You know that classic movie scene where someone leaves a purse, a coffee cup, a baby in car seat, a [fill in the blank] on the roof of a car, hops in and drives off without remembering it? It's much less dramatic, but I did the same thing with my riding gloves on my bike rack. I had taken a timeout at the Delaware River Bridge at the midpoint of my ride to enjoy the breezes and watch the world go by, putting my helmet in a pannier and setting my gloves on the rack. Apparently I got too mellow because when I decided to grab a slice of pizza before getting back on the trail, I rode across the parking lot, evidently bouncing one of them off the rack.
I bought the gloves when I bought the bike, at the recommendation of the bike store that I use them. To be honest, I felt a little pretentious with them...they made me look more serious than I felt. But I used them from the first ride and as they were comfortable and 'gave good grip', I never thought about not wearing them. I back-tracked after the slice of pizza to find the glove, sure it would be on the ground, but no sign of it! So I rode 20 miles 'back to base' without gloves, discovering along the way why biking gloves are good to have. The gel pads really do absorb a lot of trail shock. And even without bumps, your hands are under near constant pressure while riding. Needless to say, I went out and replaced them before the very next ride.
Being a sustainability professional, this made me think about sustainability in the gloves industry. We lose one glove and have to buy two -- throwing the last remaining glove away, even though it still had value...i.e., it was still a working, good glove. Maybe manufacturers of specialty gloves like this should sell them as singles...buy a right or a left or both. There are many factors that keep this from happening. I suppose, for example, that glove technology and design keeps changing. And they may believe the market for single replacement gloves is too small. Let's face it...consumers are part of the problem because we don't want one old, dirty glove and one new one either. If I worked for a glove manufacturer, it would be an interesting thing to do some market research on. But for now, I have two shiny new gloves.
I bought the gloves when I bought the bike, at the recommendation of the bike store that I use them. To be honest, I felt a little pretentious with them...they made me look more serious than I felt. But I used them from the first ride and as they were comfortable and 'gave good grip', I never thought about not wearing them. I back-tracked after the slice of pizza to find the glove, sure it would be on the ground, but no sign of it! So I rode 20 miles 'back to base' without gloves, discovering along the way why biking gloves are good to have. The gel pads really do absorb a lot of trail shock. And even without bumps, your hands are under near constant pressure while riding. Needless to say, I went out and replaced them before the very next ride.
Being a sustainability professional, this made me think about sustainability in the gloves industry. We lose one glove and have to buy two -- throwing the last remaining glove away, even though it still had value...i.e., it was still a working, good glove. Maybe manufacturers of specialty gloves like this should sell them as singles...buy a right or a left or both. There are many factors that keep this from happening. I suppose, for example, that glove technology and design keeps changing. And they may believe the market for single replacement gloves is too small. Let's face it...consumers are part of the problem because we don't want one old, dirty glove and one new one either. If I worked for a glove manufacturer, it would be an interesting thing to do some market research on. But for now, I have two shiny new gloves.