Mr. Coffee
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
I use the word “efficient” on purpose. If you bring a lot of clothing you don’t need and never wear, you are carrying extra weight which at a minimum makes your trip less enjoyable. If you don’t bring the clothing you actually do need, at best you will be very uncomfortable and you might end up in a very difficult and possibly life-threatening situation.
So bringing the right clothing, and no more, is very important to putting together a successful bike tour.
Another thing to think about is that clothing gets used. It gets dirty. It gets beat up. Sometimes it gets lost or stolen. So you don’t necessarily want to get too emotionally attached to your clothing either. It can be profoundly demoralizing when that $400 soft-shell jacket gets stolen at a train station. On the other hand, sometimes an expensive article of clothing is the only appropriate technology that you can make work.
I include a clothing list in this post. This is (for me) a highly evolved list of clothing that represents what I take on trips (not just bike touring) in mostly temperate climates in Spring, Summer, and Fall. This clothing list has worked for me on six continents and has worked well for me in places as varied as the Pacific Northwest, Tibet, Egypt, Chile, the Yukon, and New Zealand. With slight modifications (and additions or deletions) it has worked fine in tropical (Thailand or Ecuador) or sub-polar (Alaska and Siberia) environments as well.
There are a couple of practical philosophical points as well: the first, and a big one, is that most of the temperature control you will do over the course of a typical day involves adding or removing layers from your torso or head & neck; the second is that, in practice, most of that temperature control will be the addition or removal of a single outer layer; the third is that ideally it will be possible to wear all of your insulating and storm-protection layers at the same time — anything you can’t wear simultaneously is clearly redundant or inappropriate.
Ideally all of the clothing that you bring should be reasonably washable under field conditions in a bucket or a sink. And it should also dry out quickly, in warmer conditions you should be able to put on your washed and wrung out clothes damp and have them dry out rapidly from body heat alone.
One rule I learned long ago is what I call the “Whiskey and chocolate principle” — I consider whether the given item of clothing will provide me more comfort or pleasure over the course of a trip than the equivalent weight in whiskey or chocolate. Anything that does not pass that test does not go.
So the list is divided into four categories: core clothing, insulating layers and storm layers, luxury items, and optional or special-case clothing:
Core clothing:
Wicking tee shirts are usually made from a synthetic fabric or wool. Wool is less stinky, less durable, and takes longer to dry out. These shirts come in various weights and weaves, a lighter, more airy weave is better in hot weather.
Underwear is really up to you. If you use padded bicycle shorts the liner shorts work really well and you can layer a normal pair of baggy shorts over them. I also like the compression shorts with no seams because they keep very important body parts from chafing.
Socks, again, are really up to you. There are lots of brands of decent socks out there (Darn Tough and Smartwool come to mind), you can also often get away with men’s dress socks, which are light, inexpensive, dry out quickly, and wear like iron.
For shoes I usually just use a pair of light running or walking shoes. I prefer ones with the toggle lacing over regular shoelaces because that is one less thing to get tangled in the bike chain.
Wind shells are very light (often less than 4oz) shirts that provide an astonishing amount of warmth for their weight and small size. They dry out very quickly. Patagonia and Sporthill both sell good examples.
Wind pants are very light pants that again provide an astonishing amount of insulation for their weight. If you look around you can find very plain (usually black or dark blue) pants that you can get away wearing to a nice restaurant. They dry out very quickly even when drenched. If/when you wear them on your bike make sure you have a velcro strap around your ankle on the drive side to keep your pants leg from getting caught in the chain.
A long-sleeved wicking shirt provides additional insulation on cooler days. Generally I find the lightest-weight ones the best for all but very cold conditions.
Long underwear bottoms can be worn either by themselves or under wind pants to provide additional warmth on a cool day. Even the very light ones (which dry out quickly) provide an amazing amount of warmth when combined with wind pants.
Insulated jackets provide a very high warmth-to-weight ratio and pack relatively small. Down jackets are very light (often less than 10oz) and pack to incredibly small sizes — the downside is that you must very fussily keep that jacket dry and you don’t want to leave it stuffed in a stuff sack for days or weeks on end. Synthetic jackets aren’t as compressible or warm but are still very light. Your insulated jacket should be sized generously enough that you can comfortably wear it over your wicking tee shirt, long-sleeved wicking shirt, and wind shell. In warmer conditions (e.g. Oregon or Northern California coast in summer) you might consider taking a light insulated vest instead. In very warm conditions (e.g. Florida) I probably wouldn’t bring one at all.
