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Tim Krasnansky on a summer tour in Rocky Mountain National Park — note the warm fleece and the too-small panniers |
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Near the summit between Aspen and Crested Butte, Colorado. In September! |
The wrong kind of clothing in the cold is anything that doesn't"wick" away moisture. Wear cotton next to your skin and you'll be wet in minutes and will stay that way all day. Begin instead with a nice, thin, long-sleeved synthetic polyester-based undershirt, and a matching pair of longjohns, and you'll avoid that clammy feeling. Look at them in the store while thoughts of snowflakes are dancing in your head and chances are you'll gravitate toward the mid- or expedition-weight underwear. My preference is something thin next to the upper body skin, then a long-zippered turtleneck undershirt (a long zip so I can adjust the air flow to a hot or cold torso), followed by fleece. Down below, I lean toward winter Lycra tights over the longjohns. Some riders prefer regular crew-neck wickable undershirts, followed by a long-sleeved zippered turtleneck of some kind. I like the ability to unzip the first layer, to gulp fresh air onto my torso when I want it, but these are the kinds of personal decisions that only experience in the saddle, and in the season, will allow you to make. Regardless, the thinner first layer wicks more quickly, and thin underwear can be packed in far less space than thicker fabrics and will dry faster when washed. Buy underwear in any color other than white, both to hide dirt and to double as an outer garment when the need arises.
My second layer is a fleece or other wickable sweatshirt, but any dance through an on- or off-line catalog's pages will show you that the next pertinent question is,"Which fleece?" I keep this layer light and untreated, for over this will come a fleece, fully zippered sleeveless sweater that is windproofed on its front panels and not windproofed on the back — to allow a back grown sweaty on a climb a chance to dry off.
My final layer (not counting rain gear when it's necessary) on top is fleece once more, this time a high-necked fully zippered jacket with windproofed front panels and arms, again with no windproofing on the back, and treated for water resistance (not waterproofed) throughout. Be sure that the arm length of all layers will cover your wrists fully when you're stretched out to your bars or reaching below for a water bottle. Your undershirt must be long enough to stay in your longjohns or tights, and your sweater or sweatshirt and jacket shouldn't be so short that they ride up as you pedal.
One tip: I carry multiples of three in underwear and pairs of socks on tour; this way I'm usually wearing something clean, have something dry to put on if I need it, and whatever I've washed most recently is drying — or lies frozen — in my pannier or trailer bag.
One warning about zippers: While I've never had a problem with turtleneck zips (due to little strain on the teeth or slider, I suppose), I was troubled on my October/November ride down the Appalachians last year by a broken zipper at the ankle of my almost-new tights. The slider on zipper pulls can often be repaired simply by squeezing the sides together somewhat with a wrench, but this time the wimpy teeth were the culprit. I was forced to safety pin the ankle every morning, and struggle with it every night. As a result I'll only buy tights in the future with elastic at the ends.
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