It Never Hurts to Ask

[Velocivixen]

I was at a LBS in Portland today and saw a Gore Alp X Thermo Lady Jersey on sale (personally I thought it was a jacket). Normally $140 and was marked $95. I tried it on, looked it over, thought about how I might use it, looked it over some more. It was the only one left and in a lovely shade of "golden green/black". I noted what looked like light black pen marks on the sleeve and some sort of dime sized stain on the front (hardly noticeable) so I pointed it out to the cashier and asked if "they could do something about that". He said, "I'll sell it for $80". So now it's mine, it's been washed and it's perfect!
Well...I tried to upload the link and didn't work, so I'll just post it if you want to look. It's the green one.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gore-bike-wear-alp-x-thermo-lady-jersey-aw10/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products

So it never hurts to ask. ;)

[DarcyInOregon]

Nice purchase. You will like owning it. With "thermal" or a variation of the word in the title of the garment, it generally means you can layer it over a base layer or another jersey to function as a jacket, or wear it alone as a jersey on a cooler day. For example, as you are a cyclist in Oregon, you are going to do a 30-mile ride, and the forecast says that when you start the ride it will be 40 degrees, but half way into your ride it will be 65 degrees. So, wear the garment over a jersey, when you get too warm take it off, fold it up, and stuff it into your jersey pocket, or tie it around your waist or seat post. If it is going to rain, wear a rain jacket over all layers, the kind of jacket that zips into its own pocket, and if you take it off you can stash it in a jersey pocket, tie it around your middle, tie it to your bike, etc.

[Velocivixen]

Oh thanks Darcy! That's sort of how I imagined using it. I'm going on a short (6 mile) ride today and will use it as a "jacket" over a different shirt.

You plan on doing any rides/events in Oregon? It would be fun to meet up with other women who cycle and who are "in the area". ;)

[DarcyInOregon]

Oh thanks Darcy! That's sort of how I imagined using it. I'm going on a short (6 mile) ride today and will use it as a "jacket" over a different shirt.

You plan on doing any rides/events in Oregon? It would be fun to meet up with other women who cycle and who are "in the area". ;)

Yes, I am pretty mapped out for the summer. I already did the Monster Cookie Metric out of Salem, and the RACC in Clark County. Upcoming is Reach the Beach for the American Lung Association, from Newberg to Pacific City on May 21. Next is the Pioneer Century on June 4. Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association is in July. August I will probably go over to Idaho and do some cycling out of Ketchum. In September I might do the Tour de Whidbey to benefit the Whidbey General Hospital.

My recommendation is to get involved with training groups, because that is how you find cycling buddies who bike at your same level, or just do the training groups then do rides on your own. I am part of an all-female group that bikes on Tuesday mornings out of Champoeg Park. My primary training group is the Tour de Cure for Saturday or Sunday rides; they accommodate cyclists of all levels and bike types, have a SAG stop and are real nice people, plus being a supporter of the American Diabetes Association is a common bond from the get-go. There is a Meet-Up bike group in Newberg that ride in fair weather and they have an easy ride this Saturday that might interest you, cycling on the bike path in Champoeg Park. http://www.meetup.com/Whinos/events/17843731/ I belong to this group but have not ridden with any of them yet as their rides are too recreational for me and conflict with my weekend training group rides or event rides. A recreational group is different than a training group.

There are other Meet-Up bike groups closer to you (recreational), and this is the biggest one: http://www.meetup.com/Rubber2theroad/ You can search for other groups.

[Velocivixen]

Thanks Darcy! I've bookmarked the Ruber2theroad link. I've never done the "meet up" thing, so not sure if I can just show up or if I have to register to be a part of their "group". I'll see how it goes. River City Bicycles has Sunday morning "beginner" rides which goes from 8-20 miles and about 12-14 mph pace, which I can easily keep up with. I was going to go on Mother's day but it called for heavy rain in the morning.

Wow, you're a rock star with all your biking! It's very inspiring to me. Keep up the good work.

[DarcyInOregon]

Thanks Darcy! I've bookmarked the Ruber2theroad link. I've never done the "meet up" thing, so not sure if I can just show up or if I have to register to be a part of their "group". I'll see how it goes. River City Bicycles has Sunday morning "beginner" rides which goes from 8-20 miles and about 12-14 mph pace, which I can easily keep up with. I was going to go on Mother's day but it called for heavy rain in the morning.

Wow, you're a rock star with all your biking! It's very inspiring to me. Keep up the good work.

Be sure to invest in some cycling rain clothing in the near future because a lot of it is on sale now. If you are clothed properly, rain is ok to ride in. I rode in the rain on Saturday just fine. REI is one of the best stores for sales on cycling clothing.

The Portland Meet-Up group you bookmarked, you sign up for the group, then you register when a group leader posts a Meet-Up ride. You look at the criteria of the ride, and if you have questions, you can email the group ride leader. If you register for a ride and decide not to go, then you unRSVP. I don't belong to their group because I live south of Portland and they are an urban group for the Portland/Vancouver area; I have great roads to bike on where I live, across the Willamette Valley, so it wouldn't be a good ride for me to engage in group rides on urban streets with lots of stop lights just to ride my bike with a lot of strangers. As I mentioned, I belong to one Meet-Up group out of Newberg, but have yet to participate in a ride with them because their rides are too social, or fall on my group training ride days; i.e. the ride criteria doesn't match my ride criteria. I RSVPed to one of the group's Meet-Ups, for a group to ride together on the charity ride on May 21st, and the group leader decided he can't do the distance, then some of the others who signed up decided they didn't train enough either, and so everyone else is doing a shorter route or not participating, meaning I will not be riding with any of them for the charity ride; that is my only interaction so far.

