12/10/09 COLD!

365 Group (f)


14 degrees here this morning!

There was the promise of a rise to the middle 30's today. Now that's a heat wave...don't care who ya are. I managed to get out and put the charger on the battery as that seems to help with my "one and a half to two thirds" kick wonder. This morning I even managed to prop a heater up against the oil pan. That seemed to make all the difference in the world. Yesterday was as cold but I didn't ride as the car was handy and all that. Today however there were many variables, like a friend that needed my car. So, a ride in was in order.
I got into my snow mobile suit and went to disconnect the charger and heater. The bike fired up on the second kick, settled into a nice rumbling idle. I gave it a few minutes to warm up and headed out.
Like yesterday, it wasn't too bad in the short haul. This translated into slower speeds. About 45 was the sub Arctic sweet spot. I made it down the highway to my turn off without any problems. Most people on the road I think were just too cold to be stupid this morning. After I got off the highway and on the county road my 45 mph sweet spot ran out good and I even felt like I made pretty good time. I also didn't feel like I was freezing.
Pulling on the Parkway traffic picked up a little and since it's mostly short straight shots between traffic lights I hammered down between the lights. As I pulled away from my last light on the parkway, a sport bike pulled in behind me. He was all leathered up and frozen looking. He followed me over to my turn off at work and pulled in beside me.
Introducing himself as Josh he said he was curious as to how far I had ridden this morning. When I explained that I was coming only a total of thirteen miles he seemed impressed. Telling me that he had only just gotten started where he got in behind me and was going to take his finals at the university. He also asked if there was any tricks to riding in the cold. All I could think of to tell him was go slow and stop to warm up when he felt like it. Josh nodded and pulled back out into traffic. Hope he made it and was able to hold a pencil.
I asked the Security guy if he had seen any other "idjit's" on two wheelers this morning. Laughing, he said, yep. Seems that a lot of the morning "in town" riders rode in as usual. This made me feel pretty good about my morning adventure.
Hope work gets in gear. Cant wait to see what the evening ride is like.
Catch ya on the road...(if I don't wave it's because my arms are frozen in place)