Rain parkas keep all of that other stuff dry. I’d recommend Frogg Toggs as they are very light, inexpensive. and perform as well as much more expensive products. Frogg Toggs are available at Wal-mart and most big box outdoor stores. Their only downside is that they aren’t very durable and tend to get scruffy over time. Again, they should be generously cut so you can wear all of your other insulating clothes under them.
A buff is a small stretchy tube that you can use as a headband, hat, face mask, or neck gaiter. The wool ones are more comfortable (less clammy) than the synthetic ones.
Flip-flops or sandals are nice to wear in camp or town to get out of your stinky wet shoes. They also are a very convenient portable floor when you use an icky shower at a hostel or campground.
Bandanas are a nice multi-use item, they can be worn under your helmet on a hot day or as a sweat band. Look for extra-large ones as that gives you more flexibility in how you wear them.
It is nice to have a cotton shirt (I usually take a light cotton dress shirt) to wear in camp or if you want to go to a halfway nice restaurant. Sometimes in very hot or sun-baked conditions I’ll actually ride (or hike) in a very light long-sleeved cotton shirt.
In general I find fleece clothing to be too heavy and bulky to be worth carrying. In very cold conditions I’d probably take a light pair of fleece pants, primarily to wear in camp, and a light fleece sweater or vest that I could layer under my insulated jacket and possibly wear in the sleeping bag.
Sun hats that you can wear under your helmet and protect your face and the back of your neck are very nice in sun-drenched places.
Rain pants aren’t generally very effective for the cyclist. No matter how breathable the fabric they will tend to steam up very rapidly and will do a very poor job of keeping you dry. I’d only want them if I was riding or camping in really severely foul weather or extremely cold conditions.
So bringing the right clothing, and no more, is very important to putting together a successful bike tour.
Another thing to think about is that clothing gets used. It gets dirty. It gets beat up. Sometimes it gets lost or stolen. So you don’t necessarily want to get too emotionally attached to your clothing either. It can be profoundly demoralizing when that $400 soft-shell jacket gets stolen at a train station. On the other hand, sometimes an expensive article of clothing is the only appropriate technology that you can make work.
I include a clothing list in this post. This is (for me) a highly evolved list of clothing that represents what I take on trips (not just bike touring) in mostly temperate climates in Spring, Summer, and Fall. This clothing list has worked for me on six continents and has worked well for me in places as varied as the Pacific Northwest, Tibet, Egypt, Chile, the Yukon, and New Zealand. With slight modifications (and additions or deletions) it has worked fine in tropical (Thailand or Ecuador) or sub-polar (Alaska and Siberia) environments as well.
There are a couple of practical philosophical points as well: the first, and a big one, is that most of the temperature control you will do over the course of a typical day involves adding or removing layers from your torso or head & neck; the second is that, in practice, most of that temperature control will be the addition or removal of a single outer layer; the third is that ideally it will be possible to wear all of your insulating and storm-protection layers at the same time — anything you can’t wear simultaneously is clearly redundant or inappropriate.
Ideally all of the clothing that you bring should be reasonably washable under field conditions in a bucket or a sink. And it should also dry out quickly, in warmer conditions you should be able to put on your washed and wrung out clothes damp and have them dry out rapidly from body heat alone.
One rule I learned long ago is what I call the “Whiskey and chocolate principle” — I consider whether the given item of clothing will provide me more comfort or pleasure over the course of a trip than the equivalent weight in whiskey or chocolate. Anything that does not pass that test does not go.
So the list is divided into four categories: core clothing, insulating layers and storm layers, luxury items, and optional or special-case clothing:
Core clothing:
- Wicking short-sleeved shirt
- Underwear (possibly padded bicycle shorts or padded liners)
- Nylon shorts over the underwear
- Socks
- Shoes
- Wind shell
- Wind pants
- Long-sleeved wicking shirt
- Long underwear bottoms or tights
- Insulated jacket
- Rain parka
- Fleece hat
- Buff
- Gloves
- Flip flops or sandals
- Cotton tee shirt or button-front shirt
- Bandana
- Cycling gloves
- Extra socks
- Extra wicking shirts
- Extra underwear
- Fleece pants or tights (rarely needed)
- Fleece vest or light fleece sweater (rarely needed)
- Extra gloves or mittens
- Sun hat
- Rain pants (rarely needed)
Wicking tee shirts are usually made from a synthetic fabric or wool. Wool is less stinky, less durable, and takes longer to dry out. These shirts come in various weights and weaves, a lighter, more airy weave is better in hot weather.