[Velocivixen]

Darcy, thanks so much for explaining how the "meet up" works. I think I'll look over the rides and register soon. I'm excited to get acquainted with folks who are at my same level and we can help each other out. I do have one woman friend who I ride with on Wednesday. She drops her dad at the senior center and then has about 1.5 hours to spend. We're riding here shortly, despite the call for showers.
I have an Endura Luminite Women's cycling jacket which is waterproof and breathable, has pit zips, lots of reflective, and a blinky light on the tail part! At REI I bought some waterproof pants (didn't like the bike specific ones), which have zippers from the knees down and would easily fit over "regular" clothes. I have a wool "flap up" beanie type hat where the bottom edges either go down over your ears or flip up so it looks like a beanie. I've got fingerless gloves, Specialized Tahoe bike shoes, smartwool socks. I really think I'll buy some winter gloves NOW when they're on sale for sure. Do you have any favorites?
I bought a Gore Women's Alp X Thermo Jersey (although I thought it was a jacket), but it's bike specific, so other than winter gloves I'm pretty set.
Thanks for all your suggestions and encouragement.
Sandra

[DarcyInOregon]

Regarding the winter gloves, I like the Pearl Izumi winter gloves (PI). You might not know this, but at the Woodburn Factory Outlet Mall, there is a PI outlet store. The group leader of my Tuesday female training group is the wife of the local bike shop owner. She goes to the PI outlet store and is pleased to find cycle clothing for her personal use that she can buy for less than her cost for purchasing PI inventory to sell in the bike shop. I bought my most recent pair of winter gloves there last autumn, along with a long-sleeve thermal jersey in bright yellow to layer or wear alone.

I have two different types of cycling rain jackets. One is for certain water proof that I wear when the entire ride will be in the rain and I can go for 50 miles without the rain soaking through. The second is a light weight rain resistant jacket that zips into its own rear pocket and can be tied around the middle or to the bike for when the rain is light and scattered; it also functions as a wind breaker and the sleeves can zip off and be stored in the rear pocket. Whatever type of rain jacket you wear, be sure to keep that back pocket zipped in the rain. I was on a group ride earlier this spring, the rain was a constant deluge, and when I finished the ride the back pocket was entirely filled with water because I had forgotten to zip it closed. :(

Rain pants can be any type of light weight rain pant designed for any sport, as long as there is flexibility to allow for movement of the legs. Be sure to tie the bottoms or the cuffs will rip in the drive chain. I gave up on using rain pants some years ago because they either didn't keep me dry for an extended ride in heavy rain or the fabric kept ripping or I lost flexibility of the pedaling movement. This winter I used several different types of winter cycling tights that I purchased off of TE several years ago, one by Canari that has waterproof material on the front of the legs, and the second being the Terry winter tights. The Canari I wore when heavy rain was in the forecast; the Terry I wore when no to light rain, but temps on the bike were below 40.

[Velocivixen]

Hi Darcy. I just joined the Butts on Bikes meetup group. I'm just looking at their calendar and a lot of the rides are either too long or too fast for me, but I'll keep looking.
I didn't know about the PI at the outlet mall. I'd definitely go check them out.

What jacket do you have that you said is your second light weight rain resistant jacket that zips into its own rear pocket? That sounds like something good to have on a day when you're not sure what it's going to do, and if it does rain might just be light or misty.

That's funny about water in your back pocket! I never would have thought of that. My back zip pocket has a "storm flap" over it, but it's good to remember to zip just in case.
Well, you've been a wealth of information and I sure appreciate it! I think it's important to "pay it forward" in life, so I'll be sure to be generous in sharing my knowledge to others. Thanks again.

[DarcyInOregon]

The brand of jacket I use for wind/rain resistance is Canari, the one where the sleeves zip off to turn into a wind vest, and the entire jacket can turn into a fanny pack and be tied around the waist or back.

Here is the men's version, as many women prefer the men's sizing for the longer length: http://www.rei.com/product/805102/canari-eclipse-bike-jacket-mens

Here is the women's version: http://www.rei.com/product/721286/canari-tour-bike-jacket-womens

Remember, this jacket is not designed to be water proof. This type of jacket is the number one jacket used by cyclists for the intermediate temperatures and intermediate rain. I would say on any given event ride in the spring that 80% of the cyclists start out wearing a jacket similar to this one. If the ride starts with a temp of 30-40 but will warm up over the course of the ride to over 60, one wears a short-sleeve jersey underneath. If the temp remains under 60, then a long-sleeve jersey. If the temp remains under 55, then probably two layers underneath, like a long sleeve with a thermal over and the jacket on top. The jacket functions well to protect against light rain or intermittent rain and wind chill.

TE may sell a version of this jacket under another maker.

Good luck on finding some groups to ride with. You can always ride solo and when you are comfortable with riding 30 miles easily with at least a 12 mph average, then more possibilities will open up to you.