Testing out some apparel ensemble consisting of merino base layer bottom, merino dress (of my design), merino long sleeve over it and apron-vest (see previous entry) plus a bandana as ear protection, on top of that messenger bag, Iam mentioning it as a part of ensemble because it does influence thermobalance significantly, and this topic is one of my high interest.
Short report: after cycling half hour, with several uphill parts, the most hot area is mid chest and mid lower back, both affected by a position of a bag. Apparel seems to perform well, merino can not deal with amount of heat and moisture at the high peaks of activity, but once you are at rest it manages heat and moisture well. Like right now I'm sitting under a tree for 5 minutes to rest and write this short report and it feels comfortable and warm, though weather is not nice (temp is around 17 Celsius and wind up to 29 km/h, and as I'm close to the ocean, that number is close to true).
Short conclusions or observations: neck piece of a dress works better than another neck gaiter, mainly due to the presence of cinch elastic at the edge allowing to easily pull it over the mouth and nose with one hand while cycling and it will stay put. One aspect to work on is ventilation in back neck area, as because collar is attached all around it gets hot pretty fast there.