Thursday, October 19, 2006

Riding in the cold

I've been riding the last two days with the temps in the high 20's and low 30's during the morning commute. Two days ago was the day after the first snow fall this season. The voice of reason, aka my loving wife, convinced me not to chance it and I ended up taking the car to work. The day however brightened beautifully and although it was cold I could not resist going back home during lunch and swapping my car for the motorcycle. I rode Maria back to work, the temp was around 31-32 degrees or so but my riding gear kept me warm along with the heated grips on Low setting. By the time I went home the roads were dry and temps were now in the upper 30's. Nice ride.

Today, it was 28 degrees at the house when I set off for work in the morning around 0700. Roads were still dry and traffic not too heavy. It was a nice ride in again and the sun came up as I rode along, I saw the temps go up to 32 degrees when I arrived at work. Again the riding gear kept me warm along with the heated grips and the awesome protection Maria's fairing provides her rider. I checked the wind chill charts later and I figured I was at best doing 45mph during the commute so the worst wind chill I was exposed to in the areas not protected by Maria's fairings was 11 degrees! I could feel a layer of cold on the windward portions of my arms but it never made me shiver or feel cold if that makes sense.

The ride home today was in the mid-50's! I skipped wearing the overpants and I think I could have even done without the jacket liner. I stopped by the post office and picked up the letter from the Sturgis BMW dealer with the title to my motorcycle! I can register her now.

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