Cool Riders

[Clint]

Yeah, 22 out of Richmond is pretty fun for a few miles, then it smacks you in the forehead with boredom.

The other is 28 between Sauk Centre and Little Falls, the fun ending around Swanville. That one's a little more technical, but much longer.

[kay]

Originally Posted by Barbarian

Not one C. MINUS One Celsius. As in below freezing.

But it's been bone dry, so it's not too bad. I would not ride in that if it'd been wet, because there'd be too much risk of black ice.

I went looking for winter pants, but couldn't find anything in my size. D'oh! But today I found a fix. I went looking through my closet and found some rarely worn fleece pants. They just fit underneath my leather pants <inhale>, and are toasty warm. Much better than my cotton or polypro long johns.

MINUS ONE!!!
Already?????

I would never ride below zero. But again, we rarely have weather THAT cold.

Yes, fleece is nice!! Those are not only warm, they're comfy, very reasonable to buy and soft. My favorite during winter.

[Barbarian]

Have I mentioned I do a lot of riding overnight? And that it hasn't rained in ten days?

Tuesday will be nice -- low of 6, high of 8, and raining...

[frostbitevinnie]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Yeah, 22 out of Richmond is pretty fun for a few miles, then it smacks you in the forehead with boredom.

The other is 28 between Sauk Centre and Little Falls, the fun ending around Swanville. That one's a little more technical, but much longer.

Have you been on 21? It looked pretty good on the map. 28 is the one I was telling you about that I saw on the map. I think I called it 71, my error. A friend from Little Falls tells me that the state troopers practice on 28 so I had better take it easy? It's starting to sprinkle now but I still want to go out. Where to go is the dilemma.

[Clint]

Just got back. I remembered to wear my overpants this time and rode for almost an hour with only cold fingers. One white crosswalk block gave me a heart-start with a two-wheel slide, though. !

Dunno if I've been on 21. Gonna look it up now.

[frostbitevinnie]

I decided to give 28 a shot tonight. Not the smartest idea I have had. I went via hwy 10 to Little Falls, then 28 to Sauk Center, then home. Left at 4:00 got back at 6:30. 107 miles rt. Cold, dark and a bit wet which is ok. It was just the paranoid deer I came across running from the hunters that gave my heart an extra beat. I think next time I will go in the light of day and actually enjoy the ride. Still warming up!! BURRRRRRR!!! Glad your still with us Clint!

[intimid8er]

54 this morning.

I know some of you probably think I'm being sarcastic when I post about being cold in the 70's. Think about it. I'm used to twenty degrees higher.

So today in the fifties. It was time to break out the heavy gear. Full leather jacket, leather gloves, neck gaiter, overpants....the whole get up. I must say the bike was enjoying the cooler air though...It's been runnin' kinda muckety in the humid stuff lately, but this morning, it felt like it was pulling hard in every gear.

[dcstrng]

Sometimes the mere fact the bed is warmer than outside is enough to stop me… but generally I commute until there is danger of frost/ice on the bridges or something equally distasteful – was 33 deg when I left this morning for an hour and a half commute… boy, ain’t `lectric lingerie nice…

[kay]

You commute for an hour and a half on a motorcycle?
How many miles do you need to travel???

Clint, glad you were OK. I hate paint!! And snow. And frost. And rain too!!!
Oh and those manhole lids!

[Sandman]

I was lucky enough to not have any snow here last year, so I rode the whole winter with the longest gap in riding of only 8 days. We did however have morning temps in the teens for a few weeks, my coldest commute on record is 18°F, for this year so far 34°F. I don't have any heated gear, but my commute is only 40-45 minutes. Some days I just arrive colder than others, mostly my hands.

I do want to mention that in temps of 35°F or lower, the roads must be bone dry for me to venture out, and I do take it a bit easier on the highway to help cut down on wind chill.

-Sandman

[frostbitevinnie]

My ride last night was in the upper 30's and I was OK for about an hour and due to the time change I lost all sun by 5:00 pm. That last hour I think a touch of hypothermia was setting in. My neck and lower back seemed to lock in place. Of course it did not help that I was doing 80mph + for almost 30 miles of the 107 that I drove. I had difficulty getting my legs and feet timed at stops. Felt like a newbie again stopping too hard and not getting my feet down in time or way too early. Felt like a horse kicked me in the kidney after I woke this morning. It sure sucks gettin old!!

[Barbarian]

You left off the letter 'c' in your last sentence

[C50dreamin]

Originally Posted by kay

You commute for an hour and a half on a motorcycle?
How many miles do you need to travel???

If you are talking about me, 65 miles one way, all on two lane blacktop down on the coast, meeting traffic coming my way the whole way in at mostly 5:30am but sometimes a 2:30am...

The route has 6 stop signs, three redlights and a set of reserves directing traffic at one point along the way for the plant traffic coming and leaving. Also if I miss a 10 minute window I have to follow some morons getting off their night shifts that are probably asleep at the wheel driving 50 MPH in a 65 zone for about 15 miles untill it is safe to pass against the oncoming traffic...but now that daylights savings time has ended here I will be able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise almost every morning as I ride in to work and a equally beautiful sunset as I arrive home in the evening...

[frostbitevinnie]

Originally Posted by Barbarian

You left off the letter 'c' in your last sentence

Took me a while to figure this one out. No, I did not leave out the letter 'c'. It sucks getting old and it sucks being affected more by the cold as I get old. I'm so old my nose is growing mold, blah, blah, blah.

Hey Clint I found 21 today. Took 2 through St. Joe to Cold Spring, through Cold Spring out of town about 3 miles on 2. 21 to 9, right on 9 then left on 22 to Eden Valley. I turned around and did the whole shebang again. Not a bad ride and better than taking 23 to Richmond.

[Clint]

Cool. I did see it on Google maps, but that doesn't really tell me what the ride is like. Good to know. Now I just have to get up the gumption to go. Tomorrow may be nicer.

[frostbitevinnie]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Cool. I did see it on Google maps, but that doesn't really tell me what the ride is like. Good to know. Now I just have to get up the gumption to go. Tomorrow may be nicer.

Mostly long sweeping curves, nothing sudden and short like 22 but it sure beats taking 23 all the way into Richmond. I took a double dose of 100mg of gumption and off I went. Still got back with cold toes though. Gotta get warmer socks!!