Underwear is really up to you. If you use padded bicycle shorts the liner shorts work really well and you can layer a normal pair of baggy shorts over them. I also like the compression shorts with no seams because they keep very important body parts from chafing.
Socks, again, are really up to you. There are lots of brands of decent socks out there (Darn Tough and Smartwool come to mind), you can also often get away with men’s dress socks, which are light, inexpensive, dry out quickly, and wear like iron.
For shoes I usually just use a pair of light running or walking shoes. I prefer ones with the toggle lacing over regular shoelaces because that is one less thing to get tangled in the bike chain.
Wind shells are very light (often less than 4oz) shirts that provide an astonishing amount of warmth for their weight and small size. They dry out very quickly. Patagonia and Sporthill both sell good examples.
Wind pants are very light pants that again provide an astonishing amount of insulation for their weight. If you look around you can find very plain (usually black or dark blue) pants that you can get away wearing to a nice restaurant. They dry out very quickly even when drenched. If/when you wear them on your bike make sure you have a velcro strap around your ankle on the drive side to keep your pants leg from getting caught in the chain.
A long-sleeved wicking shirt provides additional insulation on cooler days. Generally I find the lightest-weight ones the best for all but very cold conditions.
Long underwear bottoms can be worn either by themselves or under wind pants to provide additional warmth on a cool day. Even the very light ones (which dry out quickly) provide an amazing amount of warmth when combined with wind pants.
Insulated jackets provide a very high warmth-to-weight ratio and pack relatively small. Down jackets are very light (often less than 10oz) and pack to incredibly small sizes — the downside is that you must very fussily keep that jacket dry and you don’t want to leave it stuffed in a stuff sack for days or weeks on end. Synthetic jackets aren’t as compressible or warm but are still very light. Your insulated jacket should be sized generously enough that you can comfortably wear it over your wicking tee shirt, long-sleeved wicking shirt, and wind shell. In warmer conditions (e.g. Oregon or Northern California coast in summer) you might consider taking a light insulated vest instead. In very warm conditions (e.g. Florida) I probably wouldn’t bring one at all.
Rain parkas keep all of that other stuff dry. I’d recommend Frogg Toggs as they are very light, inexpensive. and perform as well as much more expensive products. Frogg Toggs are available at Wal-mart and most big box outdoor stores. Their only downside is that they aren’t very durable and tend to get scruffy over time. Again, they should be generously cut so you can wear all of your other insulating clothes under them.
A buff is a small stretchy tube that you can use as a headband, hat, face mask, or neck gaiter. The wool ones are more comfortable (less clammy) than the synthetic ones.
Flip-flops or sandals are nice to wear in camp or town to get out of your stinky wet shoes. They also are a very convenient portable floor when you use an icky shower at a hostel or campground.
Bandanas are a nice multi-use item, they can be worn under your helmet on a hot day or as a sweat band. Look for extra-large ones as that gives you more flexibility in how you wear them.
It is nice to have a cotton shirt (I usually take a light cotton dress shirt) to wear in camp or if you want to go to a halfway nice restaurant. Sometimes in very hot or sun-baked conditions I’ll actually ride (or hike) in a very light long-sleeved cotton shirt.
In general I find fleece clothing to be too heavy and bulky to be worth carrying. In very cold conditions I’d probably take a light pair of fleece pants, primarily to wear in camp, and a light fleece sweater or vest that I could layer under my insulated jacket and possibly wear in the sleeping bag.
Sun hats that you can wear under your helmet and protect your face and the back of your neck are very nice in sun-drenched places.
Rain pants aren’t generally very effective for the cyclist. No matter how breathable the fabric they will tend to steam up very rapidly and will do a very poor job of keeping you dry. I’d only want them if I was riding or camping in really severely foul weather or extremely cold conditions.
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