Wearing improper clothing like tennis shorts, running shoes, and T-shirts to bicycle in can cause a variety of aches and pains ranging from saddle chafe to numb hands, overheating, hypothermia, and foot discomfort.
Although most beginners start out wearing makeshift clothing, the sooner you can invest in proper bikewear, the better. Proper bikewear not only prevents most saddle soreness but also prevents numb hands, helps regulate body temperature, and eliminates such foot problems as burning soles.
Made of breathable fibers that fit like a second skin, bicycle pants and jerseys wick perspiration away from the body while the fabric stays dry. Manmade synthetics have replaced almost all natural fibers in bikewear, and so many are used that you almost need a chemistry degree to evaluate them. And new-generation fibers are constantly appearing. For example, 4-channeled fibers currently being used have 20 percent more surface fiber for evaporating perspiration than such traditional favorites as polyesters and poly propylene.
Anatomically designed with a sporty, high-profile look, modern bikewear can really enhance your bicycling performance. While brand name apparel with designer colors and fabrics can be fairly expensive, several mailorder firms offer well-made house-brand shorts, jerseys, shoes, gloves, and other bikewear at prices that almost any beginner can afford.
Loose-fitting clothing that billows out in the wind can cut your cycling speed by as much as 10 percent. Thus, to minimize wind resistance, all bikewear fits snugly without being tight, something designers have accomplished by using body-hugging materials like Lycra and nylon. Cold-weather tights and jerseys are made of hollow-core fabrics that provide warmth without bulk, while a variety of raingear will keep you dry in the heaviest of rain.
You can probably economize on bikewear if you take only day rides. But for extended touring you should be prepared for change able weather. During a single day’s ride in Vermont, I started out wearing a windbreaker, sweater, gloves, and winter tights; sun bathed in shorts at midday; and then had to don raingear for the final hour.
Proper Bicyclewear Keeps You Comfortable in All Weather
Light, cool cotton-Lycra blends are used for hot weather clothing as well as several proprietary synthetic materials like X-Bio, Cool-max, or Fieldsensor that actively dispense perspiration, leaving you cool and dry. Don’t forget, also, that headwinds cool you as you ride. Even on a calm day a bicyclist creates a cooling breeze of 12 m.p.h. or more simply by moving. Bicycling is invariably cooler than hiking. Nonetheless, a sweatband is helpful plus a tennis visor to wear under your helmet.
You can continue to ride in surprisingly cold weather — as low as 10°F — by using the layer method of dressing. The first layer consists of breathable underwear; the second is thermal wear, such as a jersey and sweater, to insulate you from the cold; and the third layer consists of outerwear to keep out rain, cold, and wind. Like a cross- country skier, you can add or subtract a layer so that you stay warm without excessive perspiration. To make this work, you must have a bicycle bag in which to place the garments you remove.
A windbreaker, sweater, warm jersey, warm gloves, and nylon booties to cover your feet are almost essential for winter riding. They are also necessary for riding above timberline in Colorado, even in August.
With the appropriate clothing you can keep riding comfortably in all weathers. Here is a brief review of the principal items of bikewear.
All bikewear should be highly visible, a topic already covered along with helmets in section 8.
Bicycling Shorts
Made of soft-stretching fabrics like nylon, Lycra, or cotton, bicycling shorts have long legs that protect the thighs from sun and chafe, plus a crotch that is padded with either ultrasuede chamois, or with a combination of polypropylene fleece and polyurethane foam. Both have a soft, natural feel and effectively cushion the crotch from friction. But the synthetic crotch pads have the advantage that they can be machine washed and dried.
Bike shorts are cut high in the back for extra warmth, have a reinforced outer seat, and are fastened by a drawstring or elastic waist. The best contoured shorts are made of 8 separate panels, though pairs made of 4 panels are quite adequate and less expensive. Seamless underwear is usually worn under cycling shorts. Shorts should be washed and cleaned often, especially in warm weather.
Special women’s shorts are available with slightly shorter legs and curved hips, a higher waist, and a detachable crotch pad of foam or gel. Gel is said to distribute pressure over a larger area and to eliminate pressure points.
A new type of baggie shorts with padded crotch liner has become popular with mountain bike and touring riders. They can be worn both on and off the bike, but naturally, they create extra wind resistance.
Jim and Linda Richardson were the first cyclists to ride
the complete 4,250-mile Trans-America Trail. Although helmet designs have
changed since they made their ride, their comfortable, sporty bikewear is
representative of that worn by today’s bicycle tourists.
Jerseys
The best wicking jerseys are of Lycra, cotton, polyester, or poly propylene or, perhaps by now, of some entirely new material. They are cut long and slender to hug the hips and have a large triple- section pocket in back. Both short- and long-sleeved jerseys are made, though long-sleeved ones are harder to find. For really cold weather riding, wool jerseys are still popular.
Nowadays, jerseys for hot weather are often made of mesh combined with cotton-poly knit for maximum ventilation.
Gloves
Designed to protect the hands from road shock and numbness, cycling gloves are cut off above the knuckles and have extra thick padding behind the supple leather palms, with open netting on the back for ventilation. Gloves distribute handlebar pressure evenly across the palms, preventing both vibration and chafe as well as nerve-compression numbness. They are closed by a Velcro wrist band.
You can smooth out road bumps still more by padding the handlebars with slide-on foam grips.
In cold weather, cycling gloves must be replaced with warm nylon shell mittens, or a similar cold weather glove.
