As you can see, my glove situation is getting, er . . . a little bit out of hand, if you'll pardon the pun. I'm not exactly certain when or how the trouble began, but it seems that the more gloves I collect the more difficulty I have finding a pair that fits.
When I was racing regularly, what gloves I wore didn't matter much. The picture from my first-ever roadrace shows me wearing an all-black pair-at least two sizes too big, with gauntlets reaching almost to my elbows-that I borrowed from my brother. Later on I would only break down and buy or bum a new pair when the gloves I was wearing at the time wore out. And worn out meant falling apart at the seams with holes in the palms and fingers. But when I started here at the magazine, the flow of swagged gloves also began. First a couple of pairs of nice Alpinestars. Then some Teknics, followed by Joe Rocket, more Alpinestars, Shift . . . They just show up in the mail, maybe as an afterthought with a pair of boots or a jacket. Kent occasionally drops a pair on my desk (no doubt something that doesn't fit him). The ad guys leave their clients' gloves with me, hoping they (the gloves, not the ad guys) will appear in the magazine. I think sometimes magic is involved: I can leave my desk for a minute to get a cup of coffee, and when I return there's a fresh pair of gloves-maybe even two-on my chair. No note, no idea who dropped them off or where they came from.
What do I do with all these gloves? In my office is a four-foot-wide filing cabinet, with one drawer reserved solely for gloves. Anything that doesn't fit goes directly in the drawer. A second drawer, in my desk, holds gloves that may or may not fit or need some breaking in. A third drawer, at home, has my stash of gloves that do fit and are broken in. The two drawers here in my office are almost always packed full. Occasionally I'll pull a pair of gloves from my desk drawer and slip them on. Maybe I need something to match a particular bike or suit, or the stash at home is getting low. I'll wear them commuting a couple of times, test them out, try and break them in-it takes a long time to decide these things, though. If they pass this little test, they stay in the drawer at home. If not, it's to the filing cabinet with them. It's a given that if one of our test riders or someone in the office needs a pair of gloves, I've got something in the big drawer to fit. And most often in the right color.
Here is where the trouble begins. The drawer at home contains only a couple of pairs at any given time, and lately not many gloves have been graduating from the desk drawer. When I find a pair I like, they get worn. A lot. And just like when I was racing, I'll hang onto a good pair until there are threads hanging off, they are almost too crusty to pull on and they smell like sour milk. And with the number of miles we ride it could take as little as a couple of months for a glove to go from new to phew. When I pack for a trip, the current favored pair is a must-have, even if they don't match whatever else I plan to wear. I also pack another pair from the home drawer, something that I know fits and I can wear in a pinch. But lately I've been paranoid about having good gloves to wear and have been taking extras from the desk drawer-something that both matches and I could use in a pinch. I didn't think it was a problem until one of my fellow scribes caught me deciding between two pairs of gloves just as we were getting suited up for the street ride at a recent press intro. When I pointed out that I actually had four pairs with me and planned on taking a spare pair in my backpack on the ride itself "just in case," I was told that was borderline obsessive-compulsive behavior. At the time I shrugged the accusation off (people tell me all the time I'm a bit warped, so it's nothing new) and slipped the extra gloves in my knapsack. But packing for Daytona last fall I was a bit distressed to find six pairs laid out ready to go. Hmm . . . maybe I do have a problem. Two went back in the drawer, but at the last minute I had to repack one of those pairs. Just in case.
The thing is, gloves are maybe the most important piece of gear, because they are between you and your bike's controls. A loose-fitting, baggy pair can easily compromise feel of the brake, throttle or clutch. Gloves that are too small can cut off circulation or stop you from closing your hand enough around the grip without tightening excessively. Compounding the trouble with fit is that your hands subtly change size over time, even with the weather. A glove that fits exactly right one day in dry, sunny SoCal may not the next day in the humid South. Hence the need for spares on a trip (or so I tell myself).
I know it's crazy, and next trip I'm only going to pack two pairs of gloves, I promise. Well, maybe three, because I want to wear these new leathers and I'm not sure the gloves that came with them will be fully broken in. Oh, plus I should take the pair that . . . Did I mention how many helmets are on my desk and that I wanted to take a spare to Daytona?