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I prefer to sleep every night, even if it is only short. I went back to 'mostly hotels' for TCR after having bad saddle issues again in Transpyrenees. The combo of two pairs of saddle tweak, knicks, hotels w/ showers/aircon worked to keep me comparatively pain free in that area for longer. I only had my summer bivvy so was restricted a bit with where and when I could bivvy whereas for TransPyr I had my Alpine bivvy, half bag and down jacket if I needed it.
Once again I decided not to take any longs and probably got away with it except for when I bailed into hotel in St Moritz because it was down to 2-3C and I didn't want to ride into sunrise to meet my goal of getting to Italy. I do carry waterproof shorts but I'm thinking a pair of waterproof longs might be a better addition - which waterproof trousers do you use? Are they good for cycling in?
I've used LS merino base layers for TABR where it's below zero in the mountains but I don't really like them because they're bulky and a faff to get on and off. Prefer short sleeves with full zips if possible. I did wear a very thin undershirt for the whole race, same as TransP, but really could've done with taking it off. It was mostly to stop sunburn because my jersey is so thin.
hippy-
The trousers are made by Craft, made for riding as they have a reinforced ass and pack small as it's only one layer of fabric. But they were a bit wide and flappy so I had them narrowed and long velcro openings added so they're easy to get on with shoes on. Don't know what model they are, it only says Craft on them. They are fine. They were fine before the modifications too.
I like to use the merino base shirt for sleeping in too. And I don't like arm warmers.
Samuli
Mikko's sleep strategy is to struggle two nights with short not that great sleep and then a hotel for the third night. And then repeat.
I mostly sleep outdoors with a regular rhythm. I had a half sleepingbag and down jacket but no bivy. I had rain trousers and waterproof shoecovers which many probably didn't. A long sleeve merino baselayer instead of armwarmers, as I've had before. Rather personal choices indeed.