Why I always wear a baselayer

Even in a skinsuit. Even when tempted in hot weather to leave it home, I always wear at least a sleeveless light baselayer between me and my jersey. Why?  Because if I crash, I know that the material of the two garments will slide against each other as I slide down the road, hopefully saving my skin from painful road rash. Ever see a pro rider in a race after a high-speed crash, riding down the road with a half-melted skinsuit and huge patches of raw red skin where it just scraped off him?   Ouch.  I'd like to avoid that if possible, even if it means I'm a bit warmer than I'd like to be.

This summer I crashed at nearly 50km/h on a bumpy road during a road race.


This is what my jersey looked like after the crash.

My baselayer had a small hole in it underneath. My back was absolutely fine. Knee, elbow and hip were different stories though. Which got me thinking again, why aren't cycling shorts reinforced at the hip and buttock -- the most common places to crash and rip -- with some kind of thin kevlar? Or at the very least a second layer of lycra material so that impact with the road would see the layers sliding against each other rather than the single layer sliding against one's skin? Hmm...  I must not be the first person to think of this.


My helmet looked like this by the way.

That dent in the left side came from another rider crashing into me, not from hitting the ground. Helmets are mandatory in road racing around here and you won't catch me going without one on my race bike either solo or on the group ride anyway. I once crashed at about 5km/h on a easy-paced club run and spun around to hit the ground with the back of my head. Helmet compressed and smashed, me with a bad headache. Would have been a lot worse if I hadn't had one. Both helmets were sent off to be replaced with new ones for half the cost on the helmet manufacturer's crash replacement policy. Shame that the one this summer was only one day old! (yes, really... it had literally arrived the day before and had been ridden for about 2 hours before its untimely demise).

I always wear a baselayer.

Wool, who knew?

Driving back from our Chertsey races a few weeks back, we stopped in at a local-ish cycling shop that we'd never visited before and had a look around. Alas, my neverending quest for long-fingered bike gloves that actually fit my short fingers will remain unfulfilled, but I did come across a pretty nifty merino wool baselayer shirt made by Sugoi called the Wallaroo, regular price £50, on sale for £30.

Sugoi is one of my favourite companies, ever since I opened a box addressed to a long-moved and unreachable Vancouver housemate back in 2001 and discovered a Midzero top inside, conveniently in exactly my size. My first piece of Sugoi gear, it's still a staple of my winter wardrobe, though I've bought tons of Sugoi stuff since. They are a Canadian company after all! So despite my misgivings about wool, I decided to give this Wallaroo shirt a try.

Most people my age probably remember the wool of their childhoods as itchy, heavy, and definitely not anything to wear directly next to the skin (sorry, Nana!) but I've been quite impressed with this shirt. It's super light and thin, which made me wonder how warm it could be, but it holds heat impressively well, particularly when it's windy. A little too warm for running in anything above 5 degrees C, but it's great for fall/winter/spring cycling, either with or without a layer on top. After a wash, it's incredibly soft and not itchy, and it wicks as well as any synthetic baselayer. But what I really love about it is how it doesn't hold odours at all. That anything I've worn during a 100km bike ride can smell fine afterwards is a miracle in itself, but one I'll gladly accept without question!