Posts Tagged ‘winter motorcycling’

The Winter Guessing Game

Monday, December 5th, 2016
motorcycles on the highway

Get out an ride while there’s no snow on the road!

I took the V-Strom out for a first ride of December on Sunday. It would have been a crime not to take advantage of such a nice day.

So how warm was it really? We have thermometers outside our windows in the front of the house and in the back. Our house faces south, so in the front there is sun, while in the back there is shade. The difference in the two readings can be 4 or 5 degrees. The thermometer in the rear said 52.

OK, so how warmly do I need to dress? This is the winter guessing game that I play again and again. It’s easier when it’s only 30 degrees–I put on all the warmest gear I have. At 52 it gets tricky.

I opted for just jeans, no long underwear; my winter gloves, not to be confused with my heated gloves; and a sweatshirt and my electric vest. No scarf. I wavered on the electric vest, wondering if I really needed it, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to have it just in case. But 52 is pretty warm.

However, the wind chill at 60 miles an hour knocks that perceived temperature right down 10 or 15 degrees. Within a mile I had flipped on the vest and with my legs getting chilly I was wondering if omitting the long underwear had been a mistake. Plus, my hands were getting pretty chilly.

I got over it though. It didn’t take long and I wasn’t minding the cool legs and my hands didn’t feel so chilly. It was a really nice, sunny day, and I was glad to be out on the bike. Of course the fact that the electric vest was keeping my core nice and toasty made a huge difference. But after awhile I even cracked my visor so I’d get some breeze on my face. It felt good.

Didn’t see a lot of other folks out on bikes, just one guy on a sportbike on Parker Road. Come on now, you’re telling me you weren’t driven to get out on such a nice day? It’s only going to get colder, at least for this next week.

I didn’t go a long way; I’ve got this shoulder that was hurting me pretty bad because of some strain I put on it doing some work on my driveway earlier in the day. That was another project that needed to be done on a warm day and it was actually my first priority. I’d go for a ride afterward. But that meant when I got on the bike I was hurting.

Still, I got out, and it was nice. I suspect next time I get out on a bike it’s not going to be so nice. But in that case I won’t need to play the guessing game.

Biker Quote for Today

When life gets you down, remember, it’s only one down and the rest is up.

Finally A Clear Exit Path–Barely

Thursday, January 21st, 2016
A path through the ice just wide enough for a motorcycle tire.

I gouged this passageway out of the ice about an hour earlier.

The snow that was predicted but didn’t come over the weekend made all the difference in our street getting clear. On Monday we got a dusting but it was gone by afternoon. Finally on Wednesday, thanks to a little gouging with my heel, a lane just wide enough for my tires was open and I could ride out of the neighborhood without using the sidewalk for the first time in weeks. So I did.

Having no set route in mind I did what I often do, riding across the top of the Cherry Creek Dam heading southeast out of town. I got down to Parker and decided to go east on Main Street. Probably the last time I had gone east out of Parker on Main Street was about 35 years ago. I don’t know what the population was then but a quick search shows me it was 5,450 in 1990. Today that figure sits at about 50,000. So yeah, there have been a lot of changes.

I proceeded east past streets whose names I didn’t recognize–which is to say they are not major north-south streets–until I came to a T intersection at Delbert Road. I had never heard of Delbert Road. I figured I’d go north.

I was definitely out on the very eastern edge of the metro area here, with primarily 2.5-acre “ranchettes” and their McMansions.

Delbert Road effectively ends when it hits County Line Road, although it does go a little beyond. I stayed on it and to my left I could see the newest neighborhoods under construction. And after about a block Delbert turned to mud so I turned around. I was on the Honda so I would not have objected if it was just dirt, but mud was a different matter, especially since the tires on that bike are ready to be replaced and there is very little tread left.

Heading west now on County Line Road, I found that it does not even go through right here, hitting a T intersection at Powhaton Road. So I turned north on Powhaton and very soon it started looking familiar. When I reached the very end of Smoky Hill Road I knew why it looked familiar; I had been here coming the other direction once before.

So that gave me a very direct shot back into town along Smoky Hill. I headed home. The mileage on this ride was around 40, which was fine on a January day. I wore my electric vest and had it turned on and I even bumped my heated gloves up from the lowest setting to two notches higher. I would have been cold without them. I’ve also been wearing my fleece-lined chaps lately. They’re much warmer than my leather ones.

So the forecast for this weekend looks great. Anyone who isn’t out on their bike on Saturday just isn’t even trying.

Biker Quote for Today

Race the rain. Ride the wind. Chase the sunset. Only a biker understands.

Balmy December Riding

Thursday, December 19th, 2013
Gerbing heated gloves

I love my heated gloves.

Beautiful day on Wednesday and I rode to work. Yahoo!

It had been 17 days since I’d been on a bike, most of that bitter cold and still snow and ice on our street even once the temperatures turned up. But Wednesday was great.

Starting out in the morning it was brisk, of course, so I wore the electric vest and electric gloves. Almost felt like I didn’t need the vest but it pushed me from on the verge of chilly to very comfy.

As for the gloves, I got to do a real test there because for whatever reason, I couldn’t get one of them to turn on. They’re warm gloves in their own right, so my left hand never got cold, except that by the time I got to work the very tips of my fingers were definitely feeling it.

