Changing Kilt

A friend and mountain bike riding buddy who is also a first-rate seamstress made me a sweet changing skirt/kilt/wrap (if you can think of a great name, email me). It's got velcro and a soft lining and lets you strip off your bike shorts behind your truck after a ride or race with a little dignity:

Check out the sweet bicycle embroidery around the pocket (good place to stuff the things that just came out of your jersey pocket).

I promise to get some better pics as the season goes on. I just feel a little self concious about photographing myself in a public parking lot while changing. Maybe I'll need to stage a photo shoot.

Anyone else want one of these?

Review - MUSA Knickers

I finally bought myself a pair of MUSA Knickers. They had gone off the market for a while but when a coworker's search for authentic fabric handlebar tape brought me back to the Rivendell web site, I saw that they were being sold again. I snapped up a pair, not knowing how long the current run would stay on the shelves. I thought about taking a picture of myself wearing them, but not having a convenient tripod, and also not willing to become a groin and thigh model, I chose to steal one from Rivendell:

Please keep in mind, I'd never wear them with those sneakers. The fabric is a light nylon that will be wind proof in winter, quick drying in the rain and not too heavy for spring/fall. The only complaint so far is that the fabric is a little slippery on my faux leather WTB saddle. I'm sure Rivendell would tell me to switch to a Brooks cow hide saddle, but I imagine that be even more slippery. They're less technical and also much less expensive than Chrome Shins and also more outdoor worthy than the Sheila Moon Cotton Britches. However, unlike the Britches or Shins, I will definitely not be stylish enough to ride to the Goldsprints in SF with them on. Up until now, I've been wearing a pair of Endura knickers and have an issue with the sizing. Apparently the British are a little thick in the midlands because my size large fits like a size XL. One other benefit, MUSA stands for Made in the USA. While you can feel good about buying products from Chrome or Sheila Moon, I can't say the same for Endura products. Just read these excerpts from the slip of paper that came with my new drawers:

Very cool.

New Moon

Sheila Moon just launched a new web site.  Much easier to navigate than the old one and some new products since the last time I visited.  I own a pair of the knee warmers and they're pretty good.  Also, my floral pink helmet liner is the envy of my peers and the perfect antidote to the aggressive spare no expense road racing ethic you sometimes  encounter.  Most of the modelling looks like it is done by Bay Area lady cyclocrossers Barbara Howe and Melodie Metzger.  Check out the site and maybe pick up some of the bargains on sale!

Master says Faster

As seen at the Sock Guy booth:



Apparently these didn't make it into the regular retail rotation since they were being sold at a significant discount.

nippleworks goes tabloid

Not that we're into the tabloids, but a photo that appeared on Yahoo today showed Sheryl Crow sporting a USA Cycling windbreaker.

Check out the circled bit in the picture. Looks like this ->

No?


Photos shamelessly stolen from www.usacycling.org and omg.yahoo.com

Fuzzy ear warmers

Here's something I can't recommend enough - the New Years morning bike ride. It does the following:
a) it keeps you from partying like it's 1999
b) it prevents you from learning the meaning of "coyote ugly"
d) it's better than going to a holiday sale at the mall
c) it starts the biking year off on the right foot

This year, I rode up to the top of Mt. Hamilton on New Years morning, along with a huge crowd of strangers and friends, all out for the same reasons. Mt. Hamilton is a not too steep, but very long climb, and the road has 4k feet of elevation gain. During winter, the top is frequently snowy so weather is a serious factor, but traffic is usually not. You can't do it every year, but when you can, it's great. Every part of the US (except Florida) probably has a similarly good holiday ride.

This year, I met a friendly fellow with a really neat piece of gear. Fuzzy ear warmers on his helmet. Here he is surveying the cold, foggy valley below from the warm, sunny peak:

Notice that he's also sporting a cycling cap and that the ear warmers are velcro'd on to his helmet straps. This means his noggin is dressed in layers. Take the ear warmers off when you get warm, and the hat when you get warmer. Put it all back on for the descent. He told me that you can get these, handmade by a local seamstress, at Cupertino Bike Shop. I haven't verified this yet, but I'm sure they'd be happy if you'd drop by and ask about them, or check out the website for yourself. I've been happy for several years with an Outdoor Research Military Watch Cap. It's pretty handy because you can flip up the band to uncover your ears if you get warm.

The fellow with the ear warmers also had an unusual bar mounted index shifter with double paddles:

Where did these come from?

Chrome Industries - Retail Store

I rode the train up to San Francisco this weekend and while walking towards downtown, the storefront of Chrome Industries caught my eye. I think that SF holds a special position in the bike world, definitely because of the regional legacy created by Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, Tom Ritchey and Mike Sinyard but also because of the continuing innovation by companies like Swobo, Timbuk2, SOMA and Chrome.

