Cold Weather Riding in the 50s

The other weekend, the high on Saturday was 50.  I tried going down a state highway at 55.  It is like driving into an deep freezer with an industrial strength fan blowing on you.  My jacket and chaps work great.  But I can feel the cold air on my face, my hands, and my seat where the chaps don't cover.  I went to lower speed limit roads and it felt better.  Still cold, but better.  Cold is a natural deterrent to going fast.  They should add that into cars somehow.  It would really help speed limit adherence if the faster people in cars went the colder the air blowed in their face and bodies.  It was a short day of riding, but hey at least I got in some miles.

Then Sunday the high was in the mid to high 50s.  It was like living in another state.

Riding Two Up

The other week I did something new for the first time - I drove with my wife as a passenger.

First I gave my wife an overview of what to expect and what to do.  Don't lean, just look in any direction I lean too.  And hold on to me.  Then she suited up in her riding gear too.

First Time Riding At Night

I haven't been riding in the evenings since the time change.  By the time I get home, eat dinner, and am ready, the sun is setting, rush hour traffic is on, and it is cold outside.  Then if I wait until traffic dies down, then it only gets darker and colder.  I can feel the end of the riding season approaching, but everyday I hope for one or two more rides.

Then it happened, we had a nice day up that hit up to 70 in the daytime and about 6pm it was still in the 60s.  Of course it was pitch black like it was midnight, but still the temperature was good and rush hour traffic was past its prime.  Thus, I decided to venture out.

Recent Road Ramblings

Fellow Cyclist: Sam The Semi Tailgater

I was on the interstate in a car.  Another interstate was merging in from the left.  Ahead and to my right, I saw a semi trunk with a typical trailer coming down the lane.  Nothing out of the ordinary there.  But right behind, like a few shoes back - a guy on a motorcycle.  He had on an upscale racing suit and helmet.  Full gear.  I gave him props for full good gear.  But I'm not sure what he was thinking.  If that trucked stopped for anything, he wouldn't have time to react.  There's no quick stop or dropping down in speed when the distance is a few shoes length away.  I don't even think you can swerve, not enough room to maneuver.  Let alone reaction time.  I'm not sure if reaction time counts.  He was so close, the trucks brake lights would be just in his peripheral vision.  The motorcyclist passed the truck on the right as soon as the interstate finished merging in.  And he zipped off ahead.

Fellow Cyclist: Winter Hat

Its fall and its cold outside.  Getting too cold to ride.  I had all my gear on, and it helps keep you warm.  I pulled up to a stop light and there were two fellow motorcylists in the accompanying lane.  They didn't have helmets on, but instead had on a wool winter hat.  Coming down to just above their eyes and ears.  Damn, if you already have to put something on your head to keep your warm, is it really that much extra inconvenient to wear a helmet?  Personally, I'm a fan of a full face helmet, but even a partial top helmet is better than a winter hat.

You Turning Left or Not?

I was at someone else’s house in a subdivision parked along side the curve in front of the house, where cars often park. I put my kick stand up, turned on the bike, looked behind me, and was preparing to go. I saw a car coming down the road in the upcoming lane. That didn’t seem much threat, but I was keeping an eye on it. I was still parked.  I didn't plan on starting out until I knew what they were up to.  They seemed to be slowing down. Then the car came to a complete stop in the road, directly in front of the driveway of the house in front of me.

Now you might be thinking, maybe they are turning, maybe they are. But no turn signal on and they didn’t go to take the turn. Just a slow decrease in speed and then come to a complete stop. No turn signal. I don’t know what they are doing. I’m guessing they want to turn into the driveway.  I waved to them to go ahead and they didn't go ahead.

Maybe they stopped for me, maybe they stopped for an interesting conversation on their cell phone. I don’t know. I haven’t started moving yet. I’m still parked with my feet on the ground. I waved again with my arm for them to make their left turn into the drive way. They didn’t move. There was no wave back from the other driver, no headlight flashes, no turn signal, nothing to acknowledge me.  And I couldn't make out the driver behind the windshield due to tinting.  After the third wave, they still haven’t moved. I was about to turn off the bike and go back inside. This is a good time for the "Go Get Coffee" response they talked about in the MSF course.  I'm parked, not out in the road, not  driving down it, and not in any rush to take off.  Finally, they made their left turn into the driveway. As the right side of the car comes across I can make out the driver.  They never turn thier head or face towards me, just keep looking straight ahead.  But as the side of their head comes into view, I see a cell phone in their hand.

I think the driver had one of those highly interesting cell phone conversations.  The kind that you can only have while stopped in the middle of the road.  Heck, maybe they were talking to that biker on the cell phone at the stop light from the other day.  Guess I'll never know.

One Month and 500 Miles

One month ago on October 8th, I drove a motorcycle for the first time in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) riding course put on by Harley-Davidson.  Since then I've been driving over 500 miles, trying to get in as much practice as I can before the riding season comes to end.

When I first thought about this motorcycle thing, I wasn't aware of how complicated it was.  Actually change that, I wasn't aware of anything to do with a motorcycle.  I thought it would be like a bicycle with a motor.  It is more like a helicopter.  Helicopters are insanely complicated and only work based on some bizarre form of physics magic.  And that's a good description of motorcycles too.

Intersection of Compare and Contrast

I had a good ride on a state highway.  Most of the time it was 55 MPH and divided median and light traffic.  A great day to be out riding.  I was dressed in full riding gear: full face helmet, heavy leather jacket with armor, riding chaps, riding boots, and riding gloves.  If you crash, what you wear is what you crash in, so I always wear my riding gear.  Heck, I'm looking at even more gear upgrades.

I was heading back home and coming to my turn off the state highway.  I come up on an intersection.  My side of the road had a left turning lane, two lanes going forward, and a right turning lane.  The intersecting road had 2 lanes in each direction.  A lot of lanes, lots of potential for misunderstandings, and potential for things to go wrong.  Out in the country with limited connecting roads, divided median, and light traffic, it was much safer.  Here with all the cars and lanes, it is much more dangerous, even though I'm not moving.

As I came over into the left turning lane, I shifted down to first gear and kept it there.  My hand was on the clutch ready to move.  This is something they taught in the MSF class.  And I always do that.  The only time I am in neutral is when I am off the road and parked somewhere.  I kept looking around the intersection and analyzing everything going on.  I kept a watch in my mirror for cars behind and watched the other lanes and pattern of the lights.

Then a guy on a bike pulls up one lane over in the forward direction lane.  I look over at him. He's on a bigger bike than me.  But, no riding gear that I could make out.  No helmet and a t-shirt.  He puts the bike into neutral.  When my gaze swept back to him, it kind of looked like he was looking at the indicator lights to confirm neutral.  (Tip, don't trust the light.)  Then this is the best part.  He stands up, gets his cell phone out, sits back down in a relaxed stretched out position, and starts playing away on his cell phone.

I see fellow bikers with don't share my attitude on riding gear.  Often I see no helmet and that makes me cringe.  Before today, my favorite was a guy I saw riding with no helmet, shorts, and flips flops.  But that all just pales in comparison to seeing this guy without any gear get all cozy with his cell phone at the red light at the intersection.