Catching up...

So I wanted to catch up on some other stuff...

Took an amazing mid-summer trip from So Cal to Vegas and back (600 miles over two days). On the way there, I started at 6AM and made it to Vegas at noon. The temp went from 78 to over 100 on the ride, but temp never became too much of an issue. The venting on my pants and jacket were sufficient, my Camelbak kept me hydrated and when the temp was over 100, I found that wetting my shirt was not only sexy but great at regulating my core temp.

The ride back from Vegas started at 11:30 so we were going into the hottest parts of the day. The approach I took on the ride out (wetting the shirt, stops to hydrate) applied on the way back too. I made sure that stops included some sort of electrolyte replenishing fluids and stops in the shade. I didn't use a cooling vest, though I thought about buying one - I found it was good enough to wet the shirt, drink a lot and stop when you were dry - it might be different with humidity though.

On the ride, I learned a couple of important things:

First, if you are buying your first jacket in Southern California, I want to suggest you get a jacket that has either a zipper or Velcro on the cuff of the sleeves. I found that my Bilt jacket, as good as the venting it has on the upper sleeves, front, sides and back, would've been better if I could've opened the cuffs. When I rode through the Mojave desert, I found that I was dripping sweat from my sleeves on each stop; I thought, perhaps, that if I had openings on the cuffs, the airflow would've been better and I would've had a little less perspiration ;).

My pants, on the other hand, were great, at stops, unzipping the bottom allowed enough air in to keep my legs cool (and I kept a little spot by my knees unzipped during the ride for some venting too).

Next, getting air in the jacket on the ride was sometimes a challenge. I found it necessary, due to my windshield, to do this strange arm flapping thing, where I sat up straight and brought my elbows out like flying. This action allowed air to pour in the front of the jacket and in through the vents on the sleeves.

Third, if you are using a Camelbak (and I love mine - I had a heat injury in the Army years ago and since the adoption of a Camelbak, haven't had another one since - knock on wood), you are going to want to invest in or create a cover for the hose. Riding through the desert, I found that I was drinking warm tea within five minutes of riding with no cover on the drink tube. During a stop, I took a bandanna and wrapped and zip tied it to the tube. At each stop, I would soak the bandanna and found that the air cooled wet bandanna kept the water in the tube cool. The other thing about the Camelbak is that it fit in my helmet uncomfortably... the bite valve was off to the side and didn't fit right in front of my mouth. It would be interesting to see how this is with other helmets (I don't have an issue with it on my dirt helmet). Funny thing, I accidently spit water in my helmet - this resulted in cool relief for my dry face in the desert but water spots on my glasses and face shield - I did this two more times just because I found it so comfortable.

Finally, my helmet, while having decent venting, I found was just a little more comfortable if I popped the face shield up by a click. I also found that, though my glasses (Fox "The Meeting") don't have any foam around them, the wrap around lenses keep much of the air and dust out of my eyes.

I don't know if anyone would find this helpful, but I figured that I'd share.