The Paulcb coldest ride of Winter 2022-2023

[Chris09]

we used to pull my 1980 yz100 out of the furnace room [after a few beers and all the girls went home] when it was like - sucks to be alive below - and rip up and fly off these hills behind our townhouse in Edmonton, no Helmut, just, lots of beer, That's the thing about roommates; not everyone's gonna make it, you just don't know it at the time, fortunately we were [staggeringly] close to home and we were able to find enough evidence to recover the bodies and lead us to [my bike] and where it landed.
It's really not funny now, somebody should have got hurt but we had a gas.

 

[Daboo]

Temps have been down in the mid-20s. However, we got a bunch of snow just before the cold snap. Even my Subaru has slid with its four wheels. Sigh...

I'm surprised I'm still on the top-Ten.

Chris

 

[ardykay54]

Rode 40 miles to Walmart and back today....Started out at 41F and as it got darker it dropped down to 30F....Russ.

 

[motofisch]

18F this morning as I left my home in Berwick, PA enroute to Lewisburg, PA for work. My heated jacket, glove,s and boot insoles were at MAX setting. The trip takes about 50 minutes. But, if you're a cop, I swear it took me much longer.

 

[RaYzerman]

Time to get on the list, been watching the forecast. Up early today, I had been prepped to go for a few days. Roads dry and clear. So, off for a 38 km. loop west, north, east, and south to home. Coldest area was -12C which I believe converts to 10.4F. I had all my heated gear with my Olympia Horizon rainsuit as an air barrier. The only thing that was slightly cold were my fingers..... note to self, W&S remote controller was probably on default 30%, time to change the batteries and I woulda been toasty.
Note time is 1 hour fast as I don't reset for daylight savings time.

Will there be another opportunity, that's not in my control, lol.

 

[Obo]

I was going to try and get a cold ride in last night before the snow falls, but STella didn't want to start. She's been on a tender for about 3 weeks. Temps in the garage were around 26F and colder outside. She seemed to whirr over ok, until the battery gave up the ghost. The tender will charge it back up and I'll have to dig into that the next time I have a few few moments.

 

[rjs987]

We have RAIN and 37 F here, 35 F just a few miles away, to continue all day and into the late night when temps expect to drop down to freezing. IOW- ice everywhere for a little while. Expecting snow on Thursday. IF the weather prophets are lucky and have accidentally got it right then the report is temps as low as 4 F next week... but alas, more snow.

Oh well, still stuck inside with a cold/flu anyway. Just can't shake it yet.

 

[the Ferret]

If it's the same cold/flu I have be prepared for a long downtime. I've been "mildly sick" with cough and post nasal drip for about 2 months now. 2 doctors visits, not much luck curing it. Viral drugs didn't help. Hasn't stopped me from riding and the cough/phlegm is the worst part. Good luck rjs.

 

[RaYzerman]

I hope the stars align just right and you guys can carry on the challenge...... best to all.

 

[rjs987]

And now we have the snow. But just a dusting so far. Expecting less than an inch as the day continues. Still waiting for the low temps however. Only 29 F now and the trend from now through the next few days is for that to go down slightly, but continuously, for a few days. Already had the high for today... and the next few days even. They "say" we expect to see maybe -9 F a week from today... but more snow the day before so likely no riding in that. Maybe I'll push myself to get out of bed before 9 am to get a ride in at just above zero F on Tuesday.
Feeling better now, for a short time. Just low stamina sometimes.

 

[Daboo]

Got out again, but only matched my earlier 27.5F. I noticed the back of my calves got chilled. Feet were up on the pegs, and I'm guessing the riding pants were resting against them and transferring the cold.

For next Monday, the temp was supposed to get down to the mid-teens...but now it is forecasting snow and warmer temps. No joy.

