crossin with swobo. yo.

I've been riding with Swobo wool knickers and a Swobo wool jersey lately. Man, this is good stuff. I've definitely grown accustom to being a personal apparel snob after working at Pearl Izumi for 7 years. I appreciate good quality apparel and have a tough time with poor fitting or poorly functioning garments. Swobo is definitely the real deal.

For instance, wool knickers. They're a wool/lycra/poly blend that gives all of the good properties of wool (temperature and moisture control, comfort) with the stretchiness of lycra. They fit awesome and even have a really nice Swiss Eschler chamois in them. That's apparel talk for a really expensive, comfortable, anti funk pad. Thumbs up. They are the best short color ever (black) and are very subtle, save the Swobo logo on the left knee. So far, I've had them out on blustery cold days with baggies over and relatively warm days by themselves. The highly functional and old school hi tech of natural wool does an awesome job at repelling the wind and letting my sweat pass thru so it can evaporate on the outside of the short to keep me dry.

The jerseys are extra styling, too. Since I quit racing, I generally don't want to look like a billboard when I go out. If you like stylin' but low key apparel, this should be right up your alley. From an apparel snob standpoint, the wool fabric is excellent, construction is top notch, and the fit is spot on. The 3 pockets in the back are stretchy enough for lots of stuff, but have good elasticity to keep your stuff safely in place. A lot of woolies have pockets with crappy elastic on the top, so this is definitely a good thing. The collar fits amazingly well, too. Tight enough to not let air in, but stretchy enough to not feel constrictive on my neck. I should also mention how soft this shirt is. I mean, really, really soft. Not scratchy wool, but nice supple, super soft sheep from New Zealand wool. It's comfy enough that I want to wear it all the time. It's that good.

Swobo. Good stuff from good peeps. Check it out.

I'm not a billboard.


Got out a little on the cross bike today, too. I just headed east of town and decided to go wherever the bike led me. I think the bike is wired like me. Even if I go out on the road...

It always seems to point me towards dirt. You know, the nice and smooth buffed out type of trails that are perfect for spindly rigid forks and 35mm wide tires.

More on the road. There's good sites to see if you keep your eyes peeled, too.

Lots of good dirt road riding around Lyons, too. The dirt was perfect today as well. Little bit of snow here and there, but otherwise perfect traction. I didn't want to turn the bike home it was so good.

Looks like I'm going to have to bail on the Tuesday night ride, too. Sorry folks. I had some last minute biz come up that I've got to take care of. I'm happy to help spin the wheel of rides, though :)