Cold ride…Hot Ride…Wet Ride???

Finally!  We’re riding.  We’ve been pushing the weather a bit with this awful spring we’re having but it’s all in preparation for the 50-State Ride.  And that plan seems to be working well.  We’re going to have all kinds of weather on the road and we need to have the right gear for whatever we face, so better to figure that out now rather than later.  I’ve already purchased a new coat and chaps since I lost so much weight in the last few years, I practically drowned in my jacket while my chaps were on a downhill trek to the floor.  Awhile back both Alice and I each bought some top-of

-the-line rain gear. We had the basics covered, but I was starting all over again with acquiring a brand new motorcycle gear wardrobe.  Plus I’m also preparing for a 2-year trip vs. a long weekend/week long trip.  It’s a whole different ball game when you won’t be heading back to the comforts of home after a few days of challenging weather.

Back in the end of April Clearview Works posted about the chilly 114 mile ride Alice and I went on just because we had to ride. From that ride and subsequent rides I have learned a lot.  Now, I’m pretty sure some of them were things I learned a long time ago but somehow, not well enough, as I still seem to keep repeating the experience (I may just conquer some of them some day).  A few of them were lessons learned for the first time due to the fact that I’m operating from an aging body recovering from surgeries and loss of physical capabilities with a mind that says I can still do this (I think that’s called fuck around and find out).

That first ride, the temp was in the upper 40’s when we left and 50 something for a high.  The first thing I learned was that the sleeves on my new riding jacket didn’t have enough room to wear a hoody under it.  My usual cold weather gear was a long underwear top, t-shirt and the hoody.  So I went without the hoody.  We weren’t even out of town before I knew I wasn’t dressed warm enough.  When we hit the highway I found out real quick that without the hoody on, the wind was blowing down my neck.  I tried using a lined leather neck scarf.  The wind still went down my neck in back and I felt like someone was trying choke me with the bulk of the leather scarf inside my jacket.  When we stopped and took off our helmets I noted that Alice was wearing a balaclava.  Man that looks like the ticket, wish I had one of those.

The next weekend I attended the Dirty Rotten BikerFest.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the upper 60’s.  This was the first ride with my new helmet.  I’ve mostly worn a half helmet all these years, but recently purchased a new one with a face shield and flip-down sunglasses.  I had already figured out that my glasses weren’t going to work inside a full helmet. They hurt my head inside the helmet and it only took one or two times of that before they were bent.  Although I wear transition glasses normally, since I had my cataracts done last year, my distance vision is pretty close to 20-20.  So I don’t need them to ride and now with the windshield and sunglasses option, I’ve got a lot better eye protection.  I found out on this ride that this was the way to go for me.  No more drying wind in my eyes.  But, when we got there and I took off my helmet and we started walking around, I could hardly see where I was going.  I realized I was squinting so much in the sun, my eyes were practically closed.  So, first purchase a cheap pair of sunglasses for when I’m not on the bike.  No need to spend a lot of money, cuz I’m just going to lose them. It’s only a matter of time.  Last purchase that day was “lo and behold!” A balaclava!  I was so excited!  Turns out I needed it for the ride home.  The rain was moving in and it was time to head home.  Man, that balaclava  was really nice on the way home, since the clouds had moved in and the temperature had dropped.  I got home just before the rain.

A few weeks later I had an appointment to take my bike into the Harley Dealer for a tune-up.  That morning it was 41 degrees when I left home.  It got up to 46 by the time I got home.  Lesson learned…I grabbed a warmer long-sleeve t-shirt to wear over my long underwear top.  I could still get that amount into the sleeves of my jacket.  With my new balaclava and two sets of long sleeves, the ride over there was cold, but much more bearable.  Ok, got the cold weather figured out.  I’m think I’m good to go there, but will probably have more opportunities to test that theory.

On to the next ride.  It was a beautiful day, around 69-70 when we were getting ready to leave.  Alice asked if I thought we needed our jackets or chaps.  I told her I usually wear my jacket and chaps until the mid-70’s and we might not need them soon, but I’m still going to wear mine starting out.  At the first stop, Alice and I were both smoking hot.  So off came the heavy jacket and the chaps.  Since we had previously cleaned out our saddlebags in order to go grocery shopping on our way home, we didn’t want to fill them back up with our leather.  So, we just put them in her son’s car since he had followed us in his car and would be heading back home after taking care of things.  When we were done we talked about where we wanted to go next.  The only thing we really had to do was go to the grocery store, but it was beautiful out and we both wanted to ride a bit more before we headed back.  I had been wanting to go the sporting goods store and take a look at some camping gear.  Alice had previously purchased a tent, sleeping bag and the coolest perfect sized pillow that folds up to just the size of a fist.  I wanted one of those really bad.  I also needed better sleeping bag than the one I had.  It was just a run of the mill sleeping bag I’d had for years and never kept me warm enough when I needed it.  Again, you can suffer a night or so, find a blanket or wear heavier clothes to bed, but wasn’t anywhere near but I would need for the long haul.  It was about a half hour away and we could get there part of the way on some pretty nice back roads.  So off we went.  Wonderful ride.  Absolute therapy.  I think we were both pretty pumped up when we got there.  Oh, and by the way…another lesson learned.  At that first stop Alice and I both had set our helmets on our bikes and before we even went inside, the wind blew her helmet off her bike and the face shield broke.  I’ve done that a hundred times if I’ve done it once.  But I didn’t have a face shield before so I just always picked it back up, dusted it off and secured it better.  But now I have a face shield on my helmet.  I better remember this lesson and break that habit real quick or it could get expensive.

In addition to getting the pillow I wanted so bad, I found a sleeping bag good to 30 degrees with a hood on it to cover my head.  Jackpot!  Now I can keep the cold air completely out of my sleeping bag.  Nirvana!  I had purchased a small, easy to setup tent last year that I really liked, so wasn’t really in the market for a tent.  However, when Alice showed me the tent she got which packed up way smaller than my tent, I had to go with that.  Since it was getting to be later in the afternoon and we were still at the store and wouldn’t be getting home for awhile, our esteemed Vice President came over to the store after work instead of going to the house.  By the time we left the store the clouds were rolling in and the rain was going to be coming in soon.  It was considerably cooler than when we arrived.  Oh shit.  I had taken my rain gear out of my bag to make room for groceries and we had sent away our leather.  It was going to be a cool ride home.  Fortunately, I was still wearing my long underwear tops and bottoms.  The spring has been so cool, I’m still wearing my long underwear even when I’m not riding.  Earlier it became a problem because I got so hot.  But at least now it would save my ass.  We made it almost back to our town and the grocery store before it started spitting a bit of rain and was raining a bit more on the way home.  But, it really wasn’t too bad and we were ok.  But, I know from personal experience that it could have been a lot worse.  This was not the first time I’ve done this.  So I guess I’m still learning.  The weather can change a lot in a short time and you better be prepared.  Preparation…I could use some work on that.

The irony of this all, is that since Kevin had met us in his car, he brought the groceries home in the car and we didn’t have to pack them in our bags after all.  Best laid plans gone awry.  All you can do is roll with it and figure out what choices may be better suited to what you’re doing.  I’m here to prove that an old dog can learn new tricks.  Let’s ride!

Peace and Love,

Chick