Woke up this morning with riding on my mind. Sunny day off work. Had a hot shower and dressed for the cold. Loaded the bike with gear, fueled-up, and hit Interstate 90 headed east into the desert. Destination: The Escure Ranch for some hiking and photography. Possibly a side-trip to Towell Falls.
Temperature was 31F/0C and my speed was a constant 75mph. Cold wasn’t unbearable. Road was clear and traffic light. Twenty-five miles out of Spokane I realized my cheap leather gloves weren’t holding off the biting cold…even with heated grips. So I made the difficult decision to turn around and scoot home.
Set my free cruise control at 80mph. It’s merely a rubber O-ring I pulled off an electrical conduit elbow. Works a trick! Able to do the entire 25 miles back to town on cruise.
In the house, to the faucet, warm water running over my hands…it was my thumbs what took a beating from the cold. Crap gloves stopped me wrapping completely around the grips leaving my stubby digits exposed to the winds and reaping none of the benefits of electric heat.
Other gear: wool ski socks in Sketchers sneakers; polypropylene long underwear and Carhartt logger denims; gel-filled bikers shorts (for padding); T-shirt, cotton sweater, Marmot windbreaker, and Firstgear Kathmandu armored weatherproof riding jacket; Freeze-Out neck gaiter and helmet drift collar; Scorpion EXO500 full-faced helmet; Army-issued firing range ear plugs; cheap $20 leather motorbike gloves.
I will eventually invest in some heated riding gear…beginning with heated glove liners. Those will need to be wrapped in some good gloves. I won’t be taking the cheapos out in freezing weather again.
Once again, no photos to share.
80 on a bike? Crazy man.