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| GlowRider Jacket at the 2011 NYC Marathon! |
We've been very secretive about our next product. There's been a lot of speculations, and at the end of last month, we finally revealed it to our dealers and industry insiders on what it is: a motorcycle jacket.
Why a jacket? Aren't there literally thousands of different brands of motorcycle jackets in the market already?
Well, yes, there are plenty of jackets out there. But we are Adaptiv Technologies. We want to make motorcycle products that are innovative and unique, and yes, our jackets are like no other jacket out there right now.
The name of the jacket is a dead giveaway on the unique feature of our jacket: it glows.
We used ElectroLuminescent (EL) technology and incorporated it into a high quality, all-season jacket. The end result is a functional, good looking jacket that significantly increases your nighttime visibility. We have several patents (and patents pending as well) on what we did and everyone who had a chance to see it all agreed that it really does look awesome when it's lit up.
We've been testing our jacket since the beginning of the year. We want to make sure that the jacket itself is a functional, comfortable, and durable jacket. We rode through rain storms to make sure it's waterproof. We rode through the canyons to make sure it's agile. We rode for miles and miles to make sure that it stays comfortable. We rode through the cold to make sure that it'll keep you warm. We rode through the heat to make sure that it's well ventilated. And we rode through the night to make sure that other people can see us better.
At the end, we have a product that we are proud of. The jacket went into production a few months ago and we expect to have it available by January 2012. We can't wait. We really think that once you ride with this jacket at night, you won't ride with anything else ever again. At least this is how I feel.
During this time, a friend of mine, who owns a film production company that was hired by the organizer of New York City Marathon, asked if I could help him out for the race. He needed a competitive runner who is also an experienced motorcyclist to ride a motorcycle or scooter IN the marathon with a cameraman to film the race, and I have these unique requirements.
The NYC Marathon is one of the biggest and most celebrated marathons in the world, and this unique chance to be involved with the event doesn't come by often, so of course I jumped on this opportunity.
I arrived into NYC the day before the race and found out that I'll be riding a Vespa 250, complete with an awesome flame job. After picking up the bike and went over a few test runs with the cameraman, I was ready for the race.
On race day, I donned the GlowRider Jacket. It's the first time that the jacket's been out in public. Even though it wasn't really at a motorcycle event and I'm sure the runners didn't care what kind of jacket I was wearing, it was exciting for me!
For the race, I was to follow Ryan Sutter, a former NFL player but probably better known as the winning bachelor in the very first season of the show The Bachelorette, on First Avenue in Manhattan and then cut over to Fifth Avenue to film other marathoners.
The task turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated. First of all, riding at low speed with a cameraman constantly shifting his weight on the back of the bike requires much more strength than just regular riding. Add on several thousand runners around you moving at various paces while trying to stay out of their way definitely didn't make it any easier. It got even hairier at the water stations, where runners were cutting left and right trying to get their water, some speeding up, some slowing down, some stopping, some literally falling over, and having to anticipate their movements, not get in their way, and riding on a slick surface... it was intense!
At the end, we got our job done. We didn't run into anyone. No one ran into us. We didn't interfere with any runner and didn't piss anyone off. When I got back to my hotel room later that day, I was totally exhausted and really felt like I had just gotten back on an intense, ride-to-my-limit canyon ride.
It was a wonderful experience and I'm grateful that my friend gave me the opportunity. I would definitely do it again in a heart beat.
As for the jacket... we'll be releasing more information, pictures, and videos in the up coming days. Can't wait till January!
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