I am on record as being personally opposed to buying and using cycling specific clothing. My greatest area of resistance is clipless shoes, but I also chafe at the idea of having other clothing items specifically for cycling.
Now - to be clear - I don’t have any problem with others wanting and using those items, this is very much just a personal thing. I prefer the flexibility of using clothing items that can be applied to other activities as well. For example, my basic winter riding gear is the same setup that I use for cross country skiing. It’s a getup designed for exercising, but flexible enough to apply across multiple winter activities.
My gear for riding has evolved over time, particularly with the transition from uprights to recumbent trikes. On the upright, for most of the year, I rode with a t-shirt and cargo shorts. Yes, I know cargo shorts are a fashion crime, but they are also very useful for carrying things when you are riding upright.
I learned very quickly that, on the trike, those things fall out of your cargo pockets. You’d think that I could have intuited that by looking at the angle of the pocket and all, but (apparently) I enjoy learning things the hard way.
Additionally, the shorts become something akin to a low-level parachute given the fact that your legs are pointing directly into the wind that you are generating. Granted, this can be somewhat refreshing on a hot day, but it’s somewhat unsightly. Plus, the buttons on the shorts tend to strike the handlebars as they come around. I can still hear it in my head:
snik-snik-snik-snik-snik...
I needed a different solution. I used a basic pair of nylon shorts for a while, and those worked ok, though the wind issue still presented. A few years ago MLW bought me a couple of rash guards for swimming on a family trip to Mexico, and the following summer I switched to those from the t-shirts. They aren’t significantly warmer than the t-shirts, and they offer UV protection, which allowed me to stop putting on sunscreen, at least up top.
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I was happy enough with the rash guards - and more importantly, the reduced amount of sunscreen use - that last summer I started to look for an alternative for my legs. I wanted something that would cover them, but not be too hot in the summer. And while I’m good with the rash guards on top, modesty prohibits the wearing of compression garments on my lower half.
What I arrived at for a solution was linen beach pants. Linen is lightweight and cool, and they met my flexibility requirement because they are also suitable for casual wear around the house and yard - and they were great for our trip to Florida in February, both for cycling and theme-parking. The only additional component needed were some Velcro straps to keep the cuffs out of the chain - and Amazon has them in orange, so...
I mean, no one is going to accuse me of being a fashion plate while I’m wearing these outfits, but then, no one did before, either.
I’ve got two rash guards and two pairs of the pants, and a third top - the orange (yes, I have a problem) San Pellegrino jersey MLW got me last year. I’ve been pretty happy with this solution, but as my riding has increased I’ve begun to fear that I may have painted myself into a corner.
It’s been a mild summer, but even so, things need to be washed after pretty much every ride - Recumbent trikes are much more comfortable than uprights as a general rule, and my seat is mesh, but it still functions as a back sweat production machine. So: I am now periodically finding myself waiting for things to dry so I can ride.
But as I am waiting to ride, I find myself wondering: if I’m wearing the same thing every time I ride, such that I am now waiting for the clothes so I can get on the trike, don’t I essentially have specialized riding gear? I mean, regardless of how I’ve put it together? Am I just a hypocrite?
It was with that in mind that I hopped on the trike to take something over to my aunt and uncle’s place. They live about a mile down the road, and my gear was still in the wash, so I said to myself "just go with what you are wearing - you used to ride like this all the time" (I was wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts - it’s sort of a personal uniform. And yes, I _do_ trade the cargo shorts for cargo pants when it gets colder - how did you guess?)
And as I started to pedal down the road, I heard it:
snik-snik-snik-snik-snik...
I think maybe I’ll just order another rash guard and pair of pants and learn to live with the hypocrisy.