Linda and I Rode the Cascade Lakes Loop in the Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0

Linda and I have been riding together long enough that we don't need to talk much on the road. A tap on the shoulder means she wants a picture. A squeeze on the waist means slow down, she's cold. Last September, we pointed the Gold Wing south out of Bend and took the Cascade Lakes Loop, and I was wearing the Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 jacket for the first real trip of the season.

The loop is about 130 miles of some of the best pavement in Central Oregon. You climb from the high desert into lodgepole pine, then the lakes start showing up: Elk Lake, Hosmer, Sparks, the big one at the end. The temperature swings twenty degrees between the valley floor and the pass. That kind of ride is exactly where a textile touring jacket earns its keep.

Linda asked me before we left whether the new jacket was warm enough. She's used to me showing up to the garage with something I read about online, and she's learned to ask. I told her it had a removable liner and enough vents for the afternoon, and she gave me the look she gives me when she's not convinced. Two hundred miles later, she was convinced.

I'm 58, a retired heavy-equipment mechanic, and I still ride about 8,000 miles a year. Most of those miles are Central Oregon highways and mountain passes, with one longer trip each summer. I've owned leather, I've owned mesh, I've owned the bargain specials you buy once and regret. The Atomic 5.0 is the first jacket I've owned that I don't think about while I'm riding. That sounds like a small thing, but it's not. When you're not thinking about your gear, your head is on the road.

I'll be honest, I didn't buy it because it was the most expensive jacket on the shelf. I bought it because the armor pockets lined up with my elbows and shoulders, the sleeves were long enough for a tall guy, and the collar didn't choke me when I looked over my shoulder at a car merging into my lane. Fit first. Everything else is marketing until the fit is right.

The Atomic 5.0 is the first jacket I've owned that I don't think about while I'm riding.

We left Bend at about nine in the morning, and by the time we stopped at Elk Lake the temperature had dropped into the low fifties. I had the liner in and the collar snug, and Linda said she was fine behind me because the Gold Wing's fairing blocks most of the wind. The jacket's cuffs sealed well enough that I didn't feel the usual cold finger thing you get with cheaper textile jackets. We stood at the rail for a few minutes, and she said the only thing she regretted was not bringing her neck gaiter.

By one o'clock, the sun was out and we were down at lower elevation, and the jacket was hot. That's the part I was worried about. A lot of touring jackets are either warm and clammy or breathable and useless in a fall. The Atomic 5.0 has vents I could open without stopping. I pulled over at a pullout, unzipped the chest and sleeve vents, and we rode the rest of the afternoon with the liner off and the vents doing their job.

We stopped for lunch at the lodge at Elk Lake, and I left the jacket on the backrest of the bike with the liner folded in the top case. It packs down small enough that it didn't crowd Linda's jacket and the two rain covers we carry. That's another thing I've learned after thirty years: gear you can't carry is gear you leave at home, and leaving it at home is how you get caught in a storm.

The last stretch down to the highway was in the late afternoon, and we hit a quick shower just west of Bend. I buttoned the storm flap and zipped the vents closed, and the Joe Rocket's waterproof liner kept the wet off. Linda and I rolled into the driveway with about 300 miles on the day, and I hung the jacket in the garage to dry overnight. It was ready to go again the next morning, which is more than I can say for the last textile jacket I owned.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you're thinking about a touring jacket and you don't want to spend the next two seasons trying on five different ones at the shop, here's what I'd say. Get the fit right first, not the logo. The Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 fits like it was cut for someone who is actually shaped like a person, and that's rarer than it should be. The armor is where it should be, the sleeves are long, and the collar is comfortable. If you ride a Gold Wing like I do, or any bike where you're sitting up, this jacket works with that riding position. If you're a sport bike rider, try it on before you buy, because the cut is more touring than track.

One more thing. Don't buy gear because you think it will make you immortal. No jacket can do that. Buy gear because it makes you comfortable enough to keep your attention on the road, and because when you do go down, the armor is in the right places. The Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 has done that for me, and it's been on my back for a few thousand miles this year.