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I had been looking forward to trying out my new jersey. The same one as the men's Olympic curling team. Right out of the package from Mondetta, it was a beauty.

To be honest, the first time I tried on the jersey was just out of Zurich, Switzerland. I had arrived the day before, and now the cycling part of the trip was to begin. My panniers were packed, my attire was ready, so I donned it. A small bit of misfortune - I found that even the medium jersey was too large for me with the sleeves dangling past my hands. Not to be deterred, I rolled up my sleeves - literally and figuratively - and had another gander. Still a bit baggy on me, it was nevertheless quite nice and manageable. It was still a 'go'.

The morning I started was a bit cool so I had to put on my jacket. Having the long sleeves was good since my clammy arms would not be sticking to the inside of my coat. The jersey felt fine underneath the coat. A few hours and climbs later, the day had warmed up, so off came the coat, so I was just in the jersey. It felt great. Though a bit bulky, it was not sticking to me uncomfortably like some jerseys do. The interior of the fabric felt fine on the skin - perhaps there is some type of wicking of sweat going on here? Kind of the way wool works, minus the itchiness of the wool?

As the tour progressed, whether the days were warm or cool, I was comfy in the jersey. When I came to the end of the day and needed to wash the jersey, I followed the instructions carefully by hand-washing only, using cool water, and then hanging it to dry. Despite all of my exertion, it never smelled foul. Drying was quick (of course, I initially used my roll-the-item-in-a-towel trick to get rid of as much water as possible).

Like any other cycling jersey I have, after numerous washes, the jersey starts to take on a 'dusty' look to it. I thought it was dried salt from perspiration, but it was not. Something in lycra after numerous washes/uses?

Now that I am home again, the jersey looks somewhat used, but not too bad. I will continue to wear it for my rides around here, including a 50 km ride this coming weekend.

Is it a suitable jersey for cycling? I would say yes. I am not sure how Mondetta does their sizing, but my medium was definitely very large. Are they meant to go on top of other layers first so need to be bigger? Are curlers bigger than me? (Though why would that change the definition of small, medium or large?) So make sure you try one on for size before you buy one, or do some measurements on yourself and let the vendor know.

If you want to be a stylish Canadian either in our own territory or abroad, you won't be sorry with this jersey from Mondetta.

Mondetta curling jersey: 4/5 (higher if the size issue is fixed)