"recommended" isn't really strong enough, in this case.

i know i mentioned it once before, but seriously, dudes, bikesnobnyc is worth your reading. i'm having trouble figuring out how to quote him in a concise fashion, so here's a big chunk of an entry from the other day:

Trackstar Champion Scarf

One of the first things you learn when you start riding, just after how to fix a flat and not to wear underwear with your cycling shorts, is that it’s extremely dorky to wear pro team kit, grand tour leader’s jerseys, or World Champion stripes while you’re riding. (Unless of course you’re on a pro team, are leading a grand tour, or are a World Champion, in which case it’s only mildly dorky.) It would follow then that wearing a scarf in the World Champion colors is completely unacceptable, unless you’re an actual World Champion with questionable Euro tastes who’s susceptible to chest colds. (Or maybe some kind of drunken Belgian superfan.) Apart from that, all the scenarios in which this scarf might be worn are almost too awful to contemplate. If you’re wearing it on the bike, you’re committing a double crime: wearing the World Champion stripes; and wearing a scarf of any kind while cycling. If you’re wearing it off the bike, you’re just a peacock of dorkitude. In any case, I’m issuing a recall on the Trackstar Champion Scarf, as wearers are at risk of strangulation by me.

"peacock of dorkitude"? go read. he's hilarious. (also, i tried to hit on him once over at sleep is the new sex. [which you should also be reading. if you don't believe me, start with this post.] i don't think it worked, but i don't hold a grudge.)