I’ve seen that here in State College. All the gear except for short sleeved shirts and a 3/4 helmet.

Riding in full gear when everyone else is comfortable and unencumbered by the added weight and restricted movement is difficult — at least for me. Mentally I can begin to feel I’m being overly cautious and the unspoken peer pressure can have weight, even now. For anyone sensitive in that area it’s no wonder so many riders fall into lockstep with style.

The extra effort you have to make to find riding gear, and clothing in general, sounds like an adventure in itself. While the rest of us take for granted we can buy things in person or online you have to make direct connections with manufacturers. I’ve stood behind some of Penn State’s basketball players in the Creamery and while I think I was tall at 6’2″ and 215 pounds I feel like a shrimp behind someone that’s 7 feet tall with every limb and feature proportionally larger. If they have an advantage over you it’s that Nike is probably used to making them big shoes.

Sorry you’ve had to go through the medical events you’ve outlined. Chronic conditions take a huge toll. I see how they affect Kim in almost every way from career to friends to state of mind. I wish you the best in your journey.

I always wore full leather when I started riding. Not chaps; leather pants, jacket, gloves and one of the early Bell full face helmets.

When I started riding textile protection was unheard of, here. And i had a person close by who manufactured custom leathers. So it was a good fit, for both of us. He had never dressed a person as tall and big as me, however those leathers over the years protected me in so many ways. Now granted those leathers at the time did not have padding; it didn’t exist so my tailor placed more thicker leather in places of possible abrasion. Then too I changed, my riding was more frequent and I was often the only person in a group of other riders in a restaurant in full leather. They were wearing nylon jackets if a warm day and jeans and boots, where as I was in full leather jacket pants and boots. The jacket i could remove and I perspired in the summer, the jacket would be damp after a long ride, ditto the pants. They’d get aired and I would have a cool shower in an attempt to chill.
I wore out due to frequent use and a tumble or two the leather gear, the new jacket
made was vented on both sides and the front, the inner linings had changed as well and made getting the jacket on and off easier. The jacket was heavy, 15 pounds of black leather and the pants were equally heavy. I was one of the odd ones as I always wore a reflective vest XXXXXXL giant size purchased from Conspicuity which is somewhere in Illinois. BMW rides wear such vests aswell.

Looked into Aerostich. In my case was in Duluth to photograph railways, and Andy Goldfine shook his head when he saw me. No way could his company ever fit me for textile. Too tall, too big in too many ways. Example my sleeve length is 39 inches.

Then there was the question of footwear. Motorcycle riding footwear is manufactured for normal people, I have a size 16, 9E width foot, custom boots thank you. I was in the
UK in the early 1990’s and a friend there suggested a custom boot maker who made boots all sizes for the police in the UK. Was measured and ordered a pair, they were expensive however they were tall up to the back of my knees, well made and protective. They worked well with my black jodphur riding pants as well. If not wearing jodphurs would wear them under the long leatherp ants, same protection.

Often wonder how tall people who are also big deal with the question of riding gear.
Then too big people simply either don’t use two wheeled transport either because in the case of athletes it is often in their contract to not do so, or there is nothing they can fit easily. Thinking of tall basketball players for example.

I gave up riding for two reasons. One was diagnosed with a form of Lupus in 2005 which in turn made riding somewhat difficult and then a diagnosis of stage IV renal cell carcinoma a year later followed by an eight surgery in November of the same year. Surgery (with removal of a kidney, spleen, all my lymph nodes plus the top of the pancreas)
followed by six months of chemo just about did me in and made m e physically very weak. Thought i’d ride again; couldn’t even sit on the Goldwing without feeling dizzy. Vertigo was now part of my life and still is. The bike sold, the leathers given to friends who were in the same large leather family as me. It had been good time, it would not be so now.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll order a pair.

People make bad decisions, or get themselves into positions they later regret. Seems as if Morrow has recognized that situation and has tried to make the best of it.

Gearing up is a good decision though I understand that each of us can choose badly. The downside of free choice…

Other than the tiny zipper pulls, they look like causal dress pants (once the bulky knee armor is removed). The armor is fine when riding, but can be a bit annoying when walking around.

Not as cool as mesh pants over shorts, but better than mesh pants over jeans in the heat.

Thanks for the head’s up on the Aerostich Protekt khaki pants. Will they really pass for business casual work pants? Hard to tell on the Aerostich site. Might be nice to have them for those hot days that I don’t want to wear the over pants.

I think Brittany Morrow sets a fine example not only for responsible riding and training, but also for taking responsibility for personal choices. She doesn’t focus on blame or recrimination — just moving ahead with her life in a positive way. That seems rare these days.