Coldest Ride, 2019-2020 Winter

On Wednesday (2-5), my commute started out at 28F. It climbed to 40F at one point for at least a mile or two. But most of the commute was in mid 30Fs temps!
 
Hate to jinx it, but its been the wierdest winter here. Bad for cold ride contests, but good for riding in general lol. I was able to ride 27 days in January and all 6 in February so far.
 
Crap, knew I'd jinx it by talking about it. Snowed all night , still snowing, roads are covered, no riding today arrgghhh. Supposed to be near 40 tomorrow and Saturday and near 50 by Monday though.
 
Well, it appears I spoke too soon lol

When I woke up at 7:30 this morning it didn't look like I was going to get to ride today. It had snowed overnight and had accumulated on the driveway. By 11:00 it had quit snowing. By 12:00 the sun had peaked out a bit and I could see my driveway was clear. By 2 PM it was 32 degrees, and I was on the road. In the neighborhood it was still pretty snowy, but once I got to the state route and then the freeway, things were clear. Had a good ride to make it 7 for 7 in February.

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once home from henry's I moved the safari minivan so I could put the trash bin out at the curb. then I went to the garage so I could measure the kickstand on both CT 70, the one on the gold bike seemed longer but both are the same length. seeing that I had a clear path out of the yard I went riding, 34f20200210_160142.jpg20200210_160256.jpg20200210_160310.jpg20200210_160653.jpg
 
Wish it didn't snow last night. But then I'm also watching the grandkids today so wouldn't get out for a better cold ride anyway.
Was -10F at 7:30 am this morning. Somewhere in the MidWest the temp was low without the snow on the roads... then again maybe not without the snow. Was watching commuters passing the house on my street, or trying to while spinning their wheels just to get up the very slight incline of our street. Started out as a light drizzle at dinner time last night and then temp really dropped fast, what the weather man called a "flash freeze" event, and it all turned to snow. Ended up with just maybe an inch on top of ice layer but the high winds overnight blew most of the snow off the driveway.
 
I got off work early yesterday and the ride home was at -9F. I stopped and took a picture.
The ride in today was colder and the same sign said -12F but I was running late and couldn't stop for a picture.

The ride home was a little uncomfortable for the pinky on both hands. I stuck some chemical hand warmers in my gloves but they were a few years old and I don't think they did much. Had the Oxford grip heaters as high as they would go.

This morning I couldn't find more chemical hand warmers and I didn't have my electric heat liners but decided I could just stop half way for a Mc Muffin if I really needed to warm up a bit. Turns out I shouldn't bad mouth the Oxford heaters anymore. Having them cranked with my Klim snowmobile mitts kept things warm enough. For the ride in I added another layer (thermal undershirt, sweat shirt, thick turtle-neck, Klim snowmobile jacket) up top. Keeping the core warmer helped with the hands. Didn't even get an ache in the left pinky on the ride in. Looks like I have a -10F setup that works without needing to be plugged into the bike.

Still loving the Klim gear. Feet and toes are perfectly comfortable in the boots. Bibs and long johns are more then enough for the legs. My only problem in the past have been the fingers and I guess that's good now with the Oxford heaters.

That is, down to -12F at least. I don't think I'll have a chance to test them at a lower temp this season. Maybe next year.

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota
 

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Nice Kent. Your -12° ride was much, much colder than my 26° ride in this morning.
 
Was hoping to get a good ride this morning at 5° but the rain during previous nights put the kabash on riding. This winter has been some screwy weather.
 
T_C said:
This winter has been some screwy weather.
Click to expand...
No doubt. Almost 50° here yesterday, 26° this morning, 60° tomorrow and 75° on Monday. Temps like a roller coaster!
 
I was going to ride this morning (19 F), but the thin layer of ice in front of my garage doors helped me to decide to take the truck instead. I figured if I had ice in the Holler, there would be ice somewhere along the way - and there was.
 
Finally... a reasonably cool day for a ride here too. 14 degrees. Rode down to see the river flooding. Almost on Main St downin town. Won't crest until tomorrow so it may cross the road yet. Also found out the temp gauge on the FJR only goes down to 16 lol

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mudduc said:
I got off work early yesterday and the ride home was at -9F. I stopped and took a picture.
The ride in today was colder and the same sign said -12F but I was running late and couldn't stop for a picture.

The ride home was a little uncomfortable for the pinky on both hands. I stuck some chemical hand warmers in my gloves but they were a few years old and I don't think they did much. Had the Oxford grip heaters as high as they would go.

This morning I couldn't find more chemical hand warmers and I didn't have my electric heat liners but decided I could just stop half way for a Mc Muffin if I really needed to warm up a bit. Turns out I shouldn't bad mouth the Oxford heaters anymore. Having them cranked with my Klim snowmobile mitts kept things warm enough. For the ride in I added another layer (thermal undershirt, sweat shirt, thick turtle-neck, Klim snowmobile jacket) up top. Keeping the core warmer helped with the hands. Didn't even get an ache in the left pinky on the ride in. Looks like I have a -10F setup that works without needing to be plugged into the bike.

Still loving the Klim gear. Feet and toes are perfectly comfortable in the boots. Bibs and long johns are more then enough for the legs. My only problem in the past have been the fingers and I guess that's good now with the Oxford heaters.

That is, down to -12F at least. I don't think I'll have a chance to test them at a lower temp this season. Maybe next year.

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota
Click to expand...
Studded up those tires bring it out to the lake. I may go on Sunday will see how I feel? (sore back) fighting with snowblower last Sunday.
 
Yet another benefit to being retired around here... I can ALL DAY to clear 2 inches of snow from the driveway, then wait until tomorrow to clear the sidewalks.
 
TipSTer said:
Studded up those tires bring it out to the lake. I may go on Sunday will see how I feel? (sore back) fighting with snowblower last Sunday.
Click to expand...

I have two TTR-125L's to use for ice. Well, I guess just one TTR since my wife would be mad if I used her bike.
I've a bug in my code I need to crush before Monday so this weekend is out for me, unfortunately. (You can tell from all my posts today that I'm having trouble getting focused on the task)
Maybe next week.

Later,
Kent Larson from Minnesota
 
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