Getting chilly in the cafe

[roubaixtuesday]

The amount of sweat and whether it gets to the outer layers can very much be adjusted though. Too many layers or too many layers that don’t allow the liquid sweat to reach the outside of the outer layer where It can evaporate and you’ll get damp. If you’re wearing a waterproof you are stuffed as they trap liquid water in your layers.

Yes, completely agree you can optimise things. Equally, for me at least, that optimum still means cold and clammy on descents before long. I just don't find it very pleasant. Much easier in flat terrain, but I like the hills.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I had been thinking about trying out merino until the comment above about moths. I have had years of trouble with the damn things. I never manage to completely exterminate them but by eliminating as much wool as possible from the house I got last year's visible moth numbers down to tens rather than hundreds. I don't fancy feeding the descendants of the survivors with expensive cycling kit!

Hmm... I just thought - store the merino items in sealed plastic bags? That should keep them safe from tiny larval teeth!

Sadly, mere plastic bags are not 100% secure against moths. Keeping stuff in the freezer is probably the safest way, all round, to store it if you have a moth problem.

 

[ColinJ]

Sadly, mere plastic bags are not 100% secure against moths.

Even if the bags are sealed...?

I suppose since the larvae can chomp through wool, they probably can chomp through plastic if they have to!

I don't fancy defrosting my base layer before rides, so maybe I will just stick to artificial fibres.

 

[steveindenmark]

Minus 8, snow and ice in Denmark. I got 100km early in the week. So I am playing catch up already. Aiming at 200km a week.

I think I will have a LEGO day. 😁

 

[matticus]

I had been thinking about trying out merino until the comment above about moths. I have had years of trouble with the damn things.

whereas we have NEVER had them - perhaps this helped lead me to merino!

I don't fancy feeding the descendants of the survivors with expensive cycling kit

Base layers aren't too dear (e.g. Decathlon), and you can go out in base layers with (small) holes in Maybe give that a try?

 

[ColinJ]

whereas we have NEVER had them [moths] - perhaps this helped lead me to merino!

I went to the pub one warm, dry summer evening about 15 years ago. When I got back, long after sunset, I discovered that I had left the attic bedroom window open and the light on. There were scores of small moths flying about. I thought I had managed to swat them all but over the next few months my woollen jumpers and socks started developing holes. On inspection, moth larvae were there in great numbers...

I threw away the damaged woollens and washed everything that moths could have got close to, but they kept reappearing every year. It took me about a decade to discover that they had been eating a wool carpet under some furniture!

I eventually moved house but something must have carried moths over here with me because I had them here for 7 years too.

I am pretty much wool-free here now so that is probably why they are finally dying out. I don’t want them coming back so I will pass on the merino.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Sadly, mere plastic bags are not 100% secure against moths. Keeping stuff in the freezer is probably the safest way, all round, to store it if you have a moth problem.

On the continent, we use moth balls, you hang them up in wee pouches in the winter wardrobe.
Moth balls are very effective, but impregnate the clothes with a strong smell, hence one needs to air the winter clothes at the change of the season.
I left 40 years ago, probably now there are more modern methods!
I don't know if those wardrobe moth balls are used in the UK, I have certainly never seen a wool eating moth here in freezing Scotland.
However, this may well change with the winter temperatures getting milder each year.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Even if the bags are sealed...?

I suppose since the larvae can chomp through wool, they probably can chomp through plastic if they have to!

I don't fancy defrosting my base layer before rides, so maybe I will just stick to artificial fibres.

The problem is multi-factorial but in short, moth larvae and their mother can certainly penetrate thinner plastics. The heavy-duty bags used in vacuum storage are good, as long as the seal is intact - and as long as there were no viable eggs on the woo. when you put it away. Plastic tubs and boxes are not mothproof, as they are not fully airtight. Moths can insert their oviposter through thin fabrics in order to lay eggs on the wool you thought you'd safely stored ...

Something that you're washing and wearing regularly is unlikely to get infested - but the minute you 'put it away for the summer' it's at risk. The central heating of houses (and hence our storage spaces) exacerbates the problem, as many more generations can develop without a chilly winter in unheated bedrooms to kill them off, or at least slow them down. The larvae prefer wool, but will also happily live in blends and even synthetics, especially if they're put away not spotlessly clean ...
Fresh air, sunshine and disturbance deters them. If moths are in your carpet, moving your furniture around frequently puts them off, at least a bit.
Heat kills the eggs and larvae, as does prolonged freezing, submersion in soapy water (24 hours, I believe), dry-cleaning chemicals, and steam-cleaning. The males are the ones you see flying around; they're seeking the female who has attracted them with perfume. She's sitting, unseen, at the back of the wardrobe near your favourite cashmere cardi or that hand-knitted Aran jumper it took you literally months to make ...

 

[KnittyNorah]

On the continent, we use moth balls, you hang them up in wee pouches in the winter wardrobe.
Moth balls are very effective, but impregnate the clothes with a strong smell, hence one needs to air the winter clothes at the change of the season.
I left 40 years ago, probably now there are more modern methods!
I don't know if those wardrobe moth balls are used in the UK, I have certainly never seen a wool eating moth here in freezing Scotland.
However, this may well change with the winter temperatures getting milder each year.

Moth balls used to be available here - and were quite effective, if stinky - but they are now considered too toxic for domestic use, and are recognised as a carcinogen. You can get moth killing treatments, but they still stink (although not the same as the old ones) and you must wash any items stored with them before use, handle them with rubber gloves etc etc.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

but they are now considered too toxic for domestic use, and are recognised as a carcinogen.

Goodness!
Many winters, as a child, I did walk about smelling faintly of moth balls.
And I wasn't the only one!

 

[tyred]

Goodness!
Many winters, as a child, I did walk about smelling faintly of moth balls.
And I wasn't the only one!

I've no idea where she gets them from or how she stores her clothes but I have an aunt that permanently reeks of mothballs.

 

[Slick]

Goodness!
Many winters, as a child, I did walk about smelling faintly of moth balls.
And I wasn't the only one!

Much the same here back in the day Pat, and sometimes it wasn't faintly either.

 

[Kingfisher101]

On the continent, we use moth balls, you hang them up in wee pouches in the winter wardrobe.
Moth balls are very effective, but impregnate the clothes with a strong smell, hence one needs to air the winter clothes at the change of the season.
I left 40 years ago, probably now there are more modern methods!
I don't know if those wardrobe moth balls are used in the UK, I have certainly never seen a wool eating moth here in freezing Scotland.
However, this may well change with the winter temperatures getting milder each year.

Its a rarity to see a clothes moth nowadays, I've not seen one for years. I've got a wool throw that hasn't been nibbled. In the 1970s my Grandparents had lime settee in the best room and it got nibbled by a clothes moth. There was a hole in it like a cigarette burn.
I think back to the original topic, I just wouldn't stop at the café.

 

[A Biker]

Goodness!
Many winters, as a child, I did walk about smelling faintly of moth balls.
And I wasn't the only one!

Nothing new then except now it's permanently wafting apparently...😂😮

 

[craigwend]