Endurance Motorcross Champion
"I have been racing motorcycles in Cross-Country Rallies and Enduros for many years now. The racing I do is often in the desert where the temperatures vary from 0-5 degrees in the early morning to 35-40 degrees during the middle of the day. This presents a problem as to what to wear under your riding jacket and pants in the morning that wont be too bulky to carry later on in the day when it heats up.
At the same time whatever you wear must breath and self regulate to the changing temperatures from externally and within. You sometimes generate allot of heat of your own during short bursts of strenuous activity (like riding over really rough ground or having a mild crash and having to pick the bike up etc).
I have tried ski type jackets which are warm for sure but if there is too much heat from inside or out I\'ve found you can start to \'cook\' and sweat too much. I have suffered mild forms of dehydration due to this effect. (It\'s not always convenient to stop and dress and undress when you are racing). I then experimented with thinner \'thermal\' undergarments.
The polyester thermals were better but still started to \'cook\' you if there was too much heat from inside or out. Another annoying thing about the polyester garments was that they culture a rather unpleasant body odor in no time at all. This is a problem in multi day events when you can\'t wash for a week at a time. Then I discovered \'i-merino\' and a lot of these problems were cured. I found that I could handle extremely cold temperatures by using more layers of garments, without having too much bulk under my jacket and pants. Most importantly the wool seem to self regulate, in that it never seems to \'cook\' you as the temperature gets hotter or if you start strenuous activity for a short period of time. This means you can peel off layers during the day when it suits you. You then don\'t loose time and you also don\'t have bulky items to carry. I\'ve often wear one layer of undergarments right through the heat of the day and it hasn\'t been uncomfortable at all.
Another bonus is that the wool doesn\'t seem to generate any body odor. I often have to wear the same garments for 3-4 days at a time and they don\'t seem to stink. I also do allot of cross-training, mostly kayaking and mountain biking. Again the i-merino garments cope with getting wet and sweating etc. better than anything else I\'ve tried. For example if there\'s a cool breeze and you\'re wearing a cotton T-shirt and it gets wet the shirt will double in weight and you will get cold. The wool shirt on the other hand only gains around 15% more weight and only loses around the same amount in warmth. If you into outdoor activities then I honestly don\'t think you will find a more versatile garment than i-merino. Whether it\\\'s to wear under your jacket and pants, or as outer layer (depending on the conditions). It will regulate temperature variations better than any product I\'ve tied over the years. Its lightweight and doesn\'t culture an unpleasant body odor even after a number of days of use. If you can find a more versatile product that naturally regulates your body temperature during outdoor sports, I want to know about it."
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