What to wear?

[jessica47201]

I have a 72 mile bike ride coming up this Saturday and I was wondering how I should dress. First of all this will be my longest ride. Before this one, my max distance was 54 miles. This saturday, the weather is supposed to be in the 60's with a 40% chance of rain. Now normally I wear bib shorts and an under armor wicking shirt, but that has been during this past summer. I really don't want to over dress, because I don't have anywhere to put my layers when I get too warm. Any suggestions would be great.

[Miranda]

Hmm, what to wear... how about a tiny piece of Miranda spirit in your saddle bag? 70mi was my furthest before the crash... I'd like some cycling sisterly help to go a little further lol.

OK, ok, enough whining from me... I think the wind depends on a lot.

For starters, "... what do I do with the stuff I strip off on the long ride as the weather changes???".

I had that same question. Well, this old thread of mine (link below) was the best solution I came up with to date. Scroll down to the end and I posted some pics of what I did to resolve that.

Also, I suggest a small bici lock for your own personal SAG stops at a gas station etc. I have had more that one bike stolen in my life. It only takes a second. Sure, cable cutters would get the bike in a quick... but the chances of that happening are much less than your nice road bici sitting totally unprotected. And make sure you write down the bici lock combo somewhere you keep on your person... in case you forget (been there too, really sux).

Storage solution link w/pics...

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ghlight=jacket

For clothes, I use weather.com and go by hourly detail... for temps, wind direction / speed etc. You can change the zip codes of the towns you are riding too also on your route.

Hmm, on my 70mi day, it hit 63 degrees F as a high. Winds 17mph. Cloudy, but didn't rain. I wore this...

SS jersey, reg shorts, arm warmers, Gore wind vest. I own a Gore rain jacket that packs like this other wind jacket I have in the pic--just used the vest on this ride though. My arm warmers fit in the pockets of the Gore vest. No gloves or foot covers. But, those would fit in the vest pockets too. You don't want to be shivering... but remember within the first 10 miles you will warm up... and that first mile chill will be less. FWIW.

Hope you have a great and safe ride!

[roadie gal]

I second arm and leg warmers and a vest. If you get warm you can fold up the arm and leg warmers into a vest pocket.

[OakLeaf]

That sounds a lot like what we rode in on Saturday. Low 60s, temperature stable or dropping by a degree or two throughout the day, a bit of a headwind but not too terrible, light to moderate rain and heavy cloud cover most of the day.

I started out in long-sleeved Lycra jersey, a sleeveless microweight wool base layer, fingerless gloves, shorts and regular socks and shoes.

Stupid me listened to TWO people who gave me a hard time about my long sleeves at the start of the ride, and I left my knee warmers in my pack. By half distance, my quads were freezing, and it was really making me suffer. Trying to climb with frozen legs, especially starting the climbs out with legs that are extra frozen from the descents = not fun. Thank goodness a friend of a friend had a personal sag and a pair of knee warmers he wasn't wearing. They really saved me... thanks Jeff. Always remember that evaporative cooling will chill you quite a bit when it's wet.

(At least I left my knee warmers in my pack and not my car, so I had them for Sunday. On Sunday, after the sun came out and the temperature came up a bit, I did what I normally do and rolled my knee warmers around my ankles. As long as I secure them with the calf/ankle gripper around the outside, they fold into a neat package that doesn't catch on anything. Looks a little goofy, but this is different from the rest of cycling gear how? And it's one less thing to stuff in my pockets.)

My hands and feet were okay, but with my history of frostbite, I definitely could've used FF gloves. My fingertips were going a bit numb, but they didn't get to the point of pain. As far as shoe covers, eh, I think I was better off without the weight they would've added once they became waterlogged. My toes weren't too bad.

Sunday I wore the same base layer (the power of wool, it didn't smell ), and when it dried out and warmed up, I took the base layer off but left everything else on. Sleeveless and microweight, it fits into a jersey pocket (actually used it to wrap my clear glasses when I switched to sunglasses - there's enough room in a pocket of my three-pocket Voler jersey for both).

I never bother with rain gear. I'll use it to block the wind if the temps are going to be below 50. But I sweat so much inside, nothing will keep me dry. "Breathable" gear, remember, can only let water out one molecule at a time. I sweat more than that...

If you're not staying at home the night before the ride, bring a large variety of clothes so you can adjust what you actually wear. Check the National Weather Service's hourly weather graph before you dress. Best resource in the world (literally).

Good luck on your ride!

[Becky]

For a similar century (60s and some drizzle/fog) a couple weeks ago, I wore the following:

Wicking cap
Wool short-sleeve jersey
Arm warmers
Wind vest
Knickers (I would have worn shorts and knee warmers if it was going to warm up, or the sun was scheduled to appear)
Lightweight wool socks (Defeet wooleators)

In hindsight, I should have worn lightweight long-fingered gloves because of the moisture and chill in the air. Otherwise, I was perfectly dressed for the conditions and my personal thermostat.

+1 to Oakleaf's rain gear comments. Unless it's dang cold, I don't bother with it. (And if it's that cold and raining, I'm probably on the couch, wrapped in a blanket )