Bike Apparel Industry Spawns Personal Germ Farms

I have not been able to obtain the photos of the gloves yet so I will just explain it. As I was looking for a good pair of full-fingered riding gloves, I noticed that instead of the backs being made entirely of some kind of rain resistant or at least wind resistant fabric, most of them had this soft cushy fabric that covered the top of the thumb and the whole web area between the thumb and index finger. Then I noticed that many of the little brag lines on the labels included claims like “extra absorbent.” And of course I thought, Who needs ‘extra absorbent’ anything in Oregon? That’s the last thing you’d want, right? So I’m pointing this out to the sales guy and he says, with a twinge of apology, “It’s for wiping your nose.”

Ew.

Now maybe I’m unusual, but I’ll go through an entire dinner napkin on a thirty minute commute. Assuming I'd be able to get past the idea of depositing that much body mucous on my hand, I’d be having to wash those gloves at least twice a day. How many people are going to get around to washing out their bike gloves even once a week?

New rule: DO NOT SHAKE HANDS WITH ANY BICYCLISTS, EVER, OR TOUCH ANYTHING THEY HAVE TOUCHED.