THE GREAT
SUMMER
COVER UP
WORDS: ROGER MORONEY
PHOTO: GEOFF OSBORNE
HOT SUMMER’S DAY? YEP…
STILL PUT THE GEAR ON.
T
he season of the Summer is upon us,
in fact it’s been upon us here on the
eastern seaboard for about the past
five weeks. A very early start to the season
where one is required to adopt a more
cooling attire plan.
Of shorts and light shirts or T-shirts, and a
sensible straw hat when the sun is high as a
kite and beginning to burn the landscape
below.
It will burn scalps without any
encouragement, despite how much hair you
may possess so don’t (as my dear doc’ told
me) get the impression your head of hair
will act as a shield… it does not. One must
pursue the art of common sense in summer,
because while you may take more off you
do actually have to put more on.
Like the hat on blazing days. And a
reputable and proven sunscreen (not all of
them are according to a recent Consumer
NZ report) and sensible footwear when you
roll the bike out.
At the height of summer I dress down,
because dressing up only makes me look
silly on occasions. Put it this way, on the high
20s early 30s days of temperature, were
I to play strip poker I would only last four
84 KIWI RIDER
rounds before being arrested for offensive
behaviour. T-shirt, shorts (with the built-in
grundy netting stuff, and a pair of jandals.
So I’ll stick to playing chess I think.
As I noted earlier in this wandering literal
tale, Summer is indeed a time to take things
off, for sensible cooling reasons, but also a
time to put things on, for sensible personal
health reasons.
Like more clothes, despite the mercury
nudging 28°C and the cheap tar used for
building roads is beginning to melt. Indeed,
‘tis the season of growing warmth and the
season of flimsy garments to repel that
growing warmth.
It is also the season of shaking heads
when the sensible choice of attire is clearly
a misunderstood concept by many. Many,
who decide to journey from A to B with
about the same amount of clothing items I
would wear at a game of strip poker, aboard
two wheels. Two wheels powered by an
alternative to simple legs and pedals.
I watched in bewildered awe last Sunday
morning, when the smoke-oranged skies
shimmered with heat, as two people went
by, at a fair old rate of around 50km/h
aboard a very smart looking 150cc sports-