Building the perfect post-workout poncho

So what the heck is a Shaka Poncho?

Honestly this idea started when I saw Jay Hoovy put a Slow Tide surf changing poncho on in one of his videos, and it immediately hit me that nothing exists for cyclists.

Surfers use these ponchos routinely for changing before and after surfing, and cyclists, runners, triathletes, climbers, etc. like me just sit there in our disgusting post-workout gear with sweat seeping into the car and seatbelt the whole ride home. 

I've done this about a million times over the last year. I'd go out on a Saturday morning for the long ride of the week, have the time of my life...and then get back in my car a disgusting, sweaty, post-ride disaster. Sweat gets in the fabric of the seat, the seatbelt, the headrest. Inevitably a strange odor builds up. 

I've tried sitting on towels. I've watched others roll around in their car trying to change out of their bibs and cycling gear to get into to something dry and comfortable. 

I've sat in the car drenched after a surprise storm rolls through the ride, where you get back to your car and your entire body is some version of this:

You get through a ride like this and you don't feel irritable, or gross, you feel alive.

You feel the post-ride high, having crushed a tough ride in nasty weather, completed the day's workout, and braved the elements. When you get in your car though everything changes. It's just a soggy, frustrating, downer of a feeling. 

I just can't believe we're not already doing this whole changing poncho thing like surfers, so I figure it's on me to do it. How hard can making a poncho be anyway, right?

In a past life, I would have hired a team or person to design the product and iterate from there, ultimately hoping we get a great product and product-market fit before running out of money. The last version of this I tried though (B2B SaaS product) resulted in a huge loss and a series of realizations about how I approach building companies.

I have a close friend (hey Filip) who advised me to do this one differently, especially since it's just cutting some holes in cloth to make a poncho...right? Regardless, his advice was to do it all yourself, make the first few versions at minimum yourself, and iterate iterate iterate. 

So here I am, iterating:

 

 

This first version was not even remotely workable. It is heavy, the wrong material, fits like a potato sack, and has 0 features other than being a blanket with some holes in it. But that's okay. I can tell you that just learning to set up a sewing machine and its thread, finding some cool-looking fabric, and putting a basic poncho together was one of the most gratifying feelings I'd felt in a minute.

Let's see where this goes. I think I'm on to something. Maybe not, but worst case, I am way more useful in a nuclear apocalypse if I can sew, and steer people away from itchy fabrics.