A couple months ago I paid a visit to FIT to be TRI’d (just after it moved to the Tiny’s Building in downtown Northfield) to ask owner Tom Bisel if he could recommend a base layer that would help me deal with the problem of sweating when mountain biking in cold weather.
He didn’t hesitate to recommend the Craft Pro Zero Extreme base layer because it not only is very effective at wicking moisture away from the body but it dries in 8 minutes. Sure, Tom… 8 minutes? I didn’t think it possible. But it’s turned out to be the best piece of sports clothing I’ve ever purchased. It’s wicking is amazingly effective and it really does dry that fast. Read this review for more details.
Last Sunday I tossed my 20 year-old lightweight snowboarding jacket into the wash (I’ve been using it as my mountain biking jacket) and it pretty much disintegrated.
So back to FIT to be TRI’d I went this week to see what Tom would recommend for a waterproof, ventilated jacket that I could use during the cool/cold months of the year and that would resist abrasion. I walked away with the Sugoi RPM Jacket and promptly crashed on the ice while riding the upper Arb. It resisted. We’ll see how it does when I race at the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout next week and then during the spring rains which we’ll hopefully have soon.
Tom’s been one of the people to get the Cannon Valley Velo Club off the ground in the past year and is currently the president. It’s looking like the club’s going to cater to mountain bikers this year, too. More to come on that soon.