First of all, just for transparency’s sake, I am not employed by Proviz nor is anyone I know, nor is this a solicited testimonial. This is just something I wanted to do 🙂
Caught in Ice Rain 2020
Brief background for context:
As of last October 2018 I found myself without a car.
I bought a beater bike (have since upgraded).
I fell head over heels – both figuratively and literally with biking, more on that in a moment, but I biked/commuted all winter. When it was snowing and 25 below, I was out there. Keep in mind, I am a commuter and my first real road experience came earlier this year at 86 km and then a 133 km trip.
I clocked just over 1700km on city commutes in about 11 months. I bike to grocery shop, to auditions and meetings, this bike (a GT now) and my Proviz jacket and pants are my chariot and armour.
I cannot explain what happened to have me become so passionate with cycling at now 53 years of age, but I suspect it connected me to being born in and having grown up for the early part of my life in Italy where most of my beautiful memories had a bike nearby, either mine, my friends or even people nearby I did not know. Bikes were and are everywhere there, they are part of the cultural fabric.
The first time I cycled last year, it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to trudge through 8 km/just under 5 miles in the Canadian winter. I was wearing Proviz Windproof/Waterproof pants and my Reflector 360 jacket. I was STUNNED that I was never cold. I can now cover that same 8 km in the city in under 30 minutes, but it wasn’t always pretty, well,at least the jacket was cool to look at. 🙂
That “head over heels” experience I was speaking of earlier also alluded to a fairly serious accident I had thanks largely to my inexperience. As I lay on the ground after having vaulted off my bike for what seemed 6 feet, I looked up at the people who were forming a circle around me asking if I needed an ambulance. I opted to get up on my own. It took time, but I recovered.
What did not recover was my Proviz jacket. Frankly, I don’t think space-age kevlar could have survived my 8-10 foot slide, the brunt of which was borne by my Proviz jacket. It was shredded and I was extremely sad. I knew what that Proviz jacket meant to me.
You see, that jacket came into my life at a pivotal moment. When my car was all of a sudden gone and when a lot of things were not going well in my life, like my bike, as many us I have realize do, I became attached to the jacket. This was a part of my independence.
The nicer weather was around the corner and I had to stay off my bike for a while. So I had some time to save to buy a new Proviz Reflector 360.
Last week, my jacket arrived. I was so happy to hear that Proviz offers a crash replacement discount, upon meeting certain conditions of course, which was helpful.
I commute at night. I had noticed that even though I was wearing reflective bands etc… cars were still coming closer than I felt comfortable with. The first night I wore my Proviz I noticed some things that were unmistakeable:
First of all, yes, I “felt” safer. I had my cloak of light back on.
Next, I noticed ZERO close calls at intersections. Cars were noticing me far earlier than when I just had my strobe on and reflective wear that was nowhere near the Proviz standard luminescence.
Finally, and this was perhaps most notable, cars on the same streets that used to get too close for comfort, were not only slowing down, but they were often moving to the outside lane.
This is no fluke. This only happened after I put my Proviz back on for my first night time ride at about 1 degree celsius/33.8 Fahrenheit.
I was in cycling shorts and a t-shirt, and still had the front pocket vents open. I was completely comfortable.
I have been in downpours, even freezing rain in 40 k headwinds and my Proviz jacket and pants have never failed me.
This product gets my highest possible recommendation, but not just for visibility, for performance as well.
Here are 2 pictures I took after one of those rainfalls. The second image I had turned the flash of my camera phone on. If this is what drivers see hurtling along the roads, they must be stunned and asking themselves “what is that?”
It’s just a guy on a bike who feels like he has wings of light 🙂
Thank you Proviz.
