Other cycling clothes

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

Susan:

• *2 Moving Comfort Alexis sports bras
• 2 pa. thin SmartWool or REI merino wool socks
• 1 pa. REI merino wool heavy hiking socks
• SealSkinz waterproof socks
• Pearl Thermafleece headband
• Amphipod Full-Visibility reflective vest
• Giant short-fingered gloves and Pearl long-fingered gloves
• Lowe Alpine long underwear (used as tights)

Maybe I’ve just never had good sports bras before, but these were great. They had supportive, breathable fabric that dried quickly and they were actually sized separately for rib circumference and for cup size, which is usually my main problem in fitting these things.

It’s important to have only non-cotton socks for riding, in a couple different weights. SmartWool or REI’s generic version of SmartWool dries quickly, wicks moisture, and is non-scratchy. There’s no reason to spend more for the SmartWool brand name, in my view.

As for the waterproof socks we brought, which feature a layer of GoreTex between two knit layers, I was ambivalent. They weren’t at all breathable, so to the extent that they kept your feet dry from rain, your feet got wet from sweat. They weren’t warm in and of themselves; you had to wear them over another pair of socks, which is nice because then you can vary the warmth level depending on the weather. I guess all in all I would probably have been worse off without these, but there might be a better solution out there than these. I do know from Brice’s experience that the alternative, waterproof shoe covers, don’t work at all. There may be a good profit in here somewhere if someone can actually come up with a good foot-waterproofing solution for cyclists.

There’s a lot of headbands on the market and they all seem to be pretty much the same, but it’s a good idea to bring one, I think. I usually needed only this to keep my head warm on cold days, but occasionally supplemented it with the hood of my rain jacket and/or softshell.

Unless all your biking clothes are eye-poppingly bright, you should bring a reflective vest. You look like a dork but it’s of ultimate importance to be as visible as possible to cars and trucks.

All of these vests are pretty much all the same, so get whatever’s cheaper. I liked this one because it had a zipper pocket to make up for my lack of jersey pockets.

I rarely wore my long-fingered gloves, but when I did, I was glad for them. Do not even think of attempting a long tour without cycling gloves—they make the ride more comfortable, provide you with a ready solution for mopping sweat or wiping up snot, and keep your hands from getting shredded if you wipe out.

I brought along my Lowe Alpine long underwear to use as tights and they worked excellently for this purpose. Probably not any pair of long underwear would work; mine were some fancy schmancey highly breathable synthetic fabric. They were comfortable in a range of temperatures and conditions due to their breathability and kept my legs perfectly warm even when they were soaked in a cold rain.