What A Ride!

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:57 pm

What A Ride!

It was cold as a pre-dawn 5 AM cold, the first for north Texas this Fall, yet at the same time the sun was shining in all God’s glory bathing everything in bright sunshine as if it was the middle of an ideal summer day and the skies, the skies were the perfect shade of sky blue and as if left over after a party, there were strands of light fluffy clouds strewn about the sky and it was a crisp 36 degrees. I have no idea what the chill factor was yet before leaving the house I grabbed an extra fleece layer under my riding jacket, opted for a muffler rather than my bacaclava and pulled on my Taos River Road gloves, only missing my flannel lined jeans. That was my ride to work this morning. Awesome.

RoadRambler · Post by **RoadRambler** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:16 pm

Very nice! Yesterday was a superlative day for riding here (VA), and I was able to make the most of it!

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:55 pm

how the heck is 36 degrees "crisp?" did Texas become a snow state overnight and now anything above freezing is crisp?

it reminds me of when watching the World Series from Boston and all the fans were bundled up, layered in jackets, coats, and scarves. hats on their heads. and the announcer said "...we have a good one going here on a beautiful, clear night in Boston. it's chilly out but NOT cold and the fans are loving every minute of it...."

the fans were dressed like Eskimos!! wtf, "not cold." what does it take, folks?

just goes to show 'ya. glad you loved your ride, and i envy you. because if that were me i'd be inside sipping hot chocolate until the temp hit 50, at least. 45 in a tough spot, upper 30's if desperate. but anything approaching "beautiful" and God sent in 36 degrees is going unnoticed by this SoCal softy

Drum Pro · Post by **Drum Pro** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 4:16 pm

@JHScoot: I can see where the OP is coming from cos I ride when it gets abot 30 deg. and you gotta remember L.A. has an insulating layer of smog that protects a little from the cold. LOL!!!!

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 4:56 pm

it was 28 when I rode. it's better than coffee for waking you up

.

How that my primary commute is shorter, I look forward to the 1-2x a week longer ones.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:48 pm

Your hands must have gotten pretty cold cause you're even typing in blue!

misterbrackets · Post by **misterbrackets** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:38 pm

Syd wrote:Your hands must have gotten pretty cold cause you're even typing in blue!

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:08 pm

Syd wrote:Your hands must have gotten pretty cold cause you're even typing in blue!

THAT is funny! Very good!

Taos gloves are really awesome - cozy warm fingers all the way.

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:10 pm

skully93 wrote:it was 28 when I rode. it's better than coffee for waking you up .

How that my primary commute is shorter, I look forward to the 1-2x a week longer ones.

Coldest riding for me was 27 degrees a few years ago - and I only rode about 12 miles. That was enough. Even with flannel lined jeans I was cold.

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:14 pm

JHScoot wrote:how the heck is 36 degrees "crisp?" did Texas become a snow state overnight and now anything above freezing is crisp?

...the fans were dressed like Eskimos!! wtf, "not cold." what does it take, folks?

just goes to show 'ya. glad you loved your ride, and i envy you. because if that were me i'd be inside sipping hot chocolate until the temp hit 50, at least. 45 in a tough spot, upper 30's if desperate. but anything approaching "beautiful" and God sent in 36 degrees is going unnoticed by this SoCal softy

Well my wife won't ride under 40 degrees unless I can fool her. She was out at 38 degrees a few times and about made me go get the truck.

And about me - I am a transplanted Yankee… love the snow, miss the snow and tend to run hot yet even at 36 it felt quite cool to me today.

dkw12002 · Post by **dkw12002** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:22 am

I'm more concerned about my ride than I am me. I can always put on enough layers to stay warm, but the poor bike, if it is left out in freezing weather, has a lot of stress placed on it just starting the bike. Never gets colder than 50 F in my garage though. Still, if I went somewhere on an early cold day and parked it for a couple of hours, the engine would be cold when I started it. Yes, we are having a cold spell in Texas, but I rode all 5 of my bikes both days after the temp got above 50 degrees. Even when it gets below freezing...which only happens a couple of mornings per year, by afternoon, the temp is above 50F between Austin and San Antonio where I live, so it is really good year-around riding. I really only don't ride on rainy days which are few and far between too.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:48 pm

Bah, I've started it in the negatives. It will complain, but if you give it a few minutes to warm up it's fine.

I baby it at subfreezing temps though. You can tell it's unhappy.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 6:18 pm

I rode to work at 7 am this morning with temps in the low 30's. Just got home with a ride in the mid 40's. A nice ride each way and those that are talking about layered protection (along with wind protection and leaving no exposed skin) have it right.

I've ridden snowmobiles in 0 deg temps and have been perfectly comfortable using they layered/wind protection formula.

Rob

DariaSen · Post by **DariaSen** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 12:32 pm

We had flurries in CT last night. I think it's going to be time to pack of the scooter for the winter really soon. It's so depressing.