Sunday 15 December 2013

Cold weather gear

Unlike some (many?) of my readers I own very little cold riding gear; actually I have none. My only nod to riding in near-freezing temperatures is to throw on some long johns and an extra sweatshirt under my jacket. I’ll also wear my full face helmet so my visage doesn’t lock up in rigor and I end up at my destination looking like a bald Joan Rivers with too much head and too little skin.
So when I saw Sports Experts advertising a store-closing sale I thought I’d see if I could augment my cold weather gear with a new pair of Helly Hansen’s (or similar) thermal underwear at a reasonable price (i.e. cheap, big spender that I am). longjohnsThe young salesgirl’s reaction when I asked to be directed to their long underwear rack was akin to me having asked her to explain the over-arching theory of nuclear thermodynamics in 5 minutes or less.
In hindsight I should have had a picture with me, but with a bit of pantomime and a very lengthy description the penny finally dropped. “Oh, like, you mean ‘base layers’?”
I stood corrected. The ubiquitous underwear, trollies, gotches (or gotchees), drawers, skivvies, or Reginalds are now ‘base layers’. And the marketing wallahs, once again, have managed to upscale their product in order to be able to charge outrageous sums for what really amounts to a flimsy bit of polyester. 
And yes, I am now the proud owner of a new pair of base layers. Wait, is it a pair still? Or is it just a base layer? This is so confusing.

2 comments:

  1. hehehe, base layer. I don't get much riding done in the cold weather, but I do have to go outside to shovel snow, cut wood, etc. I have a few pairs of "thermals" or "long johns" But when it's really cold I dig out my red wool/polyester one piece like the guy in your picture, but it's got to be cold. If it get below 0 F, I'll put on the insulated coveralls! toasty!

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  2. I only dig out the "base layer" if I'm going to be out working hard in the cold such as x-country skiing when it's below zero (F). Or if I'm going to be outdoors for a long time at similar temperatures. Insulated jeans are the norm for this time of year which is another reason I skip the "base layer".

    Agree with Erik on the insulated coveralls as a great way to stay really warm.

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