Wednesday, January 19

No Gear No Problem

I Use Proper Cycling
Pants Velcro on the Side
Motor Vehicles Will Pass
Those Work Pants Use a
Badge Lanyard to Avoid Grease
One thing that I like about cycling, and that has become more apparent as I've read various blogs on the subject, is the enormous variety of approaches. That was made apparent by the EXCELLENT post, entitled "Stuff..." made by Tracy Wilkins earlier today on his SpringfieldCyclist blog where he advocated cycling-specific stuff to become a more complete cyclist. A couple of hours later, Rantwick made a post on how he underdresses for the Canadian cold, with a mix of cycling stuff and, well, decidedly NON cycling stuff. Ironically, ONLY YESTERDAY, Dottie, of "Let's Go Ride a Bike," made a post on how to look elegant on her bike during a Chicago winter. Dottie tends to avoid cycling-specific items, though her use of toe warmers reveals that she isn't really ideologically "pure" in this regard.

I LOVE My Cannondale Cycling Jacket

Sometimes, It Isn't Wise to Mix!
Ironically, I found that I both agreed and disagreed with all of these posts. Now, as an engineer, you KNOW I'm going to work a table or math into this post somehow, but you'll have to wait a bit. As I read Tracy's post, I was wearing some non-cycling stuff, some non-cycling stuff with a token "high-vis" cycling item, and some real cycling stuff. That is typical for me. Witness a couple of past photos. I also find that my mix of cycling and non-cycling items varies depending on the weather and the details of my commute. There are some cycling items I own that I now rarely wear for my commute.

OTOH, I agreed that both of the other posts made a lot of sense as well. Together, they ran the gamut from GOBS of cycling stuff to absolutely nothing. So how can I agree with them all? Really, it is quite simple. Go look at the table at the bottom of this post. Have a nice day!

Cold Weather Cycling Stuff Purchased Last Summer - I Have Yet to Use the Shoe Covers, But I Use the Gloves Daily

Thanks, Tracy, Dottie, and Rantwick, Even if Rantwick DOES Wear Oakleys

4 comments:

John Romeo Alpha said...

I'm a sucker for a table. Even about clothes. I prefer cycling specific items which don't appear to be cycling specific items.

Big Oak said...

The hi-vis is more visible if you wear it on top.

That is a nice table!

Steve A said...

JRA - I actually got some cycling-specific items that don't look like same for Christmas. Unfortunately, they're all of the warm weather sort so I haven't worn any of them yet. I'm also waiting for weather wet enough to actually USE my disposable waterproof booties (non cycling-specific)

Big Oak (no acronym) - That hadn't occurred to me! Of course, that high vis pants velcro wouldn't work at all if it was worn underneath the pants. Besides, have YOU ever worn a long-sleeve linen work shirt beneath a sleeveless cycling jersey? I would have been arrested by the style police. Even as it is, I'm on style probation.

Jon said...

I wear such a hodge-podge of cycling and non-cycling stuff that I can't really figure which school I subscribe to.

In the winter, I wear mostly cycling-specific layers. I find that I can stay drier and warmer, that way, than by adapting non-cycling clothing. (The exception to that is my penchant for wearing thrift-store wool sweaters as one of my layers).

In the summer time: cotton knickers and Fruit Of The Loom t-shirts dominate my cycling wardrobe.

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