Shoes
Bicycling shoes are built narrow with a toe that fits into a toeclip, and with a sole that is thin but reinforced and rigid to prevent flexing. Most shoes also have some form of cleat designed to lock the foot to the pedal and to prevent the foot from pivoting. Shoes like these enable the rider to deliver more leg power to the road and to minimize strain on the soles of the feet (often described as burning soles). Most medium-priced shoes have ventilated nylon mesh uppers. Such shoes are made primarily for use with racing and sports bicycles. They are lighter than running shoes and fairly expensive. Touring shoes have similar qualities but look and feel more like jogging shoes. They are made with an internal plastic or metal sole stiffener and have reinforced nylon mesh uppers. Though it is stiff, the sole is also flexible enough for walking.
Most touring shoes have a built-in groove on the sole that meshes with the pedals. Other models have recessed plastic cleats with which you can walk fairly well. Incidentally, rubber protectors are available that cover all cleats, allowing you to walk without damaging the cleats.
In practice, half of all touring bicyclists ride long daily distances with neither cleats nor grooves and without tightening toeclip straps. Nonetheless, they invariably do wear special bicycle touring shoes, which can also be used for walking.
Also available are special mountain bike shoes with a rigid nylon-Fiberglas midsole. You can also ride in lightweight cycling boots, which can be used for scaling the summit of a peak after you have climbed as far as you can go by mountain bicycle. Most bicycle shoes are made in all sizes up to size 13.
Winter Training Tights
These are long-legged tights made of stretch-breathable materials that fit snugly in the riding position. Made of nylon and Lycra, with stirrups to keep the ankles from riding up, they keep you warm in cold weather without trapping moisture. Some contain knee inserts to help warm the knees. Winter training tights are not just for winter, but any time the temperature is below 60°F.
Better than the bulky wool leg warmers one still sees in use are warmup pants of polyester and acrylic that are both warm and water resistant. They can be removed when the weather warms up.
Booties
Booties are waterproof covers that fit over shoes up to the ankles, providing protection against rain and cold. An aperture in the sole accommodates most cleats. Booties are available in either Gore-tex or in less expensive nylon or neoprene. Booties are essential for staying comfortable in rain or cold.
Raingear
Plastic fenders and good quality raingear keep father
and child dry while riding in the rain. Raingear and mudguards are essential
equipment for touring in such rainy areas as the northeastern U.S., Europe,
or New Zealand.
Raingear may not be worthwhile in hot weather, and in many parts of the United States it often doesn’t rain for months. Thus many western bicyclists overlook the risk of rain when planning vacation tours in the Northeast or in Europe or New Zealand.
A light, inexpensive nylon-coated shell or rainsuit is OK for day rides. But whenever there’s any chance of steady rain, I’d never go on an extended tour without the best quality raingear I can afford. Hypothermia can occur in wet and windy weather in temperatures as high as 60°F.
Undoubtedly the best raingear material is Gore-tex, a fabric laminated between two layers of nylon. Gore-tex keeps out both wind and water while allowing perspiration to pass out. The only problem with this wonderfully durable, soft, and smooth fabric is its relatively high cost.
The other material is coated nylon, which is waterproof but doesn’t breathe, causing perspiration to condense inside. (Water resistant, breathable versions are available but they are not water proof.)
Matching jackets and pants of either material are available. Jackets have sewn-in hoods that accommodate a helmet, plus a baffle-flap enclosure to prevent rain from entering the zipper.
Any coated-nylon rainsuit should have very adequate zippered vents; otherwise you will perspire heavily. Although back vents are most common, underarm vents are more effective. Pants should also have vents. Gore-tex rainsuits also have these vents.
If you ride in shorts, you may not need long-legged raingear. But in really cold, rainy weather, shorts are too cold and you’ll need full-length rain pants. They should fit snugly yet be long enough to cover the ankles when the knee is bent. The cuffs should have zippers so that you can pull them on over shoes, and they should not catch on the chainrings.
For riding with shorts, rain shells are popular. These are close- fronted jackets similar to a windbreaker with a neck zipper and a large front pocket. Made of nylon with a water-repellent front and a fleece-lined back, they extend down only to the waist. They are generally suited only for warm-weather wear.
Before buying, try on a rainsuit while sitting on your bike. The pants must be long enough to cover the ankle when the knee is bent. Raingear should be bright yellow, pink, or orange with reflective strips for greater visibility.
Still available in England, if you happen to be touring there, are bright yellow plastic capes and leg chaps. Though maligned because they present a greater area to a strong crosswind, the cape-chap combination is still the only inexpensive raingear that provides full ventilation and allows you to stay completely dry. The cape covers the entire bicycle including the handlebar bag and is kept in place by two loops hooked over the thumbs. The back is tucked under you as you sit in the saddle.
To be completely effective, the cape-chaps combination must be used with mudguards; otherwise a stream of water and dirt from the tires will spray up under the cape.
Though certainly not ideal, a cape-chaps combination is still preferred by some traditionalists. The cape can be whipped on and off in seconds, making it particularly suitable for use in frequent short showers.
With any type of raingear, your bike and your touring bags will be sprayed with rain and dirt from the tires unless you have mud- guards. Thus I strongly recommend lightweight plastic mudguards. Usually, only touring or mountain bikes have sufficient clearance for mudguards to fit.
Windbreakers
A lightweight nylon windbreaker is essential in cold windy weather. If you don’t mind a rather loose fit, you can buy an inexpensive red or yellow zippered nylon windbreaker at a discount house or department store.
Combining form and function, and full of performance features, modern bikewear smooths out rough roads and keeps you comfort able in all seasons.
Next: Day Rides, Cyclocross, and Century RIdes
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