Chris

 

[rjs987]

Some really cold temps coming up. Now the weather magicians are calling for next Thursday to be a HIGH of -2 F and a low of -12 F!!!
Won't be riding in that since the day before looks like 1-2 inches of snow so it will be a few days to get the streets clear enough to ride on!
This is early for such cold temps. Can't tell if that means a colder than normal next few months or if this will get the cold air out of the system and we end up with warmer than normal. I can do just as well as any weatherman and say that we will have... weather with temps during the next few months at least. Too bad I don't get paid for that.

 

[Nashcat]

I may be able to get in the game. Forecast next week calls for some single digit mornings. We don’t get many days where it’s cold enough to even get an honorable mention.

John

 

[Daboo]

I have my hopes up...



...but we could get up to 3 inches of snow on Sunday, and the bike may end up parked in the garage till the 23rd when the rain melts the snow and ice. Ugh...probably my last chance of lasting fame and fortune for the winter.

Wait...fame and fortune...what is the prize for being in the top 10?

Chris

 

[rjs987]

Looking ahead I see temps as low as -13 F... but up to 2-3 inches of snow on the ground also along with that! As shown here I might be able to get out again Saturday or Sunday morning. Saturday all day would still lower my ride temp for the season but it's very unlikely the roads will be totally clear how I prefer them to be to get out on 2 wheels by then. Maybe, but maybe not.


So I decided to get a ride in this morning. It was a bit colder earlier if I really wanted to get out but it was so warm in bed. I didn't get out until just before 9 am so temps were already warming. Still, as I sat in the driveway warming up the bike the temp sensor was showing about 10 F (likely getting heat out of the garage since inside the garage was 21 F). Only a few blocks down the road it dropped down to 6.2 F and hovered around that. Near the end of the ride the temps started warming again back up but still less than when I was sitting in my driveway and when I pulled into the garage it was the same as when I left. I guess my route went through the cold air mass just west of home. I ended up with 24.5 miles with a mix of city and country roads and a little bit of highway. I was keeping to the main, heavier traveled, roads this time since there was still ice over the less traveled streets in strips. There was one section of road I was on where the only bare pavement was 2 tire tracks from other vehicles that went before. And a few intersections where I had to swing the turn wide or move toward the center to avoid sheet ice and packed snow closer to the curb when I was turning right. Don't expect any more days this year to be as cold as this week. But January is coming!
This is the stretch of road that had only narrow strips of dry pavement on that far up hill section and more so just over the hill where the road is in constant shadow all day. This particular road is new this year so there is no treatment put down on it at all to protect the new concrete. There is a frozen large pond just in front of those houses across the bridge and another mostly frozen large pond to the left just out of the picture that had a flock of geese on it.

 

[RaYzerman]

Congrats, Robert, glad you could find a window to get out.

 

[the Ferret]

Good job rjs.

We are supposed to get below zero on Saturday I think and just above for Friday and Sunday. Very rare for this area. We average 2 days below zero a year. Also supposed to snow Thru and Fri. With that level of cold it will surely stick, and being Christmas they will surely heavily salt.

 

[Daboo]

My opportunity is slipping away quickly.



If you're familiar with snow removal in the Pacific Northwest, you'll know that the snow removal plan is to wait till it rains again. Wednesday and Thursday look like phenomenal opportunities to get in a good ride...but 4-8 inches of snow on the roads means the only vehicle getting out of the driveway this week, will be my Subaru. Sigh...

Chris

 

[rjs987]

Like I said above... January is coming.

 

[rjs987]

The snow is a coming! Thursday afternoon wind chills expected down near -40 F. Wednesday through Thursday we are expecting a snow storm with blizzard conditions. The high temp on Thursday and Friday will be -2 F both days. Yeah, that's the high. As the snowfall tops out at between 4-6 inches by Thursday wind is expected to pick up from gusting up to 40 mph to possibly over 50 mph during the day. That should create some impressive snow drifts up to 6-10 ft or more if I remember past experience around here. The only 2 wheeler I'll be "riding" will be my snow thrower.

Glad I got a ride in a few days ago. It might be a few days before I can ride again.