Cycling Jerseys
For all of my lack of attention to the finer points that cycling gear aficionados care about, I’m a little picky about jerseys (and tights) though, not really in the usual way.
In general, I don’t like jerseys. It’s the pockets and the fit. Russ loads his pockets up, I don’t like to have anything sliding back and forth on my lower back. I didn’t like it before I started slinging my camera back there, and I never wanted to wear anything tight enough to keep it from happening. I like the extra length some jerseys give in back, but I don’t want much, if anything, in back pockets. That renders jerseys pretty much useless to me.
Fit might be part of the problem. I’m a heavier than most serious cyclists, and have a more athletic build than most heavy cyclists, so my shape/size combo isn’t common. That goes for bike shorts, tights and knickers too. Having an uncommon fit makes it harder to find clothes and especially hard to find them well priced.
I don’t worry about jersey fit too much because I’m all about Smartwool, or sometimes another brand of merino. 100% wool is so comfortable. The range of comfortable temperatures for lightweight merino is much larger than people who don’t wear it would suspect, and it breathes so well. It doesn’t give me the prickly heat type rash that nylon tends to put on my upper body. I see ads for bras and panties made of merino, and if I ever decide to spend $80 for a bra (every girl needs her lottery dreams, right?) I’d like to give one a shot. Bras, panties, undershirts, tights, you name it, I’d like to give them all a try. I seek the ethical certifications, buy on clearance, not just because I’m price sensitive, but also because that shirt on clearance is making use of overstock. And, if I found one at Goodwill, that’s a real win. I’m keeping the sheep’s sacrifice and the farmer’s effort out of the landfill!
There is a problem with wool though. Moths love it even better than I do. Last week this damages showed after I washed some of my heavier pieces to make sure there were no moth eggs in them before I put them away for the summer! I have 4 pieces lost to moths. They are Smartwool pieces I bought all at the same time from REI. I had been storing them in original packaging and had paid closer to early season retail for them than I usually do.
The holes showed on the first wash for each garment. I wondered if the eggs were laid before purchase. There were older pieces in my same closet drawer with no damage, but having the sales clerk look at you funny is uncomfortable, so I didn’t try to tell anyone I thought the unworn clothes came with eggs. I was crushed. This stuff lasts for years, except for when it doesn’t.
Sweat Shirts
Under the category of every rider should suit themselves, I have some tunic style sweat shirts with the big central kangaroo pocket in front for cooler weather. I like the tunics. They are more modest and I run errands on the way to and from the trail. I’ll use those big front pockets. I don’t notice the shifting weight in the kangaroo pocket, though I’m sure it would irritate cyclists who lean in to a more aerodynamic posture than I do. Combining those with the wool is warm enough for most weather I’m willing to ride in.
Colors
I am thinking more about color for clothing than I normally do. Normally I go for visibility, but one day I was behind Russ while he was wearing a bright green jersey. It’s great road visibility disappeared into the nearly glowing vibrant trail foliage. Constantly considering the video project, I thought about how useful it might be to go with chroma key colors for the bikes and kit. We’ll ride together, but we’ll both be recording and separate enough to be out of each other’s video (but not so much that we are guaranteed never showing up in each other’s video). Matching the background, or being a color that is easily removed could be useful if we ever go on to edit any of the footage for future projects. It was an interesting thought, because normally I’m all about contrast with the environment and showing up while cycling.
Fantasy Island
What would I do with clothing if I could do anything for the video project? A cedar storage closet for my merino? Seriously though, the right clothing for the job is the first thing, and it will need to last well because we’ll be using it so much. So, the dream part is fun design. I thought about designing a project team shirt/jersey. IRL I have designed one I’m happy with in my mind. On Fantasy Island the design will be custom created by Don Moyer who started Calamityware with a Kickstarter (no, he doesn’t know me, or anything about this. I just love his art and this is the Fantasy Island part of the program).
I’d love a design that reflects both of the trails. When you look close at his, you would see it’s made of robots and pterodactyls, a mosaic of “things could be worse” or, maybe done in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of something Salvador Dali would do with ants and lilies, probably a mash up that includes some small images tailored to cycling and the trail would work best. The Chief Ladiga Trail part of the imagery is the challenge, finding something appropriate that also communicates that trail. That’s a challenge I haven’t figured out yet.
