Staying cool in the heat

Your body can really cause itself pain. I sweat something awful. If I ride for anytime over half an hour, I will have water just pouring off of me. It does several things -- such as getting in my eyes, soaking everything I have on me, and more.

One of the worst things is the salt. After a very long ride, I can look at my black riding shorts and see lines of salt where the sweat has stopped. The bad thing about this is that the salt is abrasive. When your jersey starts accumulating this salt it begins to rub against you and rubs you raw! After a long ride several weeks ago, I decided something had to be done!

I went looking for something like the brand Under Armour. What I found was a nice piece made by the same company that makes my socks -- De Feet. This thing is awesome. It is light, form-fitting and long (so it stays tucked in). When you wear it, it pulls the sweat away from your body and then the air circulates through the mesh and it actually cools you down. It also protects you from the other articles of clothing that might rub you the wrong way.

Let me also put in a plug for the socks. I had worn regular cotton sports socks when I first started to ride. At the end of a ride long ride, my socks would be soaked (the accumlated water would get hot and my feet would start to boil) and they would come off just as heavy as could be. With my De Feet socks, the socks feel dry as soon as I take off my shoes -- they also are actually dry very shortly afterwards. The textile technology behind these types of clothes is really amazing.