For the first time in over ten years, I phoned in sick to work at the start of the week – so this week has been even quieter than the last few months generally have. But with enforced rest (no riding a bike for a week, absurd), I’ve got time for a rather nostalgic post on this neglected platform.
I was mortified after a not-so-recent bike-commute that I’d worn a hole in my bike shorts. Usually, that wouldn’t be a big deal – but I just didn’t think it was possible with NZO Dobies. Roomy, comfortable and (almost, it turns out) indestructible, Dobies have been my go-to MTBing shorts for over ten years – my first pair was handed down to Adele and still have plenty of life left in them after a decade (maybe I should steal them back). I ordered two new pairs eight years ago before embarking on quite a few years of travel and much mountain-biking.
It is one of those pairs, the (once) black ones, that have finally worn through. I think that’s a pretty fantastic show of longevity as I’ve clocked up well over twenty-five thousand kilometres of mountain-biking in that time in all sorts of conditions. As I was thinking that over, I realised these shorts have been part of an awful lot of my bike adventures and it would be worth doing a quick search through my photos of me on bikes. So now I’ll reminisce for the joy of it; at least, I don’t think I’m mourning a pair of shorts.
Earliest picture of said Dobies, late 2008; fitting as on a trip with Roger & Mark to Whangamata – I really started to get into riding more once I met those two. Notable also for the NZO socks, gloves, shirt & buff.
Queen Charlotte Walkway trip early 2009 – that three-day ride remains as a highlight of all riding trips.
Living the dream – riding in western USA mid-2009; the start of my time away from NZ, the riding was fantastic. This must have been the ride I met Chip, a recurring riding buddy whose bike-over-the-head pose I’m trying for the first time here.
Black shorts may not have been the best idea on a day that reached 40ºC by nine in the morning – riding the Bootleg Canyon trails, near Boulder City, Nevada. The brewpub was welcome relief at eleven o’clock.
Having a blast on Just Outstanding somewhere in the Sierra Nevadas. A weekend spent camping with MTB randoms I met on mtbr.com – what could go wrong? Cannell Plunge is one of my all-time favourites – on which I completely cooked my brakes, they were never the same.
Black Dobies turn up in the teafields of Kenya – some excellent biking & exploring to be done, I was to return despite the dislocated shoulder incident.
Then a whole summer and fall of biking in the Canadian Rockies. Here Black Dobies are a late ring-in for a Calgarian team competing in the 24 Hours of Adrenaline. Suitable photos worthy of portraying what a fantabulous summer of biking it was are, sadly, lacking.
Black Dobies were on the excellent three-month west-USA road trip with Valerie; here just out of Grand Junction, Colorado.
Riding around the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
Wonderful riding just out of Sedona.
The McKenzie River Trail, Oregon – a ride memorable for cool new friends.
Following all that there was a return to the UK and plenty of riding with great buddies in the south and south-west of England – alas, I seem to have few photos of myself on those pretty countryside rides.
But the shorts couldn’t be kept away from North America – here, arguably the best MTB holiday I’ve been on, in Moab, Utah. Excellent friends, sublime riding, good food and conditions combined for a memorable & often-remembered week.
Following that trip, it was a cracking summer in the UK during which it didn’t rain for months – I rode plenty in preparation for:
My first multi-day MTB event – the three-day Rift Valley Odyssey, I didn’t need much persuasion to visit East Africa again.
Then I was made redundant, so the Black Dobies & I set off biking across Western Europe. A couple of thousand kilometres took me from London to Italy, I was traveling light so the shorts were in constant use.
On a bridge between Germany & Belgium, it seemed I was constantly crossing borders – the shorts were often confused as to which country they were in.
Crossing the Alps into Italy.
Another month of constant Dobies wearing – working on a vineyard in Aosta Valley & hiking in the Alps. The pockets were never the same after I stuffed eighty walnuts in them while out for a siesta-replacing walk.
Just a little ride around Mt Kilimanjaro; another trip to Tanzania, perche no?
Then I was back in NZ, for good! Dragging best-sister up steep hills on bikes happened a fair bit that summer.
My first bikepacking event seemed like a good idea. The Kiwi Brevet was a sublime 1150 km loop around the top half of the South Island – Black Dobies got punished again.
From the same trip, this seems to be the last momentous photo I have of Black Dobies.
There was another year of riding – some bikepacking, much commuting, a little mountain-biking – before the horrid revelation that I’d actually worn them out, I still can’t quite believe it. Eight years – how is it possible to withstand all that biking and traveling? Never mind, I received a new pair as a Christmas gift. Probably I don’t to need steal my original pair back, that may have been why Adele got me the new pair.
You’ll be pleased to know the days are getting longer & warmer – soon I’ll have more tales of biking, exploring & bikepacking to tell and I’ll not need to resort to writing about shorts.