Seems the 1st draft gremlins have been at it somewhere - I'm sure I mentioned my riding gear before???!

Anyway, my outer layer is an Alpinestars Venture jacket, and their Street Cargo pants. Subtle and comfortable enough to wear off the bike (plain black), they offer a fair degree of waterproofing (but are not 100% waterproof) and are still light enough to be comfortable in hot climates.

I like the jacket particularly (so much I have two now!) as it has plenty of vents, four front pockets (one for documents, one for iPod, one for wallet, one for bits and bobs), plus a large zipper rear pocket that you can actually fit a fleece into (or some shopping x) - it's designed to stow the removable sleeves (another nice feature), but doubles as a handy cargo or map pocket too. Finally, it also has an internal pocket for an hydration bladder, should you be wearing a regular rucksack.

The Street Cargo pants are basically the same as the Highland enduro pants, but without the zipper vents in the legs. They are twin cargo pockets (side stand puck in one, spare buff in the other) and they zip right up to the knee to help you get your boots on and off. The also fit very nicely around the waist/hips (no drafts) and have removable CE knee armour pads. The come in plain black, but I notice on in the US catalogue at least, they are doing them in sand colour too for 2009.

Boots I love Alpinstar Tech3's for off-road riding (I have the version with the all-terrain/enduro sole), but find tall MX boots can be a bit tiresome and hot for long days in the saddle. So I bought a pair of their Tech2's, which is basically the shorty version (two buckles, plus velcro) of the Tech3 with the smooth MX/street type sole. These are utterly fantastic boots - so comfortable straightout of the box, and with the same foot and ankle protection as the MX boot, just a lot nicer/easier to walk around in off the bike! Of course they don't offer the same shin protection as the taller Tech3, but for touring/trail style riding, I don't find that essential.

Gloves - I have two pairs with me, their lightweight MX style Breeze air-flow glove, plus the Alpinstars SMX-6, which is a bit like a heavy duty MX glove, and together with thermal glove liners, more than adequate for bad weather riding... ok, so if you're riding in northern Europe in winter, you might want a pair of proper waterproof winter gloves too!

Helmet - Arai Tour-x of course... I've just bought the mk3 version over here in the USA, and I must say it is an improvement over the mk2 - it feels even better made, plus the new vents and (emergency) removable cheek pads are nice touches. The peak is redesigned and more solid, plus there is a flip down chin guard (like their road helmets) and alloy mesh on the chin bar vents - luverly!

xxx

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