A meeting on the far side of the county; beautiful Spring sunshine; a motorcycle and free reign about how I get there...welcome to my Friday!
A friend of mine asked me to help out her local hospital volunteer group with some of their PR and social media output, and being the lovely guy I am, I agreed. 
The meeting was a good hour away and with the UK enjoying a beautiful end to March, the car was staying very much on the driveway.
I will freely admit that up to this point, the amount of riding I've done in 2019 has been restricted to short little hops. All journeys of a significant distance have been undertaken in my German hatchback so it was was great relish that I rolled the FireBlade out into the March sunshine.
In a beautiful twist of fate, the meeting was held in the 'corner' of an amazing 100 mile route that links the Dorset towns of Wimborne, Sherbourne, Shaftsbury with the Wiltshire city of Salisbury. Of these 100 miles, I'd wager that no more than 5 miles is actually straight. Amazing twists, turns and elevation changes make the ride exhilarating, challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
Being so early in the 'season' there was plenty of debris on the road, be it mud from nearly fields, stones from verges or sadly a few late pheasants, rodents and foxes. Ahh the wonders of riding in the countryside.
To cap it off, what trip of mine wouldn't be complete without a stop at a Cafe Neros? The coffee is the best in the country (IMO) and it makes others taste like dish water. Saying that, it has nothing on the amazing coffee in Spain and Italy. That stuff is worth the trip over in itself.
I got home about 6 hours after I left, burnt through the better part of a tank of fuel, wiped several dead bugs (various sizes) from my visor and finally locked the garage behind me. Sometimes, I wish all Friday's could be like this.

With Spring on our doorstep, lets look at the gloves I've been wearing over the winter. 

These are the German designed Held Twin  gloves and getting straight to the point, at £175, are a pretty serious investment. 

The Twin name derives from their twin chamber design, one being 'Dry' and one being 'Warm'.

Reading up on several reviews from a range of manufactures, I was looking at replacing an equally expensive pair of Rukka R-Star gloves which I'd been using for several seasons. The R-Star is a great glove, but I wanted a glove that had improved thermal qualities, whilst retaining excellent levels of waterproofing, comfort and protection. I tried the Held gloves on Motorcycle Live and despite a long thumb, the Helds seemed to fit that bill, so believing the marketing, I brought a pair home with me.

This is the spec list:

• Goatskin leather palm
• Certified under norm EN 13594:2015
• Stretch fabric with leather detailed back
• Also has unlined waterproof compartment
• Gore-Tex waterproof, windproof & breathable membrane
• Gore 2in1 technology (1 side thermal, 1 side unlined) both waterproof
• Velcro fastening at the cuff and wrist
• Visor wipe on index finger
• Aramid fibre and ceramic protection at fingers and knuckle
• Waterproof, thermal compartment with Pique Push Pull lining
• Leather and foam protection on palm
• Superfabric reinforcement on edge of hand
• 3M Scotchlite reflectors
• 5 year warranty (registration required)

This is what I think and lets start with what I really like about them.

They are really comfortable, in both the Dry and Warm compartments. The terms Warm and Dry are a bit misleading however. Dry could have easily been relabelled 'Feel' as it reduces the amount of material on the inside of the hand, subsequently adding more material to the outside of the hand, giving a better feeling for the controls. Wearing them in the 'Warm' configuration means a universal amount of material around the hand, but thanks to the Gore-Tex lining, allows the glove to maintain its water proofing. The are easy to use in either the Dry or the Warm settings, even with that long thumb problem.

The cuff is really long, so sits well under the arms of my Rukka Matti jacket, or over the arms of my Alpinestars Atem one piece suit. The glove is well retained on the hand with two straps; one end of the forearm and cuff area, and one around the wrist for fine tuning.

The amount of reflective material amounts to a small area on the cuff, but due to how I wear them, this is hidden when wearing the Rukka gear, which is a shame.

The hard knuckle protection on the back of the glove feels very reassuring and cannot be felt when the glove is on and is supported with some hardened leather on the tops of the figures. 

They have been well tested in the rain and have never leaked.

So, what don't I like...

