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Blatherings From The Editor Sweaty Palms (August 2004) Sweaty Palms Everyone has some natural reaction to stress and/or excitement. For me, my palms sweat. Not just a little bit, but enough to get steering wheels slippery and gloves soaked. I carried a rag with me to wipe the steering wheel whenever I drove down the Autobahn in Germany. Running at over 125 mph (200 km) can be stressful. My excessive palm sweat has caused me to wear out a lot of leather gloves. When racing in Thailand and Japan, I could rot a pair of gloves in less then a season. Seems either cow hide isn’t as tough as it’s tooted to be or I have some pretty corrosive palm sweat. Even riding around the block or up to the roadside table on AZ highway 83, I have always had sweaty palms. I began buying the aerated cloth/leather gloves several years back hoping the additional air flow would help. Nope…they still only lasted a year or so max. Lately there has been a change in my glove wear. I have had two pairs of summer weight gloves for about two years now and it wasn’t until this year that I have seen some of the telltale rot beginning around the throttle thumb and both palms. But still, I have had these gloves a long time in my reckoning. What’s changed? Better materials in the gloves? My riding style? My chemical composition? Two things come to mind and they are both related to my riding style. First is I don’t travel so quickly as I once did (boy does that sound familiar or what?). Truthfully, I really have slowed down. Looking at my tire wear, I don’t use the sides up much any more and the center is long gone before the sides. Seems I don’t scare myself as much as I use to, either. Which leads to the second change in my riding style. I believe I have become a better rider over the last year or ten and therefore I ride a bit more relaxed. I have taken the MSF Experienced Rider Course three times in the last 10 years. Each time I really did learn better bike control techniques. Amazing the bad habits you pick up. I also attended a Reg Pridmore track day at Firebird Raceway. That was a blast! It brought back some excellent memories and some forgotten skills from my amateur racing days in Thailand and Japan last century. By the afternoon I was keeping up with the slow guys in the A group. Builds your confidence and at the same time keeps you honest traveling at warp factor bazillion. A bit of grip loss and your heart is in your throat. With this new found extended glove life expectation I am considering buying some higher quality riding gloves. Who knows, maybe get some red gloves to match the red bike and red jacket…not! Deryle Mehrten, smooth running.
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