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Post by Doc on Dec 31, 2012 21:59:42 GMT -6
I thought I'd post this up in case anyone was interested in logging some miles in the cold. I'm heading up to St. Louis and back on the 2nd of January. I'll be leaving about 8am and heading up 65 to 44; I'll stick on 44 until St. Louis. It's about 240 miles each way, with a total time of approximately 8 hours. The temperature is only supposed to get up to 34-35 degrees that day. Ninety-nine percent of the ride will be done on the slab with speeds averaging 60-65 mph. If anyone is interested, let me know. I usually stop off in Rolla at exit 186 for a refill, then head back on the road. I'm not really going for the hell of it; it's just routine lab work so I don't croak from any unforeseen complications (haha). I usually grab a meal while in St. Louis (about 1-2pm), then head back. I expect to be home around 6-7pm.
Again, if anyone is crazy enough to come along, drop me a line!
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Post by Tim-WT on Jan 1, 2013 10:57:34 GMT -6
Ride safe bro!
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Post by woahblackbetty on Jan 1, 2013 19:29:46 GMT -6
If I wasn't tied down to work meetings tomorrow I'd be in... Spent an hour out on the nighthawk today because it seemed like a good idea...
Stay safe out there, watch out for frostbite!
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Post by Doc on Jan 2, 2013 0:15:56 GMT -6
Thanks! I can do 90 all day on the highway and not feel a thing (I think I've got the layering methods down pat, haha).
It's not me I'm worried about; it's all the distracted cagers who pose the biggest threat!
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Post by tpierce on Jan 2, 2013 6:14:42 GMT -6
There is a technique to riding in this weather. My record is +27 and it was not fun. It needs to be fun. Doc, do you have heated grips? Maybe a cold weather primer is in order. It's tough to recover once the body parts reach a certain temp. I think Schurke is familiar with cold weather riding also. Good luck on your ride .  |
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Post by Doc on Jan 3, 2013 19:56:20 GMT -6
Hey Tim! No, I don't have any heated grips, nor any sort of plug-in heated paraphernalia that might sap the battery. With the gear that I use now, my hands don't get cold, although a windshield does help with that a bit.
I left around 8:15am when the temperature was 14 degrees (according to the thermometer). By the time I got back (8pm) it was in the low twenties. Normally, I would have also worn my insulated cover-alls over my clothing, but the zipper was a bit wacky and didn't want to cooperate. So I ended up wearing three layers of thermals under my regular clothing, plus a thermal/waterproof/windproof jacket. It was a little cooler than I prefer, but still quite tolerable. I don't think it got above freezing, as the ice was not melting anywhere I could see.
I'm not sure what the wind chill was at speeds of 75 mph, but I would guess somewhere close to zero. The clothing worked out well, though I do believe the cover-alls would have kept me a fair bit warmer.
Oddly enough, I didn't see anyone else out on a bike that day. ;-) But I did see a lot of folks looking out their side windows at the crazy guy riding in below-freezing weather!
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