The Trip

Doing a long trip with a slab of off-roading in the middle of it makes for a bunch of compromises. Hence the choice of bike. The other thing is the choice of riding gear.

I’ve ridden my KLX for years with a Dri-Rider style road-bike jacket; one of the long-ish ones that keep the rain out and the sweat in. It’s been a good jacket, though the zip-out extra-warmth liner got zipped out so long ago I can’t find it now. It’s great on the highway, but as soon as you start actually working hard or riding slow, it can get pretty hot.

Last year I bought some real live dirt-biking gear – pants that stop at the anke and fit inside your boots, a pressure suit, and a jersey that goes over the top of that. The difference has been amazing, particularly on a long, offroad trip when it’s warm. Sure, you feel like a twit in an armoured fishnet stocking shirt thing, but such is the price of fashion. But the air-flow…. lovely!

My only concern with the new MX gear is that it’s probably next to useless in a high-speed tarmac off. And that’s kinda the place I’d like it to work. It’s also what I expect to be riding on for 8000-odd kays next September.

So there’s the trade-off: road gear is too heavy and hot for off-road (not to mention Top-End off-road), and MX gear is too light for the highway.

Last week a friend and I checked out some alternatives at a local bike gear shop. We looked at a bunch of stuff: summer (way-breathable) road-bike gear; short-waisted, fully armoured road-bike gear (which was cool, though the shoulder and elbow pads were a little uncomfortable); big, long Dri-Rider type jackets. The only thing I missed, which I found today, were the MX jackets. These have no armour in them, but they’re reasonably insulated, windproof and waterproof, and are designed to go over a pressure suit and jersey. They have plenty of zip-up vents, big pockets etc.

Thinking about the mixed conditions of the trip – road, trail, south, north, desert, day, night, camping – this might be the best option. I can use the ol’ hiker’s “layering” technique, whether we’re riding in the desert sun or camping in the desert cold… or anything else along the way.