[CR]wool cycling gear-a memoir

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To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Michael Allison" <banjodoc@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:48:41 -0500
Subject: [CR]wool cycling gear-a memoir

This thread may be a little late but it was suggested that I post it to the CR list. Hi Richard Cielec, I saw your comment about wool cycling clothing on the CR list, so I though you would be interested in my experience with wool clothing.

Next year I will have been riding fifty years, beginning when I was a young teenager. At the time, I lived in a housing project in New York, and felt every bit the geek when leaving my building decked out in my cycling kit. All the kids in the hood sure had a good time making fun of me. But I continued cycling and many of them are probably dead or in prison.

Way back then, wool clothing was the only thing to wear for cycling. But there was none to be had in the US until the 1960s. I ordered stuff from England (as advertised in "Cycling & Mopeds" that I bought at a foreign newspaper stand), or directly from Italy through Cino Cinelli. The club I rode with (Stad Briton-French Sporting Club) were mostly ex-pat Europeans who got wool cycling clothing from Holland, France and Belgium. That stuff sure worked, especially in hot humid weather. Though it doesn't make sense. The porous nature of the weave let the air go through to the skin and the wool absorbed sweat like a sponge. Those old jerseys worked a lot better than modern lycra clothing.

But wool had many down sides, too. It took forever to dry after washing, usually more than a day. If you got caught in the rain, while on a ride, your clothing felt like an anchor because it absorbed so much water. Shorts would be down around you knees and a your jersey would stretch down to the back of the saddle, especially if you had a lot of stuff in the pockets. Also, wool shorts had a real chamois pad which took on a lot of water. Those chamois pads took days to dry and needed a lot of care to keep them soft. But they were fantastic in hot humid weather-never any rubbing. They sure kept your bottom dry.

Michael Allison
New York, NY