Hiya, guys! Just wanted to ask for some advice from the mag guys or the public: I make a trip to ride dunes a couple of times a year, most of the other time I ride trails. The problem is I keep a death-grip on my 400EX handlebars. After a couple of days straight of riding I have connect-the-dot blisters on the top of my palm from the gripping so hard(sometimes on side of thumb, too). I have stock grips & wear Thor Phase gloves. What's the remedy?  

the remedy is get new four racing gloves with the gel thumb pad for quad riders and a softer grip like  the moose xcr grips or spider grips. lossen up a bit when you ride. the last thing you should do is ride more! ride whenever u get the chance. i ride my 400ex every weekend and at least one weeknight every week. your hands will get tougher from riding more. where your blisters are i have calluses. i'm only 15. when you ride it has to be good hard riding not screwing around in the back yard. find some woods. if u still can't rid yourself of blisters take a break from riding about every hour or so. i have uncles who do that when we trail ride in Wisc.  

I can relate to the connect-the-dots blisters on your hands; I get them too. I ride almost every weekend, and I still get them sometimes.

The answer, I've found, is soft grips and gloves that fit properly. If your gloves are too long in the fingers, they'll bunch around the base of your finger and make the blistering on the top of your palms worse. I have small, narrow hands and small fingers (girl) and find that AXO gloves work great for me.

Spiders are my favorite grips. They're soft and gelee like. They'll wear down quicker, but I'd rather wear out my grips than my hands.

Sports tape might also be a good solution. If you can't get new gloves and grips right away, just run to the drug store and get sports tape. It's a great quick-fix; the stuff works wonders!

JT
(resident web editor)