[shereth]

There's a few guys here at work who ride on a regular basis. Another guy just finished the MSF course and got his license and was asking for advice on what kind of gear to get and an interesting "discussion" cropped up.

One guy was kind of ribbing me for wearing motorcycle specific boots on my daily commute. I keep a pair of regular shoes in my office desk drawer but I wear boots when riding (Sidi Vertigo to be specific) and I won't go out on the bike without them. I just won't do it. He said it makes you look like a poser, I just rolled my eyes and said I am fond of my feet and ankles.

Anyway the discussion kind of boiled down to an argument of safety vs. convenience. I like to call myself an ATGATT kind of guy but admittedly it's not 100% on the daily commute; while I wear leather pants (and my back protector now that I have one) on my longer weekend rides, I'm not rocking anything more protective than a pair of jeans on my way back and forth to work. I should know better - the one time I went off the bike years ago the only real damage was scraping up my legs - but the convenience factor comes in to play. I need to suck it up and get a pair of overpants.

One guy who at least wears a helmet and a jacket on his ride in leaves them at his desk when he takes his bike to the gym over lunch break. He says since it's just a half mile down the road he doesn't worry too much about it, and it's too much a hassle at the gym, though I can't help but to cringe every time I see him head off like that.

I always feel a twinge of guilt when I let "convenience" trump safety in these kinds of circumstances, and I know I still have a little ways to go before I can really call myself ATGATT.