Cycle Gear = Bilt brand, Who'da thunk it?

So I was going to take a nice ride up through a park or something this last weekend but the weather report was "crappy" at best. And I didn't have a decent jacket to weather any type of weather. So I scratched that idea and of course the weekend was nice and sunny with only sporadic showers.

Instead I used my Saturday to shop for a good jacket at a good price. Started by going to some thrift stores which gave me no luck and only distracted me from my goal. So I thought I'd give the retail stores a chance and this place called Cycle Gear came up from a motorcycle gear google search. I thought "pretty generic title for a store, surely they have a bit of a selection to test out and see what kind of jacket I want." Turns out Cycle Gear = Bilt brand store. There was some alpinestar stuff available but every wall and rack had something made by Bilt. Prices were as you would expect for retail and I was going to walk out when I saw a sale tag. Said buy their super duper explorer waterproof jacket for $400 (It did look pretty sweet and available in Hi-Vis), and get a free pair of matching pants, gloves, and a helmet.

Now $400 is a lot of money to lay down but I knew I wanted to get all this stuff anyway. And while I did have a helmet it isn't in Hi-Vis. But I had to love all of the stuff they were selling in order to get this deal. We just got out tax return too and when I talked to my wife and how I was trying to talk myself out of this she astoundingly said "so get it"! Both of us agreed its a good investment in my safety because its protective equipment as much as it's visibility gear. I tried the helmet on and it was not good. Padding inside was minimal and pressure points immediately showed themselves when it was on. After some quick review research I found many people didn't find Bilt to be very durable. This was enough for me to determine it wasn't worth it. For that money there should be no doubt about whether the gear is going to last me. So I found a pair of $20 waterproof Hi-Vis gloves, purchased em and left Cycle Gear and its deal behind.

So off I went to local leather shop in Auburn past the Harley dealer. The place was called Eagle Leather and the selection was great. Lots of different brands. The staff there was real helpful as well. They featured the First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket. Was on sale and was pretty heavy with a removable liner. Also saw an Icon brand jacket that was comparable. The Icon Patrol Field armor jacket had more pockets and features and padding in the forearm but both were rated to the same temperature. They also both looked like the padding could be removed and just used as a good winter jacket, the sales guy said he did that with his Kilimanjaro to go snowboarding. But since the Kilimanjaro was on sale I had to go with that. The Icon felt much more serious but they were both quite comfortable with and without the liner.

So I rode through the city streets the whole day and found my starts and stops are getting much better. Only stalled out a couple times and that was on an uphill start! I'm sure it'll come along nicely now that I have a motorcycle jacket. That'll make me much better. Ya know like sneakers do the run faster

jump higher thing.

On my way back to base on Sunday I decided to take the superslab. It was super boring. Just hand
back on the throttle and change lanes a few times and watch for slowing traffic. Much more to look at on the city streets and much more mellow. You do have to watch out for the left turners though. It's a give and take I suppose. Just need to get out on some dirt! I can't decide if I should go out towards Mt Rainier or the Olympic Peninsula next weekend. Got a Mariners game to go to on Friday, It's beardhat night at Safeco Field!

For a run down of the gear I wear right now there's a page link at the top that'll take you to it.

Until next time, Hang up and Drive yo!