Triumphrat

M700R · 01-24-2008

Skied mid morning up at Ski Hill, outside of Leavenworth Washington. It's about a 30 mile drive from my house. Enjoyed the heck out of the cross-country ski trip, even though I only spent about an hour on skis. Great workout and beautiful scenery. Really nice sunny day, and about 10 degrees.

Driving home, I was impressed by the dry, snow-free roads and the sunshine. Too impressed.

Got home, ate a little lunch. Puttered around a little. Drifted out to the garage. Puttered around some more... Kept looking at the shiny new Triumph Scrambler... Oh, what the heck!

Fired her up, grabbed my leather jacket, gloves & helmet, and headed out for a few miles. Just put-putted around the valley for a while. It was 16 degrees at that point. I need better gloves if I'm going to do much of this cool weather biking... Triumph ran great! I smiled a lot. People passing by looked at me like I was out of my ever-lovin' mind - and they might be right. Still, it beat not riding.

Came home, warmed up, cooking venison sauce for tonight's spaghetti dinner. Wife thinks I'm nuts... Ah well, she might be right too. All in all it was a very nice day off.

Regards, Guy

mistermellow001 · 01-25-2008

M700R, from one "Guy" to another, you're not crazy. Cold hands are a problem for me. I recently took a cold, clear-weather ride to the Olympic Peninsula, and ever since I got back, the backs of my hands have felt cold - almost a burning sensation. It's been over 2 months.

I haven't ordered electric gloves yet, but they're on my short list. In the mean time I've just been using little pocket warmers - like you would find in a hunting or backpacking supply store. They last long enough for a good long ride. I place them between my glove liner and the glove, on the back of my hand, and shove them as far forward as I can. I think they'd be too hot if they were next to my skin. Electric gloves or heated grips would be a much more sensible solution.

TBirdVI · 01-25-2008

Hello Guy
Not to take anything away from your ride, but this is frozen biking. Victoria BC to Goose Bay Labrador in 20 days. In January. Paul Mondor definitely marches to a different drummer. . .

http://www.paulmondor.com/

AK955 · 01-27-2008

Cool. Glad you had a good ride.

And TBirdVI, I love reading Paul Mondor's stuff! It's a great read!

From the far and frozen North, Mark H.

M700R · 01-28-2008

TBirdVI - Wow... Yes, that is Crazy Frozen Biking!

I only went a few miles, then had the good sense to tuck the Triumph away and get myself a good hot cuppa coffee!

Saw a thread somewhere with a fellow who made chains for his bike tires. There's some hard-core winter riding going on out there. I'm just getting out every now and again for a few miles when the sun gets rid of the ice on my local roads!

Regards, Guy

Skidplate865 · 02-01-2008

I'm riding here in NY and as it's gotten colder I've been forced to add gear. I will not give up! For the gloves, I did my research and picked up a pair of ORINA 118's. About $60 - do well down to about 25 - 30 degrees. On a longer highway ride (15 - 20 degrees that day), my hands got painfully cold, so I guess I need to add liners or something... Regardless, they're comfortable and you can still feel all the controls, snap your sleeves, open/close your visor, etc...without taking off the gloves.
The Balaclava and ski pants are the other necessary parts of my cold weather gear. Couldn't ride without them.
Tomorrow I'll be on the bike all day - one short ride to midtown, then a long ride out into the hinterlands of NJ (see a buddy's new house) and back. I'll put well over a hundred miles on my bike tomorrow if all goes well.

Gootch · 02-08-2008

I had a week-long stretch of riding in the 20s a couple weeks ago (ok, I know that is not that cold) and my new Fieldsheer Eskimo gloves kept my hands warm the whole time. They are a little bulky but I stuck with them and was able to break them in enough that they now let me feel the controls well enough for anything except really aggressive riding -- which we aren't supposed to do on frozen or wet roads any, right? They are now my daily glove for winter commuting. In any case they list for $79 but my local dealer knocked 'em down to 60-something for me.