Cold Weather Riding

I rode my motorcycle to work for the first time today. It was 37 degrees when I left this morning, and the ride was 45 miles long. Sunrise occurred just as I arrived at the office. As an added bonus, I took the windshield off my motorcycle last week, because I was tired of the turbulence behind it. Which made the ride very smooth.

The first lesson learned is that I need to lay hands on a balaclava. I have a full-face helmet, but there's a fair amount of wind that comes under it to blow over my face. Keeps the sinuses wonderfully clean, and helps to control fog on the face shield, but it also numbs the jaw within a few minutes.

The second is that good gloves are really important. I have a pair of fleece lined leather gloves that have stood me well through a few winters. Twenty minutes into my ride my fingers were icy. Some inquiries around the office and on product review sites indicated that precious few gloves keep the fingers warm in the 30s at 60 mph for extended trips. Some reviews did indicate that the addition of silk glove liners could do the trick.

The result has been that I ran out on my lunch and purchased a balaclava. I wore it back from the store, and it definitely makes the ride a lot more comfortable. Getting my bike up to 75 mph isn't uncomfortable at all now, other than the general need to get a good grip.

I'm going to need to order the silk glove liners online, which is a drag because the shipping costs nearly as much as the liners. But hopefully it will extend my riding by quite a bit.