What to wear on the bike
Enter the temperature when you leave, the high you expect and whether it might rain. The configurator tells you what to wear, layer by layer, and what goes in each pocket. It is the same approach I use myself and the one I give my athletes. It works in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
How it decides what you wear
You do not dress for the start temperature or for the high. You dress for a point in between, closer to the start, because the cold at the beginning is what hurts most and the midday heat is fixed by taking one piece off.
That is why legs come first: bib shorts, shorts with leg warmers, or bib tights. It is the most limiting choice. The three layers on your upper body leave much more room to play.
Which jersey for each temperature
This is the starting table. The temperature is that in-between one you are dressing for, not what the thermometer says when you leave.
| You dress for | Jersey | Legs |
|---|---|---|
| 30°C (86°F) or more | Ultralight, next to the skin | Bib shorts |
| 22 to 29°C (72 to 84°F) | Summer short sleeve | Bib shorts |
| 16 to 21°C (61 to 70°F) | Summer long sleeve | Bib shorts |
| 11 to 15°C (52 to 59°F) | Mid-season long sleeve | Shorts with leg warmers |
| Below 11°C (52°F) | Winter jersey | Bib tights if you leave below 8°C (46°F). Otherwise, shorts with leg warmers |
From there it adjusts: if it rains, if you feel the cold, if there is a long café stop, or if the route goes up a climb and you have a long descent.
The three layers on your upper body
- Layer 1, underneath. A mesh base layer, which moves sweat and adds no warmth. When it is properly hot, nothing. Thermals only make sense with bib tights.
- Layer 2, the jersey. This is the one that sets the day, from the ultralight mesh to the winter jersey.
- Layer 3, the wind layer. Gilet, wind jacket or rain jacket. A gilet with a two-way zip stays on and you regulate by opening it. The jacket comes off in one piece and goes in the middle pocket.
If the route has a long descent, take a wind layer even if it is warm down below. Descending wet with sweat, it feels several degrees colder.
What does not go together
- Short sleeves on top with bib tights below. With short sleeves, wear shorts or leg warmers.
- A thermal underneath with bare legs.
- Anything under the ultralight jersey. It is mesh and is worn next to the skin.
- Bib tights with nothing under the jersey. If it is cold enough for tights, wear at least the mesh.
If you pick one of these, the configurator swaps the other piece and tells you why.
Accessories and pockets
Arm warmers let you start in short sleeves when it is cold and get stowed once the day warms up. A neck warmer helps at the start and on descents, and when I do not need it I wrap it in a figure of eight around the GPS mount. Long gloves should be chosen by thickness, so you can keep them on all day. And overshoes are decided at the door, because afterwards there is nowhere to put them.
The pockets are always the same: phone on the left, in the middle the clothes you take off with the spares underneath, and food on the right. For food, work on about 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour.
With my Girona routes
Route mode loads my Girona routes with their elevation, the height of the climb and the area, and adjusts the clothing to that. Each one has its own page, with the map and the Strava file, in cycling routes in Girona.