Rick Carnegy, Deals Gap, North Carolina, USA.

The trip to Deal's Gap (The Dragon) was great. I rode 350 miles out there Saturday. The temperatures ranged from the low 70's early in the morning to the mid 80's and sunny by that afternoon when I got there. The garment worked very well for me on the way out there. I wore jeans and my Firstgear Kenya jacket with all the vents open. As the temperatures rose I remained comfortable while riding. At stops for gas it was a bit warm with no breeze and the sun shining brightly.

I did notice that I didn't seem to be sweating much if any especially when riding.

I did ride Deal's Gap (The Dragon) twice while wearing the garment, so you can claim your garment has been worn on the Dragon now. One of the other Sport touring riders pointed out to me that while my jacket offers great protection the codura material does heat up in the event you have a spill and slide across the pavement. Having a garment like yours on underneath the jacket would protect the rider from burns generated from the codura sliding across the pavement. That's something I hadn't thought about.

I wasn't able to wear the garment Sunday as I had hand washed it and hung it up to dry. The humidity was very high Sunday and Monday and there were quite a few rain showers that came through both days.

I did wear the garment on my return ride home Monday. Monday was rainy and the humidity level was close to 100% for a good portion of my ride. The garment did well keeping me from sweating, but I did feel very warm and "muggy". I'm not sure at those humidity levels anything can make you feel cool. I wore the same jacket on the ride home plus this time I wore my Tourmaster Prymal pants (which are vented in the crotch area). I was surprised to actually FEEL airflow in that area. Your garment seems to improve airflow greatly over just having normal underwear on. I guess since it is so breathable the air is able to flow better through it than just having the pants material on your bare skin of your legs. That was a definate improvemnet and I can say that I would probably always wear the pants if this were a two piece set.

I did experiment riding with no jacket on with the garment as a shirt on Saturday and it was very cool. The material did tend to flap around a bit in the wind, but of course it isn't designed to be worn without a jacket or shirt so that is undertandable. For short trips though it would work fine without the jacket.

 

Overall I think the garment worked very well. I would want to wear it especially on any long rides that I was going on. Also when temps drop it is very nice having it on. When I left to return home on Monday it was very cool and I got caught in a brief shower. The temps were probably low 70's and I felt as if I were riding in air conditioning. I hadn't closed the vents on my jacket and I am sure some moisture got in to the garment.

 

I was wondering how the garment would do if I got it wet and then put the jacket on over it and rode in 90+ weather. I will probably try that if I find myself riding in those conditions to see how it works. I know many riders wear long sleeve 100% cotton shirts and soak them with water then put riding jackets on over them and they claim it is quite cool that way. I would think your garment would work very well like that as well.

 

If you have any questions you want to ask me I'll be glad to answer them.

 

I'll be going to the beach for a week starting this Saturday and I plan on riding the bike down there. The forcast is for 90+ degree days so I may get a chance to test out the water cooling technique. I'll let you know how it performs there.

 

Rick