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Tuesday, March 6

Warm but not fuzzy

I signed on to be a GORE Wear ambassador again in 2018. Even if I'm not gonna be much of a racer boi this year, I'm still a daily commuter, weekend warrior... oh, and a dead end job bike messenger.

So anyways, fill in all the wish lists on a spread sheet, cross fingers, wait for a package...

It never showed up.  I got the email that said "if you haven't got it already, you should see it soon."

Soon came and went and then much later happened.  Still nothing.

I reached out.

"Yeah, our tracking says it was delivered days ago."

Meh.

"No worries.  It happens.  We'll get something else out... soon."

So anyways (#2), I stopped by the old house (where we're still paying rent on, HUZZAH!) to shut the heat off.  I feel pretty comfortable that we're past the freeze warning/pipes bursting season, so it will be nice to save some monies.  Try to open the door, and I'm met with resistance.

A FedEx package was just lying there on the floor.  My shit.  Some prospective renter musta been looking at the place and was kind enough to toss it inside.

I was in a hurry to get to my massage (The Pie's massage she gifted my sorry ass), so I couldn't open it right then.  I got to my appointment, they were running behind, I rifled through it to see what was inside.

Some things I was stoked on (later).  Some things that made me go WTF?  Windstopper booties for road shoes?  Who wears those?

Roadies, I guess.  Loathsome bunch.

I saw a long sleeve base layer in a box, but didn't have time to really inspect it closely.  All I was thinking was, "great, another long sleeve black base layer to add to my always expanding collection."  Once I got home, I got a better look.

It's a s.  I went over to the GORE Wear site looking for it and came up empty, although I saw they do offer GORE WINDSTOPPER base layer in short sleeves and none at all.

My first thought was, "When will I ever wear this?"

As luck would have it, our mountain ride on Sunday was pretty ideal.  We started in the low 40s and say mebbe high 50s around mid-day.  Temps were also determined by which side of the mountain or how far down in the holler next to the creek we were.

It's an odd shirt with practical applications tho.

The chest, arms and kidney area all have a stretchy Windstopper fabric on the outside.

The back is almost mesh-like, a super breathable fabric of some sort.

I rode the first half of the day with a sleeveless wool jersey on top, and was not too hot going all the way up 181 (a ridiculously long paved climb to get to the goods).  Once we dropped in on Raspberry, we were on the cold side of the mountain.  There were still areas of frost on the ground.  More speed and wind and way less sunshine than on the way up here...

And I was still fairly comfortable.  I pitched the wool at some point, then swapped one for the other when it started getting really warm as the sun got high in the sky.

The thing that perplexed me was how I'd have to choose this over a regular Windstopper jacket.  I guess the sweet part is that no matter what, you have the windproof protection where you need it, while still being able to release heat out the back, something that isn't so easy with a jacket.  I usually end up fiddling with my zipper or putting it on/taking it off for climbs and descents. 

So, it's not "just another base layer" after all.  It's kinda cool and definitely adds a little more diversity to my cold weather gear... something I'm getting more and more particular about as I get older and crabbier about riding in "all conditions."

Expect more GORE-related posts in the future until I run out of stuff (but not roadie booties).

1 comment:

jay said...

On the off chance you end up with 2 goreboxes, remember we are roughly the same size... /shameless