SEVENTIES COOL
Judging by the photo above, to ride enduro in the seventies it was desirable to smoke. Apart from the obvious tar sticks in hand, at least five of the eight above riders were smokers. If at all possible it was essential to display some facial hair, once again five of the eight do so. And while on the subject of hair, this was an era of big hair, even on blokes. Clothes as we know make a strong statement in time, all eight of us are wearing leather pants. Hardly a fashion statement, this was before nylon was accepted for competition use. Leather pants were expensive, stifling in hot conditions, heavy and clinging when wet, but luxury to slide down a tar sealed or gravel road on. Another advantage of leather was that it never ripped or wore out - pants were passed from father to son, usually when the former's gut grew too big. There was not an inch of stretch in leather.
So called MX tops were still to find universal favour at this time. For competition, heavy cotton footy shirts or worsted wool were specified by the competition rules, somewhat less of a trial to wear than leather and tough enough when you did hit the ground. Most riders tended to favour rugby shirts in local team colours, often leftovers they had played in at school. Like the pants they lasted generations.
Five of the riders in this photo are wearing Belstaff or Barbour waxed cotton enduro jackets. In fact we most did, especially in wet conditions. With long road sections interspersed on the courses of the day protection from wet and cold was essential if you were to arrive at the next off road section warm enough to ride with any co-ordination. In off road sections the jacket was usually left unzipped, or could be taken off and furled around the waist. Waxed cotton jackets are still made and popular overseas with serious hiking and bird watching types, because funny though they might now look, they actually do work, seemingly for ever, my Belstaff is still good as new.
Logos on the outside of clothes were still subject to deep suspicion when this photo was taken. In the early seventies a visible tag on an item of clothing might be indication you had got up with a hangover, and were wearing your clothes inside out. I clearly remember acute embarrassment when first being asked to wear some new riding gear, with brand lettering on the outside! At first, visible logs were a sign that you were a sponsored rider and had been paid to wear an item no matter how embarrassing it was. By the end of the decade that culture had changed and riders would be purchasing logos and stickers so not to be left out.
More about the photo above: The photo I think was taken at the 1978 Waikaia Enduro in Southland.The riders are from left to right: Ian Murray, John Nick, Peter Riley, Bruce Davidson, Rex Affleck, Trevor Gerkin, Roy Affleck, and the late Dave Cochrane.
Thanks to Miles Mc Vicar for filling some of the gaps in my memory.
So called MX tops were still to find universal favour at this time. For competition, heavy cotton footy shirts or worsted wool were specified by the competition rules, somewhat less of a trial to wear than leather and tough enough when you did hit the ground. Most riders tended to favour rugby shirts in local team colours, often leftovers they had played in at school. Like the pants they lasted generations.
Five of the riders in this photo are wearing Belstaff or Barbour waxed cotton enduro jackets. In fact we most did, especially in wet conditions. With long road sections interspersed on the courses of the day protection from wet and cold was essential if you were to arrive at the next off road section warm enough to ride with any co-ordination. In off road sections the jacket was usually left unzipped, or could be taken off and furled around the waist. Waxed cotton jackets are still made and popular overseas with serious hiking and bird watching types, because funny though they might now look, they actually do work, seemingly for ever, my Belstaff is still good as new.
Logos on the outside of clothes were still subject to deep suspicion when this photo was taken. In the early seventies a visible tag on an item of clothing might be indication you had got up with a hangover, and were wearing your clothes inside out. I clearly remember acute embarrassment when first being asked to wear some new riding gear, with brand lettering on the outside! At first, visible logs were a sign that you were a sponsored rider and had been paid to wear an item no matter how embarrassing it was. By the end of the decade that culture had changed and riders would be purchasing logos and stickers so not to be left out.
More about the photo above: The photo I think was taken at the 1978 Waikaia Enduro in Southland.The riders are from left to right: Ian Murray, John Nick, Peter Riley, Bruce Davidson, Rex Affleck, Trevor Gerkin, Roy Affleck, and the late Dave Cochrane.
Thanks to Miles Mc Vicar for filling some of the gaps in my memory.