Meet Jesse Anthony, a retired professional cyclist turned USA Cycling’s Cyclocross Manager and an all-around cool guy.

We got a chance to talk cycling and Pommello Sweats on a recent photo shoot in the California hills, and here’s what he had to say about his first experience in a set of Pommello Sweats™:   

Pommello™:I noticed that when you were riding you were getting hot. How quickly did it take you to heat up?

Jesse: Pretty quickly. As soon as I put [the Sweats] on I could start to feel — almost like a wetsuit — you feel the body heat just staying in like insulation, and then as soon as I started riding for a minute or two, I could feel myself starting to sweat right away. I warmed up really fast.

Pommello™:How’s the mobility of the fabric up against your skin when you’re riding?

Jesse:It’s actually moving around really well, the flexibility is great. It’s not binding anywhere. It feels actually really comfortable.

Pommello™:It’s incredible how much you’re sweating.

Jesse:Yeah.

Pommello™:Are you surprised yourself?

Jesse:Uh, yeah, I can tell for the temperature out here, like I’m bear skinned, I can feel it’s not super hot, but everywhere inside the suit I am really boiling.

Pommello™:As a cyclist, how would this be of value to your training or how would cyclists use this type of equipment?

Jesse:It would definitely be good to use in cold weather, so any training ride we do where the temperature is kind of below 70 degrees, with the wind when you’re riding, you can really cool down, so using this in any cold weather would keep you warm. We’d definitely use this to stay warm when it’s cold out.

Pommello™:What about when you’re waiting for the race to start and may need to warm up, how does that apply to cyclists?   

Jesse:Yeah, there’s usually a pretty big gap between when we finish our warm up and when we get to start the race, so being able to keep something on like this and keep the body warm up until the very start of the race would be really crucial because we don’t cool down. A lot of times we warm up and there’s at least a 10 or 15 minute window between [when] we actually start the race and you start the race you’re kind of cold again already, so keeping these on up until a minute or two before the startline would definitely be nice to keep the body warmed up.

Pommello™:So you said you were from Minnesota?

Jesse:Uh, Massachusetts.

Pommello™:Oh, Massachusetts.

Jesse:Almost the same.

Pommello™:So, yeah …

Jesse:It’s cold enough there.

Pommello™:It’s cold there, so like If you were cycling and training in Massachusetts, how would you use [the Sweats]?

Jesse:I would wear this full suit all the time, from November to March, and I’d want long sleeves.

Pommello™:You said you’ve actually done acclimation training.

Jesse:Yep.

Pommello™:So, how were you doing that before you found out about [Pommello Sweats™]?

Jesse:In the past I’d either travel to a warm climate or I’d go into the sauna for 15 to 20 minutes directly after a training ride, and that kind of super dehydrates your body so it helps your blood, it boosts the amount of water you can keep in your bloodstream.