Well, these are not actually that warm. My hands certainly felt colder wearing these than when wearing the Rukka R-Star in similar conditions. They are pitched as a top of the range four season glove, but in this regard, I have been left a little disappointed. Since moving to the coast, and away from the well salted roads of a city, I no longer ride if the temperatures are close to, or at freezing. The risk is too high. I'm not expecting by any stretch of the imagination that when riding in 2 degrees that my hands would feel like I was holding a warm coffee, but I'd expect my hands not to actually hurt after about 10 minutes. It would take about 30 minutes riding in the Rukka R Stars before the tips of my fingers would hurt and go numb, which is considerably longer that with these Held gloves.
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Please bear in mind that I don't use heated grips and riding a sportsbike, there is very little wind protection for my hands. So there is a very good possibility that this would greatly affect their performance when it comes to retaining the heat in my hands.

So in summary, overall the gloves are good, especially if being worn in the rain. The long cuff is excellent and they don't pop out from under the arms of my jacket when riding along, which is something that does happen with the R Stars. My biggest concern is this cold weather performance and for a top of the range glove, claiming to address this problem, I was left a little, well, cold. I will say however they are absolutely head and shoulders about gloves like the Alpinestars 365 gloves which are only marginally cheaper, but when I have to ride in low single digits, the older Rukka gloves are the ones I put on.

Huge thanks for Sportsbikeshop.co.uk for supplying the technical information on the Held Twin.

Let's talk motorcycle kit. It's the stuff that keeps us safe, warm and comfortable and the market is super crowded with garments from a multitude of manufacturers from across the globe.

Personally, when I started riding, the very first piece of kit I purchased was a set of Alpinestars gloves. This simple transaction has subsequently steered me in the direction of the Italian giant ever since.

Since 2007, I've purchased one pair of track pants, one vented jacket, one one-piece race suit, three pairs of boots and three pairs of gloves, all of which came adorned with the famous A-Star logo. I like the brand and I like the garments. So with that in mind, as I've decided to start a series of updates talking my kit, I thought I'd begin with the most expensive piece of clothing, biking or otherwise, that I've purchased; The Alpinestars Atem one piece race suit.

After crashing in an Arlen Ness suit on a trackday at Silverstone, I was in the market for a new suit and I took advantage of an online winter deal to pick up a black and white Atem suit for around £700, which at the time, was about £300 off.

This is what the blurb says: 

'The Atem is a fully CE-certified, technical one-piece leather suit offering class-leading protection for the street and track. Developed at Alpinestars specialist performance suit department and extensively tested in MotoGP and WSBK, the suit combines premium materials, safety features and ergonomic styling to give high levels of security and performance.'

This is what I've found:

Once I'd worn it a few times, the suit has proved itself to be extremely comfy. When on the bike the form of the leather actually supports the body when sat on the bike. Worth noting here, that both my bikes are sportsbikes so I'm sat quite far forward). When off the bike and walking / standing, the weight of the suit causes a slight discomfort in my lower back. I'm 6'3 and have long legs and arms, am fairly muscular and wear an EU size 56. I always wear the suit in conjunction with a Dianese D1 Wave back protector. I either wear a Buff or a high collar base layer so I get no rubbing around my neck.

When riding, the suit doesn't cause any additional turbulence, which is especially noticeable when wearing a textile suit on a sportsbike at speed.

As you would expect, the suit is compatible with both my A-Star Supertech boots and gloves, but because of the armour in the shins, it does make securing the boots a little tight.

White was a poor choice and is almost impossible to keep clean. The irony is that the contrast of black and white will actually make you more visible to other road users over a more traditional black suit.
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No seams have come undone and all the zips work. Speaking of zips, the leather tab on the main zip gave way after about a year of use and some of the more intricate detailing to the suit, most notably the big logo on the chest have peeled away. I'm putting the later down to wearing a ruck sack and the friction between the two resulting in the damage. For what is effect a £1000 suit, this is disappointing.

Thankfully I haven't tested its crash performance so can't speak for it. General press coverage for the suit has been quite positive however and the armour in the suit never makes it uncomfortable and is present in all the major zones, with the exception of the chest.

The venting helps keep my temperature down, but even when its not exactly baking, I do find myself being quite hot in the suit, especially when not in motion.

I chose this suit over others primarily for the hard plastic armour on the outside of the suit on the shoulders, elbows and knees. My previous suit didn't have these and I prefer the prospect of the plastic sliding on the tarmac rather than the leather gripping at impact.

So am I happy with the suit? Well yes I am. Its my preferred piece of kit and will wear it whenever I can, even if there is a risk of rain. The level of comfort means that when riding, it doesn't register that I'm wearing it. The Atem is now onto it's third iteration is a still priced around the £1000 mark, so it's quite an investment. I'd certainly buy another one, but would probably steer away from one with such large white areas.