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Dressing to ride during Indian Summer

11.02.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

It’s not Indian Summer in Texas yet — we haven’t had our first frost, although we’ve come close. But it’s in the low 60s now when I start my morning weekend rides, and it will warm up to the 80s for the rest of the week.

This is the beginning of the time of year when dressing for my rides becomes a guessing game. It starts cool, then warms up. This morning, I wore a long sleeved jersey and a base layer, along with my bibs. A stiff breeze from the southeast made going south difficult. The part of the route that heads east is mostly downhill, so it’s not too bad.

Usually, on a cool morning that promises to warm up, I’ll wear arm warmers, which I like a lot. They give you a lot more adjustability as conditions change than a long-sleeved jersey.

I have a rule of thumb for dressing, which I violate with frequency. If it’s above 65 degrees, I just wear a short sleeved jersey and shorts.  If 55-65, I wear arm warmers, or maybe a long-sleeved jersey.  Below 55, I’ll wear the long-sleeved jersey, and add tights.  Below 50, I add a windbreaker with zip-off arms.  I don’t bike when temperatures are below 45 degrees (Hey, this is the South!).

My clothing today erred on the warm side. I really worked up a sweat, but still remained comfortable throughout the ride. The wind countered the warming temperatures.  Still, if I had thought about it more, I probably would have gone with just the arm warmers.

Do you have a formula for dressing for the weather?

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Categories // Accessories Tags // arm warmers, clothing, jersey, temperature, tights

I like bike socks

07.01.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

When I was a runner (jogger, really) I wore cotton socks that just came up to the ankle. Once I started biking, these seemed to do fine. Looking through Nashbar and Performance catalogs, I saw listings for bicycle-specific socks, which I thought was ridiculous overkill. After all, socks are socks.

That attitude has changed. Last Christmas, my wife gave me a red jersey, and she had to throw in a pair of red bike socks with it. It took me one ride to decide bike socks were worth having.

They’re worth having because they’re light, and thin, and their polyester yarns keep your feet so much drier than plain old cotton socks. And they’re just so comfortable! I wouldn’t ride without them now.

But I’m still not sure about some of the designs that can be found on the socks. Even the relatively tame two-tone blue ones are a bit “out there” for me.

No matter. I’m tempted to buy more pairs, and use them for activities other than biking. Cotton socks, your time is over!

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Categories // Accessories Tags // Accessories, clothing, socks

Father’s Day swag

06.15.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

My wife saw to it that Father’s Day had a biking theme this year. She made a trip to our favorite LBS and brought back some goodies:

The swag.

The starring role went to a new pair of bibs. Yes, bibs. I’d never tried them before, and the sales clerk at the shop told her they were really comfortable. Not to mention that the mesh upper half helps hold in that beer gut tummy bulge guys my age tend to show. He was right — they feel great, and even on another day in the 90s, I never felt that they added a layer to my biking outfit.

Complementing the bibs were a new doo-rag from HeadSweats. I already have one, and like it. This one has the ties in the back, and it’s a little different feel from the other, that doesn’t have the ties.

Finally, because my bike is black, blue, and white, we have to have color-coordinated socks, right? So, a new pair of blue, black and white biking socks finish off the sartorial haul.

On my 32-mile ride this morning, I was a vision of Fredness on my black, blue and white bike, wearing my black, blue and white outfit. And after a great ride this morning, I get to watch the final round of the U.S. Open this afternoon. Biking and golf — can’t get much better than this.

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Categories // Accessories Tags // Accessories, bibs, clothing

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