Of course there were a slew of bikes in the parking lot today. There are a bunch of riders at the National Park Service who are serious bikers, riding just about any time they can. Most of them ride BMWs, so I assume they have electric seats, electric grips, and all that. They’re pretty much all 1200 GS’s and RS’s. There was one guy there today on a Honda, I noticed.

Coming home I didn’t use the vest at all but I did turn the gloves on. And yes, that’s plural. The one that wouldn’t come on in the morning did come on in the evening. Except I got about three blocks and it shut off again. I fiddled with it and got it on again and it stayed on the rest of the ride. So both hands had heat and I couldn’t tell if I really needed them or not.

Of course, I was on the Concours. That’s my warmest bike. It has a large fairing and the engine pumps out a ton of heat. That heat is not particularly welcome in the summer but in the winter it’s wonderful. I would have needed the heated gear a lot more on either the Honda or the Suzuki.

And I was trying out some new ear plugs, too. These things are some kind of high-tech product that are supposed to do a really good job of muffling loud noise while allowing you to hear clearly to talk or to be aware of traffic. I can’t really say for sure yet how good I think they are, but once I’ve used them a bit more I’ll make a report.

Now the weather is turning colder again. Hope I get to ride some more this month yet. As long as the road stays clear that should happen. But there’s possible snow in the near-term forecast. Keep your fingers crossed.

Biker Quote for Today

My solution for winter riding is to buy an old bike (winter hack) keeping your pride ‘n’ joy all warm and tucked away until the sun or warmer weather returns.

How Quickly We Turn To Fall

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

It seems like only last week we were cooking through the hottest August on record in Colorado. Oh, wait. It was last week. And now here it is September and yesterday’s high was about 65 degrees. Is that cool enough for you?

Dual-sport riding in the mountains in the fallMore importantly, we know what that portends. It’s not going to be long and the leaves will be turning and there will be snow. The riding season anywhere higher than the prairie will be ended. Fortunately, the riding season on the prairie never ends, it just takes a hiatus now and then. But I ride 12 months out of the year, every year, no exceptions, and I know others who do the same. It would be different if I lived above 8,000 feet. Maybe even 7,000.

With that in mind I was interested in a piece put out yesterday by Lisa Petrocelli, the Albany Biker Culture Examiner, called “Season of the biker.” What she said was that, “An interesting thought occurred to me today – that the seasons of the year seem to last twice as long for bikers.”

Her gist was that winter, when we can’t ride, seems to last twice as long. And summer comes early and stays late because while others are resigning themselves to the seasons, we are claiming the warmth sooner and clinging to it later.

As Lisa says, “while most people around me (family members, co-workers) seem to be geared toward the coming season, the bikers around me are still at rest in the Summertime. Yes, we all know this is the last month of Summer, but it IS STILL SUMMER! I have seen absolutely no movement by the bikers in my world to even consider slowing down or start to think about storing their bikes for the winter.”

It is, of course, only early September right now and there is some great riding to be done in the next several weeks. Fall color rides are a great thing to do and there’s no better way to see it all than on a motorcycle. But I still need to get out and do some dual-sport riding. That’s something that does have a time factor on it.

I’ve been trying all summer to find time to get up to Gunnison and go riding with Kevin Smith, who runs Colorado Mountain Moto, and that time has not been found. I finally emailed Kevin the other day saying I’m ready to throw a dart at the calendar and just do it. Likewise, I’ve been planning to ride with Ron Coleman of Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures and Dan Patino of Go 2 Motorcycle Tours and it just hasn’t happened. I think it’s safe to say you can look forward to several dual-sport riding reports here in the very near future. If not, I’m going to be kicking myself hard.

It’s time to ride. Everything else can wait.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle rentals for a lot less

Biker Quote for Today

When the sun shines two wheels always win.

Watching the Weather as Launch Date Approaches

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Taking a long motorcycle trip at this time of year can be iffy. I’m now planning to leave Denver on Sunday morning, headed to Scottsdale for Arizona Bike Week, and you can bet I’ve been watching the five-day forecast. It’s got me a little anxious.

Yesterday the Sunday forecast was for highs in Denver around 38. Chilly! Today they’re saying 48. Better. Still, there is a 30 percent change of precipitation, either snow or rain. You can see why my anxiety level is up a bit. I can deal with rain but I really don’t want snow.

Of course, the two main points of concern are going to be the Palmer Divide, where the elevation is 7,500 feet, and Raton Pass, at 7,834 feet. I figure if I can get past those spots I’ll be OK. If.

Still, it will be very interesting to see how much it matters being further south, because once I get into New Mexico I’ll actually be going up. Santa Fe is at 6,989 feet, Albuquerque is about the same as Denver, and then Grants is 6,460, Prewitt is 6,827, and Gallup is 6,468. The highs for all of them for Sunday should be in the 50s and they’re all showing a 30 percent chance of precip.

I’m figuring on Sunday to ride as far as Grants, Prewitt, or Gallup. At 580 miles, Gallup is definitely doable on the interstate in a day. But if I’m wet and freezing my ass off it will definitely affect my plans. I have an electric vest; just wish I had heated grips or heated gloves. I know from winter riding that my hands are likely to be the coldest part of my body.

Oh well, nothing like a motorcycle road trip to really make you feel like you’re alive.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Dreams and motorcycles: A terrific commercial (yes!)

Biker Quote for Today

Adventure is discomfort recounted at leisure.