Motorcycle cop, father, content creator... Jonathan, better known as John Pimouss , takes on a multitude of roles, each as exciting as the next! Suffering from Raynaud's disease, John has fitted himself with OUTDOOR V2 heated socksand heated under-gloves to alleviate his symptoms and keep him well-dressed on duty and in everyday life.
He tells us more about his background and profession, his diagnosis and his relationship with cold!
HOW DO YOU BECOME A POLICE MOTORCYCLIST?
My father passed on his passion for motorcycles to me at a very early age. As a child, I was fascinated by the police and I absolutely wanted to combine my passion with my profession. But it didn't happen right away. After seven years working as a real estate agent, I dropped everything to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a policeman.
It's been a long road, especially becoming a motorcyclist, but I'm delighted to have reached the end, especially when I realize that it was only a dream a few years ago!
I'm always so happy and in awe when I see the bikes go by, it's a great source of pride.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR DIAGNOSIS OF RAYNAUD'S DISEASE?
I realized this by looking at my hands. On a motorcycle, you constantly need your hands to engage and disengage the clutch... Even when you're used to it, your blood circulation is cut off when it's very cold. But when you have Raynaud's disease, it's harder to bear.
The first moments on the bike when I really started to feel the cold, when I took off my gloves, I saw that my phalanges were completely white. I realized that this wasn't normal, but I didn't feel any more alarmed than that.
Eventually, the blood would come back, even if it always tingled a little after being exposed to the cold for too long.
As time went by, I noticed that my hands were getting whiter and whiter. That's when I really started to worry. So I turned to a nurse friend of mine to find out more. She told me that it was Raynaud's disease and that I needed to do what I could to keep my extremities warm, or risk the disease advancing a little further on my hand.
Since I know it's Raynaud's disease and how to protect myself, I make sure I always have warmth in my extremities.
As a police officer, and a motorcyclist at that, having hands that are sore from the cold can be a real hindrance, both in terms of handling my bike and my police gear.
Having faced situations where I've needed to restrain someone, feeling that you don't have the full power of your fingers at such times can be disabling.
AN EPISODE WHERE THE COLD WAS PARTICULARLY DISABLING?
As my job requires me to ride at full speed, temperatures on a motorcycle can quickly become extreme. Just take a look at the temperature chart, and if you add the wind, at 0°C and over 100 km/h, you'll soon find yourself at a perceived temperature of -30°C.
If you don't have the right equipment, it quickly becomes unbearable.
I also often find myself waiting three hours at the airport before escorting a VIP, as the options for warming up, especially hands, become very limited. I've even seen colleagues on their knees behind the motorcycle, warming themselves with the exhaust pipe...
We end up developing a whole host of techniques to combat the cold: hands on the frame of the bike, layers under the uniform so you feel like the Michelin man, pacing....
That's when you realize how important it is to have the right materials and equipment to deal with this kind of situation, which you don't necessarily anticipate.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEATED SOCKS AND HEATED UNDERGLOVES G-HEAT ?
I haven't had time to put them to the test yet, but for the few times I've been able to use them so far, I've been delighted. The heated underglove is very thin, so it fits nicely underneath my policeman's glove. I can't wait to use them more. As for the heated socks, the material is top-notch, it's very comfortable and I really like the fact that it's remotely adjustable via the remote control.
I would have found myself a bit annoyed if I had to bend over every time I wanted to change the temperature, especially in service.
