LIFE OFF THE ROAD BY Eglė Gerulaitytė
MOTORYCYCLE DIARIES
I’ve been on the road since 2013 traveling the world on my motorcycle, mostly sticking to off-road trails and looking for new challenges along the way. I’ve ridden South America solo, travelled across the US tackling parts of the Trans America Trail, rode from Arizona to Chile on my Suzuki DR650 dual sports bike, and chased Rally Dakar in Peru.
As a motorcycle traveller, journalist, and tour guide, I’m always on the go, which means I more or less live in my gear. And that’s why it matters even more: it’s not just about impact protection, it’s also about overall safety, comfort, and durability.
KLIM Krios Pro
Enter Klim Krios, the lightest ADV helmet ever invented. Doing long-distances and long hours in the saddle on and off the road, dealing with different terrain, climate zones, and altitudes, I’d always appreciated how comfortable and light Klim Krios was, without compromising the safety. However, adventure traveling isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey, and after experiencing what it’s like to chase Rally Dakar back in 2019, I realized merely riding wasn’t enough for me anymore. Bitten by the rally bug, I rode to Chile, packed my bike into a shipping container, and sent it to Europe. Here, I began racing roadbook navigation rallies as a competitor and training on ever more technical terrain.
Protected by Koroyd
As luck would have it, my rally obsession coincided with Klim partnering up with Koroyd and coming out with the new Krios Pro helmet. Not only the Krios Pro was as light and comfy as its predecessor, but it had improved safety features. The integrated Koroyd system meant the helmet was much more effective in absorbing impact forces, and although I didn’t know this at the time, I was about to find out what that felt like up close and personal.
a world of adventure
Having finished my rally season in Europe, I was back in South America freelancing as a motorcycle tour guide. After completing several tours in Ecuador and Colombia, I was kicking back in Quito enjoying some free time before heading back to Spain or Greece to race again. A friend of mine, a local Ecuadorian rider, invited me for an afternoon out on the trails on his KTM EXC 500 motorcycles. Never one to pass up some decent single track training, I jumped at the opportunity.
TECHNICAL CLIMB
Diego took me out on the trails in a forest just outside Quito where we did some hillclimbs, then headed for the narrow forest paths. One particular section stood out as a little more technical: a steep climb with enormous tree roots sticking out creating natural steps, the path winding up a hill. On our left was the face of the hill; on our right, a steep drop. The key was to blip the throttle just so to power up and over the tree roots while steering steadily left, or else you’d end up flying off the drop. It wasn’t a long way down, but it was very steep, and an involuntary landing would likely result in injury.
TAKING ON THE GNAR
When it comes to off-road riding and racing, confidence is everything. Either you have too little of it and go too slow, or you have too much and end up making a mistake. While I usually suffer from the former, that day riding with Diego, I was getting too confident for my own good.
After doing a couple of laps of the trail and tackling the gnarly hill section, I felt like I had it in the bag. “Shall we try it at a higher speed?”, Diego asked me. I nodded, feeling an adrenaline surge.
head impact
Approaching the first few obstacles – the section of the path littered with rocks and smaller roots – at higher speed proved to be the right choice. However, going over the larger roots forming those natural steps up the hill, what I needed was precision and traction, not merely power.
They say accidents always feel like they last much longer than the split second in which they actually happen, but for me, time didn’t slow.
One second, I was opening the throttle, the next, I was flying over the edge and off the drop, landing on the hillside, head-first, the bike crashing right next to me. I sat up, feeling dizzy and nauseous, but because I was wearing my neck brace and my Klim Krios Pro, I was confident I was going to come out of this unscathed. Diego helped me rescue the bike, and we continued riding for a little while before I started feeling worse and realized a trip to the ER might be a good idea.
A trip to ER
At the hospital, because of extreme vertigo and dizziness that I felt, the doctors immediately suspected a spine injury.
Thankfully, a CT scan revealed I hadn’t broken or dislocated anything.
“It’s a bad concussion, and you’re incredibly lucky you don’t have a brain injury after a fall like that”, the doc told me before prescribing some anti-vertigo meds and telling me to stay off bikes and sports for at least a couple of weeks.
Having a severe concussion is a weird feeling. On the one hand, it doesn’t hurt, you’re not bed-bound, and you can still more or less function. On the other hand, however, you’re lightheaded and dizzy, unable to focus, drained of energy, and disoriented all the time.
As someone who is active and is usually found on a motorcycle, not on a couch, being incapacitated in such a strange, insidious way felt incredibly unsettling.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTION
But what I was also feeling very deeply was gratitude. I knew just how lucky I was to walk away from the crash with just a concussion.
And at the same time, I couldn’t help but weigh all the “what ifs”.
What if I hadn’t been wearing my neck brace? What if I had some cheap, borrowed helmet instead of my Krios Pro?
What if the impact force transferred to my head had been almost twice as strong, which could have been the case if the Krios Pro did not have the integrated Koroyd technology?
SAFETY FIRST
When the going is good, it’s easy to take things for granted. But when things go wrong – and in a rally race, a motorcycle tour, or an off-road adventure, they can go wrong in a split second – that’s when you really appreciate all your safety gear and all the high-tech that goes into creating it. Klim Krios Pro with Koroyd has kept me safe and sound during my South America motorcycle tours, a five-day Hispania Rally race in Granada, off-road training in Lithuania, and hopefully, for many more adventures and races to come.
REAL-LIFE REVIEW
When you’re shopping for your next adventure motorcycle or dirt bike helmet, look for that tiny green Koroyd logo on it. You won’t feel the Koroyd, and for the most part, you’ll probably simply forget about it. But when you need it the most, it might just make the difference between suffering a serious brain injury or walking away with just a concussion.
why choose koroyd?
More versatile than alternatives
Beyond the lab, no matter how you fall, you want the best energy absorber. Koroyd is optimised for maximum protection and absorbs more energy per millimetre than traditional materials, regardless of the angle of impact.
performaNCE AT DIFFERENT VELOCITIES
Koroyd is proven to perform consistently better than EPS foam (expanded polystyrene) when impacted in a high or low speed accident, further validating that Koroyd really is the ultimate damage control system.
consistent at adverse temperatures
The performance of EPS foam (expanded polystyrene) is much more variable in comparison to Koroyd because it stiffens when cold and softens when hot.
Koroyd’s ability to absorb energy is more consistent than EPS foam in temperatures of -20°C to +50°C.
PROTECTION WITHOUT COMPROMISE
Koroyd provides advanced breathability and ultralight feel, but first and foremost, better protection which may reduce the risk of suffering a life-changing injury.
Click below to learn more about the technology and the unique performance advantages of Koroyd.
