base layer . My Pearl Izumi windblock gloves made their debut this morning as well. These puppies are good from about 40 degrees down to the teens, which covers most of the fall and winter for me. A hat helps keep the cold air off your head as well--I like to use my Salsa CoolMax hat under my helmet in moderately cool weather and then add some cross country skiing earmuffs (that were originally purchased for my wife--sorry Suz) by Swix--they work very well and fit under any helmet.
As for my feet--well they get cold or numb in just about any weather but I have had great luck with neoprene booties for warmth and (recently) waterproof socks that I picked up at a local marine supply store. They work really well to keep my feet dry, but not necessarily warm like the booties.
We'll talk more about clothes for the winter as soon as the first snow flies. There is plenty of good stuff out there that will keep you pretty comfortable in just about any weather--but for now enjoy the last few weeks of cool weather before we have to break out the lights! I'm in the market this year for a new set and will let you all know what I come up with.
Ride on.
Zm |
