Cyclocross season is winding down in much of the U.S. and that means the holiday season, or Crossmas, is upon us. With Thanksgiving relatively late this year, we got on top of things and put together the first of our 2019 Holiday Gift Guides a bit early this year.
We take a look at some items we have personally used and reviewed during the past year we think could make good gifts for the favorite cyclocross and/or gravel enthusiast in your life. Our first guide has a mix of tech items, bikes, stocking stuffers and clothes.
Use the Next button to scroll through each.
Stocking (Stuffer): Fo//ow Ho//ow High-Performance Alpaca Socks
What better stocking stuffer for the cyclist in your life than actual stockings? We’ve come to love the Fo//ow Ho//ow High-Performance Alpaca Socks.
That’s socks made of baby alpaca wool, not high-performance socks for alpacas! Brian Davis, cyclist and entrepreneur who created a multitool called Fix It Sticks and a water bottle called the Back Bottle, now has a pair of socks made of yarn spun from the wool of a baby alpaca.
Davis explains that alpaca wool wicks moisture better than sheep’s wool, thanks to hollow fibers with less surface scaling. When woven into a sock that means the soft, itch-free socks leave your feet drier which means warmer in cold weather and more comfortable in warm weather. The socks have 80% alpaca content with other fibers to provide shape and stretch.
Fo//ow Ho//ow alpaca performcan socks. © Cyclocross Magazine
Indeed the Fo//ow Ho//ow socks have a soft feel. The medium samples we received fit my American size 10 foot like, well, a sock. The socks are medium thickness and fit snugly to be luxuriously compressive giving a supportive feel. If you have a very snug shoe with a thin sock, the medium thickness may make your shoe tight.
For us, it is one of the most comfortable socks to wear with any shoe, but as a cycling sock for gravel and ’cross, it kept our feet feeling dry and relatively stink-free. The sock height meets the road cycling fashion police standard which is sure to make it a cycling favorite.
The socks cost $25 per pair, and they are made in the U.S.A. from alpaca yarn from Peru. They are available only in black for now, and will ship likely just before Christmas.
More Info: followhollow.com
