Riding As If Any Day Could Be The Last
I love how warm this flap keeps my chin and upper neck.
The snow arrived Sunday morning instead of Saturday night, as had been predicted. Doesn’t matter, it came.
Meanwhile, Friday and Saturday were good days to ride, and knowing at this time of year that any day could be the last rideable day of the year, you bet I did. Friday I rode to work, which has an even greater possibility of being the last day this year I can do that. It probably won’t be, but it has the possibility. And Saturday I took a ride up to Loveland for a meeting. Both were glorious.
Once again the cold-weather gear was crucial. The electric vest was key, and more and more, the heated gloves are also becoming key. Saturday I also wore my fleece-lined chaps because it was going to be a longer ride, at higher speeds, in cooler weather than Friday.
One item I haven’t mentioned before is this flap on the under side of my helmet, as you see in the photo above. I’m growing to love that thing. Wearing a different helmet on Friday, the wind came up under the helmet and my throat and chin were cold. On Saturday I wore the helmet with the flap and my chin was toasty. It’s an amazing difference. Of course, a turtleneck helped, too.
I’m getting more acquainted with the electric gloves as well. These are Gerbings and they are battery powered. Both the previous weekend and then again on Saturday I ran those batteries dead. That’s starting to give me a feel for just how long they are really good for. Which is to say, two hours at the number two setting is about all they’ll do. But I’ve also learned something else: they are, all by themselves, very warm gloves. Even once they go dead they do a darn good job of keeping your hands warm.
That makes sense. The designer wants to make the batteries last as long as possible. The warmer the gloves are just on their own, the lower the heat level can be set, and the longer the battery life. Now I’ll start experimenting with using them as the level three setting. If my hands are still acceptably warm, that should nearly double the battery life. It’s not really so important that your hands be toasty warm, but rather that they not become numb little ice cubes. Yes, I know some people will say you should just get gloves that plug into the bike, just like the vest, but I don’t like all those wires. And with batteries I can wear the gloves anywhere, not just on the bike.
It’s also nice that the gloves are getting more broken in now, less stiff, and are conforming to my hands.
So the forecast for the next week is cold with more snow flurries at least. Who knows when it will be decent riding weather again. It’s now time to start hoping for good weather at least on Dec. 31. That’s the date of the Last Brass Monkey Run, which is traditionally the final organized ride of the year. Of course, then there’s some group–can’t remember who, the BMW guys?–who do a January 1 ride each year. This is a big reason I love living in Colorado.
Biker Quote for Today
My motorcycle is a gift from my children, purchased with money they will not inherit.
Tags: Gerbing heated gear