I wasn't in the market for a new messenger bag, since I've got a Timbuk2 model that is serving me fine, but I was impressed by the quality of their clothing. I would especially like to try the Shins knickers. I should be impressed, they run a cool $160. I frequently wear a pair of knickers when I should wear bike shorts (long city rides) but don't want to look like I'm wearing bike shorts. You know, for those moments when you have to get off the bike and you don't want people staring at your lycra swaddled junk.

The shop itself was fun. They had a mish mash of frankebikes and parts bolted to the walls, a couch with some magazines for reading and a hot messenger doll plastered on the wall behind a vintage Honda cafe racer.



If you're in the city, check them out. They've recently moved. Their current address is at 580 4th street, south of Market, between Bryant and Brannan.

Super duper cold weather riding gear

Cyclists have a lot of downtime in winter.  I'm on a few mailing lists (racing club, Bay Area cyclocross, etc) and there's much more email traffic on rainy days.  One topic that get's beat to death - cold weather riding gear.  Maybe it's preparedness, maybe it's wishful thinking, but everybody wants that magic pair of gloves or socks that will make a cold commute or Sunday morning ride seem like summer again.  To that point, here's a picture I snapped with my cell phone cam at the recent San Francisco bike swap.  

These are Bar Mits that look like they might have been inspired by similar products meant for people who ride their snowmobiles to the bar in Fargo, or by kayaker's pogies.   I'm sure they really cut the wind and let you ride in thin, dextrous gloves, but they pretty much lock you in to riding on the bar hoods.   There are some other similar products out there.  For example, AMF Threadworks Moose Mitts:

pic purloined from http://www.trails-edge.com/retail/te_shirts/amfbikemits.htm

These gigantic mickey mouse ears of warmth look like they'd let you ride with your paws protected in the drops, on the tops and on the hoods.  I've got to believe that they'd flap like a dog's ears in the wind.

To those die hards who are riding their bike with enormous forearm cozies, we solute you, that's hard core.

Night riding lenses

One of the Bay Area cyclocross race promoters (Pilarcitos) decided to run a night race under lights right on the shore of the Bay last weekend. Check out a great video of my race here. I have a pair of decent no-name photochromatic riding glasses but since the race would go from dusk to night, I really didn't need glasses that changed on me. You can buy clear lenses for your Oakleys or Brikos, but the best option, is to use a pair of plain old safety glasses. These wraparound models can be had at pretty much any hardware store for a few bucks:

You can chuck them off if they get covered in mud and also work great for night commuting. You can also get them tinted yellow or gray if you need some shade, and like all ANSI rated safety glasses, they offer UV protection. Finally, as you can see in the picture above, they look dashing.

Photo by J. Hadley

Women's underwear

The vendor tents at the SF Twilight Criterium offered up several interesting products, but none so interesting as chamois lined women's hot pants.  Naturally, I was intrigued, so I took a picture, then I took a brochure.  The woman who makes them sells them along with skirts, so you can bike to work in your hotpants under your skirt, then go to the ladies room and swap your drawers.  I don't think they're meant to be warn solo although I'm sure Team DFL will prove me wrong.

Then, I saw BSNYC was sporting the My Alibi logo.  

I know he blogs about commuting to work on his bike.  Perhaps he's become a fan of the easy change cycling bloomers?

Photo from  http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/, and scans of the brochure I swiped

Jeans for people with thunder-thighs

Apparently, Fox sells a jean called the 'Duster'. According to Competetive Cyclist, they have extra room in the thighs because "some jeans are just too tight for cyclists." Does Beth Bikes know about this?

Ode to the crusty, blown out crochet bike glove

They'll never treat you wrong, they'll keep your hands from getting sweaty, they provide just enough sun protection (except in the little oval where you get a mean cyclist-tan), and the leather palms wear better than the synthetic stuff. They are crash resistant and cheap. Now, I also have a pair of fancy schmancy gloves from Descente that feel pretty good and have great little grippy bits on the fingers:

But I just did a long ride on Sunday with the sun blazing down on me and my crusty leather and crochet gloves did not let me down.

Photo from Descente.

Lots of interesting stuff from the Velodrome

Like this picture of fellow Bay Area Blogger - Beth Bikes!:

An unattached skin suit. Brilliant!

Stay tuned to this space.

Oooh, I bet that feels good

Northern California is on the tail end of a 100 degree plus heatwave (through which I mountain biked one day, commuter biked another day and actually drove one day it was so hot, what a lame excuse). So, as I was reading a Garmin-Chipotle rider's Tour De France blog on Velonews, I paid attention to what he calls ice socks. So, I did a little searching to figure out what that was and discovered that the soigneurs actually fill plain old bike socks with ice and the riders throw them in their jerseys on their backs. And here I thought I was going to discover some high tech medical device style cooling garment.


Photo from http://www.velonews.com/photo/77303