Cold days

[arning]

My ride to work is less than 30 minutes so even on cold days riding to work is not a problem. Only snow packed roads keeps me from riding.

Over the years I've learned to enjoy the icy bite of cold air in the mornings, the colder the better. Days where coming to a stop at a light feels like the heater just started started blowing, they are the best.

There was a time where I dreaded the cold day, but now I seem to crave them. Longer rides are still a problem, requiring frequent stopping and shorter routes, without mountains.

Did I train myself to love the cold so I could justify riding or did riding in the cold dispel a mental limitation?

[jbussard]

Originally Posted by arning

Did I train myself to love the cold so I could justify riding or did riding in the cold dispel a mental limitation?

Does it really matter so long as you are riding?

[coreenleann]

My issue with riding in the cold is my glasses fog up. How do you seasoned riders keep that from happening? :confused:

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[GilaMinumBeer]

Originally Posted by arning

Did I train myself to love the cold so I could justify riding or did riding in the cold dispel a mental limitation?

Both, I think.

However, for me, a lifetime of working outdoors taught me to prefer cold to hot since there is only so much a person can legally take off before the police are called out for indecent exposure. Doesn't take much more than a t-shirt coming off for that. Speaking of, I really need to have that discussion with my wife about those calls.

Way too often I get the "aren't you cold?" And to that I simply respond "Not when I am dressed for it".

Chaps and heavy textile jacket for cool days. One piece thermo for the really cold ones. Good gloves, a balaclava for when the winds bite hard, and a full face helmet with really good anti-fogging and I am in dreamland.

Not to mention how much better the bike seems to respond to the cold air once the heads have normalized.

[GilaMinumBeer]

Originally Posted by coreenleann

My issue with riding in the cold is my glasses fog up. How do you seasoned riders keep that from happening? :confused:

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This was a big issue with me and a 3/4 HJC at stop lights. Only solution was to lift the sheild to keep from fogging it with my breath and to drop it back down as soon as I throttle up.

I switched over to a Scorpion Full-face modular and the anti-fog on the sheild is nothing short of miraculous. I still pop the sheild open a bit to let in some fresh cool air at stop lights. The thing I love most about this helmet is the integral sun sheild. No more swapping out sheilds when the light dims, no more carrying around multiple sets of goggles.

[wallasan10]

Originally Posted by coreenleann

My issue with riding in the cold is my glasses fog up. How do you seasoned riders keep that from happening? :confused:

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It’s the moisture in your breath that causes your glasses, goggles, facemask or whatever to fog up. When I wear a neck gaiter I pull it down to uncover my nose and mouth when stopped or going very slowly then pull it back up when at speed. When I’m wearing a full-face helmet I crack open the face shield as needed. There are anti-fogging products on the market that are supposed reduce or eliminate fogging but I’ve never tried them. I’ve always relied on air circulation to do the trick.

[arning]

Originally Posted by coreenleann

My issue with riding in the cold is my glasses fog up. How do you seasoned riders keep that from happening? :confused:

I use Cat Crap lens defogger, still sometimes my glasses will fog at a light. Then I just break the seal from my face and let the cold air defog them.

[rb608]

Originally Posted by arning

Over the years I've learned to enjoy the icy bite of cold air in the mornings, the colder the better. Days where coming to a stop at a light feels like the heater just started started blowing, they are the best.

My cold commute is about 50 minutes, and I really have to dress for survival. Over the years, my efficiency has improved, and I can get dressed more quickly and thinner than Randy from A Christmas Story. Still, temps in the teens & 20s (and they'll be here soon) really test me. Bundling up the torso is just a question of more layers, but the fingers and toes always seem to be the hard part.

In recent years however, I've put a pair of Polar Hands on the bars to keep the wind off my hands; and my buddy gave me a heated jacket liner (that seems like cheating). Still, I have a whole regimen for donning the gear to keep the breeze out and the warmth in. The neck warmer was the best $12 I've spent in that regard.

But yeah, I do like the cold. It's a lot more technical, and there's the ever-present chance of a surprise ice spot, but it's riding; and riding is what it's all about.

[Amos Iron Wolf]

A bit of both perhaps.

I hate the heat. When I moved back to Texas where I originally finished the last two years of high school and got my first motorcycle the one thing that made me absolutely miserable was the heat and the humidity. It isn't down on the old Missisip humid, but it ain't as dry as a lot of places I've lived. Add in the heat and it is hard on an old man.

However, after nearly 3.5 decades away from bikes and playing with the idea on and off over the last eight years or so I finally said "Screw it!" and bought a new Shadow back in mid-April. Riding during April and May was of course beautiful. Warm days, cool evenings. As the temps moved up I just kept riding and the bike was and is my transportation. I commuted all week throughout the summer and took pleasure rides as well in the evenings.

What I discovered was that by being stubborn and being on the bike and thereby out there regardless, I became a bit more acclimated. You still won't find me lounging around outside mid-day with the temps in the high 90s to low 100s and the humidity up, but I also am able to get out and move around more in the heat that I used to be. For 15 years here I'd tried to get used to the heat and never could. Being on the bike in the heat has made me better able to deal with it now.

Based on that I would say that riding and stubborn riding at that has probably been a strong factor in it. I've long enjoyed cool/cold weather. The bike has been a big factor in being able to deal with the heat, so I suspect it's a big factor for you in learning to get out and even enjoy the cold.

As an old friend of mine from my Ft. Bragg days who was SF and had his Ranger tab from back when you had to be in the top two thirds of the class to be allowed to wear the tab told me about his days in Ranger school. "First I learned to push past my limits. Then I learned that I had no limits." I'd say your love of riding and refusal to surrender to the cold removed a mental limitation.

Then again, the UK and other northern European riders probably think we're wuss and don't get why we think it's a big deal since they ride in all kinds of unpleasant weather as a matter of course.

Good on ya for enjoying and pushing past what was "comfortable."

[GilaMinumBeer]

Originally Posted by Amos Iron Wolf

A bit of both perhaps.

I hate the heat. When I moved back to Texas where I originally finished the last two years of high school and got my first motorcycle the one thing that made me absolutely miserable was the heat and the humidity. It isn't down on the old Missisip humid, but it ain't as dry as a lot of places I've lived. Add in the heat and it is hard on an old man.

Here in Oklahoma we get the scorcher triple digit convection heat waves of summer too. As counterintuitive as it seems, the best bit of gear for those days is a light jacket. I was always amazed at how much better it felt in the sun wearing that jacket than scorching without despite not being designed for riding with zipper vents every 2 inches apart.

The irony was that wearing something better ventilated also allowed more of that scorching heat through which was little more than trying to dry out a sock in a hot oven with a hair dryer.