Missives from the 6th Floor

I should say up front that I haven't done a trip of 15k miles, from New Jersey to Alaska and back - our longest trip to date was 3k miles from Chino Hills, CA to Redmond, WA by the coastal route. I've got enough miles under my belt, though, (about 60k since buying the Trophy in late '99) to have figured a few things out along the way.

After one trip in particular - taken long before this blog - we got so damn cold coming back over the grapevine that we resolved then and there to either spend the money on appropriate touring gear, or resign ourselves to being "fair weather riders."

We went the "appropriate gear" route, and since then we've ridden in hot and cold temperatures - 110 degree days were common inland in Southern California, and last winter saw 18 degree mornings here in Washington (and I'm sorry to say that if there wasn't ice on the ground, I was on the bike, riding to work).

Through the book, many times, Karen talks about how cold she is, her hands cramping up, her teeth chattering, shivering. When the weather got hot, she was roasting in her gear.

In most other respects she seemed to be a conservative rider - exercising caution and judgment, so I was surprised that at no point did she point out what an unnecessary risk riding like that poses. Similarly, her rain gear seemed totally inadequate, by her description.

None of the temperatures or conditions she described were insurmountable with the right equipment - and the equipment didn't have to cost an arm and a leg, either.

For the cold, a good set of snow-boarding or snow-mobiling gloves, with pockets on them for chemical hand heaters, can be had for under $50. A scarf or balaclava, a good jacket, and silk thermals or better, textile pants.

For the wet, a good rain suit - like our First Gear Kilimanjaro jackets and textile pants aren't cheap if bought new, but thanks to ebay there's a used market. A cross-country multi-month expedition doesn't happen on the spur of the moment, so last minute shopping shouldn't be a concern. Even gloves that claim to be water proof aren't really, so an extra pair, one to wear while the other is drying out.

And for the hot, a jacket that can have it's liner removed and vents open (again, like my First Gear), assuming you don't want the cost and additional carry of a mesh. A set of light gloves take up nearly no room, and cost next to nothing.

So while she was regaling the reader with tales of beautiful locales, I kept coming back to how she was putting herself at completely unnecessary risk by not having appropriate weather gear.

Aside from all that (whew, what an aside), it was a good read - and definitely made me think about how "close" Alaska is to us now.