Passes & Canyons Blog

Continuing something of a theme I’ve been developing this week, I want to talk now about hypothermia. As in getting really, really cold in an unsafe manner.

Hypothermia: An abnormally low body temperature, often caused by prolonged exposure to cold.

I wrote a on Monday about my day riding Motorcycle Lead for a bicycle race. The wind started blowing and the temperature dropped and it started to snow. By the time I got off the bike I started to shake and shiver uncontrollably. That was the beginning of hypothermia. Then on Wednesday I wrote about fairings and how they do so much to keep you warm. This was not planned but I might as well round out the discussion.

The first time I got a taste of hypothermia was on one of the earliest rides I did with my buddies John and Bill in our group that we call the Old Farts Motorcycle Club. We had been down in New Mexico and were headed back into Colorado when we got caught in a cloudburst. We didn’t have rain suits back then, we just got wet. At the time it didn’t seem like such a big deal. In Colorado it is common to have brief rain showers, and then the sun comes out and all is fine. We didn’t get drenched or anything, and we just kept riding.

Awhile later we reached Alamosa and, stopping at the first traffic light in town, agreed unanimously that we really wanted to find a coffee shop before we did anything else. We were cold.

We got to a coffee shop and ordered a pot of coffee and started shivering and shaking. A lot. A whole lot. Over the course of the next hour or so we probably drank eight pots of coffee but just kept shivering. Somewhere along the line we realized that this was hypothermia. We had gotten wet, but the wind dried us out when the rain stopped, but with the moisture it also extracted a dangerous amount of our body heat.

Hypothermia can be dangerous. It can cause you to become mentally confused, which can lead to dangerous or deadly mistakes when riding a motorcycle. It’s not a good thing.

So what should a motorcyclist do to avoid hypothermia, and what do you do if it happens anyway? First off, don’t drink coffee. Hot coffee may seem like just the ticket but you would do a lot better to drink hot cocoa or have a bowl of hot soup. Something with calories. Of course, if coffee is the only warm thing around, as was the case for me at the bicycle races, do what you’ve got to do. Wrapping up in a blanket or sleeping bag is a very good thing, too. If the hypothermia is serious you should not hesitate to call for emergency medical care.

It’s better to avoid hypothermia in the first place. The first line of defense is the proper gear. Carry a good rain suit and don’t delay too long in putting it on. Use your electric vest if you have one. Heated grips would be good. I swear by the fairing on my Concours, and the windshield on the CB750. Wear plenty of layers. Stop frequently and get warm in a convenience store/gas station, cafe, or rest stop. Wear synthetics or wools that don’t hold the moisture in direct contact with you skin. Avoid alcohol if you’re going out somewhere where you’re likely to get cold.

Mostly it’s just common sense: stay warm in whatever way you can. Don’t be an idiot. It’s better to arrive late, or call off the ride, than never arrive again.

Biker Quote for Today

Never be afraid to slow down.