There is one advantage to having twenty-four hours of constant rain whilst trying to enjoy a few days in the mountains surrounding Girona. It gives you a chance to check out exactly what the city has to offer, right? The abundance of cafés and tourist attractions that are available to keep everyday folk amused and occupied. But, there’s an exception, I’ve never considered myself to be everyday folk and on a day like today it gives a perfect platform to test out your latest wet weather gear. As I bundled up in the apartment the final layer to fend off the elements was Mavic’s Neptune rain jacket. So what do Mavic really know about soft goods? The question was there, and in a matter of hours I was sure to find out.

Within minutes beads of rain were running off the sleeves, a positive sign as opposed to being absorbed by the fabric, but good protection against the water often spells a lack of breathability which can sometimes lead to a chill from sweat drenched kit inside. To aid ventilation and regulate body temperature the Neptune has a double front zipper, asymmetrically positioned to optimise comfort and ease of use with cold hands. By just having the first internal zipper done up the jacket has a strip of mesh at the front to allow air to pass into it. With a 4 mile climb pretty much straight from the off, having this to provide ventilation as opposed to having the jacket open and flapping about was a neat feature. Cresting the summit, and preparing for the winding descent, the outer zip was brought into action to cut all wind chill from the chest area.

As I got up to speed it was soon evident as to how well this jacket had been finished and the attention to detail that has been put into it. An internal cuff stretches from inside the sleeve to cover your gloves, eliminating any wind from entering through the cuff. I hadn’t experienced this before but was glad it was there so I could concentrate fully on the slick, moist, tarmac winding its way down the mountain as opposed to trying to keep warm. With one main and three rear mesh pockets, protected by a zipper, it was easier to access food than trying to dig out an energy bar under layers of kit hidden deep in a jersey pocket.

The rain was still falling, the legs still turning, so I asked myself again. What do Mavic know about soft goods? Only this time I had an answer. Quite a lot by all accounts!