We recently launched our latest luggage color, Arroyo, which draws inspiration from the colors of desert landscapes.

Arroyo R80 at right, and a rare remaining High Desert R80 background left. Marian Chytka photo.

It takes years of work to bring a new luggage colorway to life across our product line.

[Aug 1st, 2024 at 1:32 PM] Coleman Gibbs: Here are the slides from my new color presentation today. Notes from the meeting:

• We love the monochromatic look of this colorway.
• The sand color is a nice high-desert-like addition to the luggage color lineup.
• It's very versatile, it’ll go well on a lot of different bikes.
• The red accents are a cool detail.

I dug back in Mosko’s Slack channels to find that message and look back at Coleman’s new color presentation from August 2024.

The mood board that opened the deck’s pagination features a geometric assembly of desert tapestry, with sand and red tones across water-carved textural lines. It’s cool to look back and see how the original inspiration compares to the products available now.

I’ve done a bit of desert riding. I’m no expert–I’ve encountered many riders with extensive desert riding experience that translates their abilities into that instinctual and reflexive type of riding. I’m not at that level. But I’ve logged a few miles dual-sporting, racing, and trail riding in deserts, and desert terrain is one of my favorite places to ride and camp. Oftentimes, roads throughout the world follow the lines that water would take–it’s the path of least resistance. In the desert, it's no different.

Racing out to the exit of Arroyo La Turquesa at the bottom of Fred’s Tractor Trail, in the 2023 Baja 1000

Some 50 years ago, the desert racing scene in the Southwest and Mexico was very different from what it is now. These days, race routes follow virtual checkpoints (“VCPs”) along a predetermined course, and riders must follow the VCP line exactly via GPS to avoid penalties. But from the 60s until the 90s, race navigation was much different.

How did racers and desert riders get from point A to point B without GPS? Racers found the fastest lines through pre-running, studying paper maps, or even flying overhead and scouting lines in a Cessna. The racer with the best knowledge of the desert had the fastest routes. Often, those fastest routes followed Arroyos, the way that water flowed.

And it was through these scouting trips, flyovers, and race missions that legendary off-road routes were born in famous Arroyos like Matomi, Chenate, Huatamote, and Colonet. These Arroyos became household names in Baja's travel routes. Elsewhere, in the deserts of the US, many Arroyos became famous travel routes, such as Fish Creek Wash in Anza-Borrego and San Felipe Wash in Ocotillo Wells.

Before the days of GPS, it was totally acceptable navigation practice to find an Arroyo heading in the right azimuth and keep it pinned until it let out.

For this new luggage colorway, we at Mosko are channeling our love for desert riding and the way that flowing water cuts desert travel lines. It’s not the first time we’ve leaned into our appreciation for the desert–many Mosko riders know about the well-loved limited color High Desert. That colorway channeled golden-hour sunset vibes from Central Oregon, with yellow tones and topographic lines from riding maps of the Pacific Northwest. But Arroyo isn’t High Desert 2.0–I’ve actually been jokingly referring to Arroyo as Low Desert. Arroyos aren’t in the mountains or the high desert; rather, the Arroyo is found down at sea level, in the coastal deserts. The Arroyo colorway draws inspiration from the sandy, low desert tones, paired with red accents from desert rocks or a fiery sunset.

Arroyo isn’t a continuation of Mosko’s classic High Desert color, but rather a new, evolved ode to some of our favorite riding locations and the stories behind legendary desert travel routes. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

- Kris Regentin, Marketing Director

Landscape and riding photos by Drew Martin. Arroyo launch imagery by Dan Cronin and Marian Chytka. Baja 1000 race photo courtesy of Get Some Photo.