Non-cycling clothes

(Recommended items are starred. Disrecommended items are X’d. Product names noted where known.)

Susan:

• REI zip-off hiking pants
• REI all-purpose polyester shorts
• *3 pa. Ex Officio bikini brief underpants
• Everyday cotton t-shirt
• Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero Parka – Women’s

The pants and shorts were for use around camp and on off days. I could have gotten by without the shorts, since the pants zip off to become shorts, but they were of trivial size and weight and were more comfortable. The t-shirt was just a regular t-shirt, which one could also do without, but it’s nice not to look or smell like a cycling dork all the time.

Brice talked me into the Ex Officios, which turned out to be a great idea. They are so easy to rinse out at the end of the day and dry very quickly. Although I was skeptical that anything but cotton could breathe well enough, these are very breathable. I will be taking them on every vacation here on out. As noted in our ABCs of biking video, they are not to be used while biking, due to the very uncomfortable chafing that will result. A major downside is that pads/pantiliners do not stick to them, so prepare accordingly.

The Mountain Hardwear parka was a down jacket rated for use in the deepest depths of winter, and it doubled as a pillow. I wore it around camp at the beginning of our trip, in the chill of early spring, and occasionally thereafter, but I do think that I would have been fine without it; however, we kept it around in caution, wary of the weather on the high mountain passes. But given how much traffic goes by up there, if we had been going hypothermic there were plenty of drivers who could have rescued us. Assuming you have a couple other layers that you could put on altogether if it’s cold at camp, I’d say you wouldn’t need to bring something this extreme.