Craptacular8

I think I have an ok winter cycling clothing scheme, but always room for improvement. Perhaps due to my smaller size relative to prior years, my arse is frequently cold when riding in the low 20's and below, particularly with wind.

I have been using either thermal bicycling tights with Craft cross country ski pants over them, or bike shorts/UA cold gear tights/Craft ski pants, and done fairly well in prior years. This year, I can' seem to stay warm longer than an hour in that layering. I tried my equestrian thermal wind pants over my previous mentioned bike tights, and it's better, but still my behind gets cold. Legs stay better though.

Then, there is the damp upper body. Sports bra, base layer top (assorted, none of them wool), mid layer wool sweater, sometimes zippered running jacket with my good breathable cycling jacket over it. I stay warm enough, but when I stop moving, I can tell that I'm sweating, and going to be feeling cold if I don't get back moving again real quick. Would merino wool bra and base layer help that? With the merino bras running $60 on average, would be nice to know if they would really be the bomb.

I picked up another set of softshell cycling pants that many reviewers seem to find warm enough to just wear their shorts under....I wish, the same will be true for me, but suspect i will still need something.else. as they feel no heavier than my softshell Crafts.