Yesterday I flogged my latest Outside column about gravel riding:


And in it I mentioned how you totally have to use tanwall tires now.

Well, when things become cool it's only natural that people take them to the extreme.  First tattoos become fashionable, and eventually everyone got full sleeves.  Then facial hair made a comeback, and now every Johnny-Fresh-Sleeves is walking around Brooklyn with the full Rip Van Winkle.  And tires are no exception, which is why the tanwall is now wrapping its way around the whole damn tire:

Yes, that's right, it's a total tire inversion--a tanwall tread with a black sidewall.  I'm not sure I understand the point of a "race day"-only clincher tire.  (I assume it's a clincher because it doesn't say otherwise.)  If you wanted special tires just for racing wouldn't you go all the way and use tubulars?  Meanwhile, seems to me there's plenty of race-worthy clinchers out there that will also hold up fine for daily riding--including the Donelly LCVs I've been using, which have been holding up well, feel great, and come in tanwall:


Then again, as a sub-mediocre bike racer who can barely hang on to the Cat 3s I'm probably not in a position to judge.  Perhaps the rolling resistance is so stunningly low that they're worth it, and if so I look forward to a new season of getting dropped by riders with photonegative tanwalls, white shoes with black socks (or vice versa), and reverse mohawks.

Speaking of products I'm trying out, you may recall that Pearl Izumi recently outfitted me from the waist up and from the neck down, and since then I've been wearing the ensemble fairly regularly, including today:


The getup consists of this jersey:


This base layer:

And this vest:



Which I'm sure you'll agree gives me the abdomen of a crocodile:


See?


Uncanny, isn't it?

Anyway, here were the conditions today:


40 degrees American is pretty much my vest cut-off, so I was pushing it today in the name of style.  Nevertheless, I was mostly pretty comfortable, though I was feeling a bit chilled by the end of the ride.

I should also mention that I've been testing the anti-stink properties of the merino this week, and as of now I think I've got three rides in all this stuff without washing (h/t to the Montgolfier Brothers.)  Now, depending on your own habits, you're either thinking, "Eeew!" or "Only three rides!?!"  Either way, it doesn't seem to be stinky yet, though admittedly when it's this cold I'm not sweating very much.  Anyway, I'll continue to monitor the situation, and hopefully I don't get some kind of skin condition.

Indeed, overall my only complaint about these vestments is that the neck is too tight when I'm fully zipped.  However, this is probably a simple matter of needing to size up.  When I rode with the people from Pearl Izumi they eyeballed me for a medium, which is what I usually wear in jerseys and vests, though maybe this stuff is made for sickly roadies and not hale fellows such as myself.  Or I just have a freakish crocodile neck.  Either way, if you're in the market, measure twice and order once.

Finally, it's that time of year when people get to be really smug about how they got their Christmas tree home:

Here in the middle of Amsterdam we're so immersed in cycling culture that it never occurred to us that #treebybike was a thing; I mean, how else would you get a Christmas tree home?! https://t.co/20qP3KzryI— WorkCycles (@WorkCycles) December 13, 2019

Yeah, but are you riding a bike made out of Festivus poles?


Fire up the Strava for the Feats of Strength!