Nine Cool Things I Used Last Year
It’s my nature to do a lot of thinking and take inventory towards the end of the year. I do this both personally in goals for the next year and progress I made in the previous year, as well as in my business. On the business side, I focus on my financial goals and direction. For my coaching clients, as we review both process and outcome goals that were achieved and identify goals for the next season. Typically on long solo rides, I put together lists like this in my head. It’s not really a holiday buyers guide. I don’t have any affiliate links to share, although I do sell some of these items in my fitting studio if it solves a problem.
Clothing That Worked
Voler Merino Wool Base Layer- I finally started replacing my old, stinky Craft synthetic base layers this year. The Craft stuff never dies, and it’s kept me warm on countless wet, cold rides. But merino wool is just nicer. It’s softer and doesn’t stink. I have one more LS synthetic I need to replace. Note, there's a difference in cut between a hiking base layer and a cycling base layer, with the cycling being a bit snugger of fit under a jersey to keep you warm.
Castelli Nano-Flex Warmers- I bought the leg warmers for our Belgium trip in spring of 2023, and they were just fantastic. I then wore them all summer on the Divide on tough days. The Divide days might have been more challenging as I wore short liners and not bibs, with slightly less aggressive leg grippers. I just bought the arm warmers and they are also fantastic. Rated down to 46F and they shed road spray really well.
Voler Merino lightweight jersey- I bought this in stonewash gray for the Divide trip. This was absolutely one of my favorite pieces. Easy to unzip and somehow warm on cold days and cool on hot ones. I have no idea how they did that. I’m going to treat myself to more of these pieces for casual riding and get a LS soon, probably in lightweight or midweight again.
SQ Labs bib and liner shorts- I had some bad saddle sores from my team issue bibs after my Trulassen trip in 2022. To be fair, almost any short would have had issues with 95 degrees and 10 hours of riding with minimal showers each day, but I went on a quest to solve this issue. I had already tried the SQ ONE11 and rode in the SQ ONE10 liner a bunch, both under their MTB shorts and using other brands. I considered trying a lycra short with no chamois pad, but that was a bit too harsh. For long road rides I’ve settled on the ONE12R which is at the very top of my budget but has a 4mm very dense pad that reduces the shearing effect and excess movement of too much padding. All of their chamois pads are much denser and thinner than competing brands( for reference, many high end premium brands have up to 12 mm of pad), but I’ve found this feature really works for me. I rode in the ONE10 liner for Divide, brought two pairs and washed one each night with great results.
Lake Shoes- After fitting these shoes to riders for years I finally made the jump and bought some MX238s. I have no idea why I waited so long and I’m getting ready to buy a pair of road shoes as well for my wide feet that have actually gotten even wider over the last couple of years.
Sleep Improvements
Tempur-Pedic mattress- We have been through a few mattresses from the same company since trading out Sarah’s 15 year old Tempur-Pedic three years ago. They kept failing and having sagging spots in the middle, the last one within six months. Both of our backs have been hurting and sleep was challenging. We just bit the bullet and bought a new Tempur-Pedic Breeze and I’m really happy we did. We are both sleeping very soundly again and recovering much better. It’s been totally worth the (not inconsequential) cost.
Thorne Vitamins- In my quest to sleep and recover better I started taking these vitamins in 2023. I think the nighttime formulation with the magnesium really helped me recover for the next day on my Divide trip this summer. I also shared them with my riding buddy who noted the good sleep as well. I’m taking these and a fish oil from Thorne. While I am really only in one drug testing pool anymore, and the chance of someone like me being asked to pee in a cup at an event is tiny, I still appreciate the NSF certification. My only complaint about these vitamins is also their strong point- the twice a day routine. I forget the evening pills. I have an entire extra bottle of the Elite PM and because they come in pairs, that's a little costly. I kind of have an evening routine but maybe I need to “stack the habit” and put these pills next to my toothbrush or something.
Home Bike Things
Velocirax bike storage-we have a relatively small space for bikes, kind of like a hallway in our garage. We used the plastic coated hooks for years but hanging a nice wheel up on a hook always bugged me. The Velocirax system swivels, similar to opening a book and holds the front wheel in a tray as opposed to hanging them on a hook. Not as expensive as the Steady Rack system and built really well. Maybe the Steadyrack system is slightly higher quality, but the cost between the two for a 10 bike system factoring in a NICA discount was about 30 percent.
Bike Things
Backswept bars- I’ve been dealing with elbow tendonitis for years now. I’ve had PT (which helped), cortisone injections (which made things worse), I have weird contraptions to roll out the tendons (short-term relief) but it never really went away. I started changing the bars on my bikes partially just to try out products that I was selling in the fit studio, but I really noticed the difference when I replaced all the bars with ones with back sweep in the tops. I’m using the SQ Labs 30 x 16 on my flat bar bikes, and the Coefficient bars (both AR and RR) on the drop bar bikes. I have had to ride my boys' Ibis with a straighter bar while my bike is in the shop, and my elbow hurts afterwards again. It’s something I wouldn’t have necessarily noticed before but now I’ll never go back.
Thanks for reading all this!
I may write up a separate list for great things I used in my work as well. 2023 was full of new stuff and learning which in some ways I’m taking some time to absorb.