Coldest Ride, 2020-2021 Winter

Took a spin up in the Catskill mountains today. Never did get above freezing....saw a low of 26 quite a few times. Stopped for a coffee and they didn't allow indoor seating. Had to stand next to my idling bike with heated gear plugged in while I drank it. LOL
 
kendoo said:
Took a spin up in the Catskill mountains today. Never did get above freezing....saw a low of 26 quite a few times. Stopped for a coffee and they didn't allow indoor seating. Had to stand next to my idling bike with heated gear plugged in while I drank it. LOL
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lol what a great idea to stay warm
 
some years back 26 f birmingham to stonehenge starting at about 3pm and returning about 9pm , snow ice etc , 2 up on an xs 250 passenger was 15 stone , helped with traction lol, took about 2 days to thaw out mind
 
Ok, so after taking a spin last night to get a new temp of 28F on the board this morning I awoke to a day off and a reported 21F. However it was actually only 24F. It was a lovely sunny 45 minute ride, albeit cold. So my magic number for the board is 24F , if it pleases the courts. I didn't bother with the heated jacket or the balaclava today and just wore the winter riding gloves (gauntlet style) with heated grips on medium, jacket with standard liner in, riding pants and boots. I did pop the windscreen up to about eye level to help cut the wind from the front but not enough to get the pocket of back air that would chill my neck and spine. It seemed warmer than the 33F I did on Sunday. Here's the temp and the screen height.

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24 degrees no electric jacket liner? I'm not that tough anymore lol

I didnt wear my electrics today either, but it was 61 for today's ride. Goofy weather.
 
the Ferret said:
24 degrees no electric jacket liner? I'm not that tough anymore lol
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I'm not tough. Stupid - perhaps lol.

The ST has waayy more protection than my other bike does, and I never had heated gear on it, nor did it have heated grips or the higher touring screen for the few 5 or so years I owned it. She's seen some cold temps. The plus with her is she's air cooled so there was many a ride where you alternated one hand on the bars and one hand on the engine fins to warm it up. Those rides also usually involved a decent tuck (aka laying on the tank to keep in the windscreens pocket as best you could) and wearing ski pants to keep the legs warm. I've also been known to put some of those chemical hand warmers (or the smaller toe warmers) I use for downhill skiing in the backs of my gloves ;)

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Well, it was 21*F this AM, but I had a long delay, so it was 28*F when I finally go going. Hardly anything to brag about, but the coldest I've done so far. Electric gloves&jacket liner are wonderful. If I was riding more than an hour I would've wanted another layer on my legs or electric pants. Surprisingly the toes were fine with wool socks in uninsulated boots. I guess the ST protects the feet OK. I may call it quits soon. Don't like the idea of black ice in the dark mornings. RT
 
15C yesterday and 18C today in Toronto.... Going to be hard to win this game at this rate.....
 
I'm counting on " Climate Change." :D

The lows and highs are in the 40's now. But January is not for away.

Chris
 
Daboo said:
I'm counting on " Climate Change." :D

The lows and highs are in the 40's now. But January is not for away.

Chris
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Up my way you have to get the cold rides in before the snow flies. After that there's so much grit on the road (sand / salt) that it's downright dangerous to ride, never mind the black ice and ice/snow ruts in the roadway.
 
We get to pick and chose here. Down near sea level, it'll be 35-40F and raining. Head toward the mountain passes, and the temp drops and the snow comes. And that's where our grit is at too...unless it snows down in the lowlands. It gives us a longer riding season, but I doubt I'll set any coldest ride records.

Chris
 
Alrighty, I thought I had tied my lowest but seems I've surpassed it. Went out yesterday (Sunday morning) and did 75km in about an hour and 15 mins.
Temps never went under 23F (-5C) Gear consisted the same as the last cold ride - jacket and liner, riding pants, riding boots, Held freezer gauntlets, neck gaiter, full faced helmet. Heated grips never ran over 50%.

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WELLLLLL, it happened again.
About 12-13 years ago I rode my Burgman 650 in heavy snow that ended up as a thick layer of very wet slush on the roads on my way home from work. The day was supposed to be clear and too warm for snow or ice, nice enough for riding with temps near 40F. But when I left from work the temps had dropped below 37F and big snow flakes had started to fall.

Today I had taken my newer Burgman 650 to my son's house about 23 miles north of my home. Temps were forecast to stay around 42 until later tonight. Snow was also expected after sunset tonight so I figured it would be no problem. I left my son's house to head home about 1:40 after my wife called to say it had already started to snow very lightly. More spitting really. When I left there the temp was still around 44F with no snow at my son's house even though it had started farther south at my house. A little more than half way home the snow started in earnest with larger flakes and the pavement was more than just wet and starting to show signs that it would accumulate and get slick. The temp by then had dropped to 35F... and then to 34F by the time I arrived home safely. My home street was partially white with accumulated snow and my driveway was, well you can see in the photos below.


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Kind of fun riding in this stuff, but at the same time nerve wracking wondering just how much traction I really have. The Shinko tires I current have on the Burgman don't do well on wet pavement. I just went a lot slower around turns and curves and got though them fine. A few times I could tell I was just about to loose traction but the tires held on.

But, alas, couldn't update the recorded low temp entry in this thread for me.
 
Glad you made it home safely Bob. I'm sure you'll get more chances before the season's over.
 
rjs987 said:
The day was supposed to be clear and too warm for snow or ice, nice enough for riding with temps near 40F. But when I left from work the temps had dropped below 37F and big snow flakes had started to fall.

Kind of fun riding in this stuff, but at the same time nerve wracking wondering just how much traction I really have.
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Glad you got home without a dump.

I've learned to give a heavy mistrust to weather reports during my winter riding. More than a few times I've had to leave work early to get home ahead of a front unexpectedly moving in too quickly.

I still don't know why the forecaster ever bothers to predict more than 2 days out. Why do we demand what they can't deliver?

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota
 
I like listening to the radio through my Sena while riding. The local weather guy says his name is Paul Probly (Probably?). Fits a weatherman and reminds me to take what he says with a large grain of salt.
 
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