Nuances of Temperature Changes While Riding

Image by Shutterhack via Flickr

Riding a motorcycle truly utilizes all your senses. I have written about the sounds, smells and the effect of the sun while riding previously. Another one of the nuances of riding that I really enjoy is touch. You have a heightened feeling of temperature change as you ride.

While riding in a vehicle you are protected from the elements and will never notice the subtle changes in temperature that you can while riding a motorcycle. When standing, walking or running the changes are generally to slow to notice. There is nothing better while riding on a hot day than to take slight dip in elevation and feel a pocket of cooler breeze against your skin. I think that is one of my favorite things that I enjoy about riding.

If you ride on a regular basis you will pick up on patterns of temperature changes while you ride. This is because hot air rises and cold air sinks. If the road you are traveling suddenly takes a drop in elevation you generally can actually feel the drop in temperature as you descend. Since cold air seeks lower elevations, naturally you will find it along creeks and rivers. Of course, the opposite of this is true as well. In Texas you can sometimes feel these temperature changes on longer bridges and overpasses.

Another factor that comes into play is the location of cover. Trees and buildings also block the wind and as the day warms up they will hold the cooler air at bay. There is a small wooded area with a creek in it by my house and usually on a hot day I will feel a nice cool section of the road while riding through the area. I don’t know why it feels so invigorating but I guess it just makes you more cognisant that you are alive.

Some temperatures are just not comfortable and you better have the correct riding gear to compensate for it. Hot weather gear for summer, cold weather gear for winter and rain gear for the rain. It is fun to race a storm to your destination before it starts to rain, or to stay out in front of a storm. Tornadoes, lightning or hail is not something you wish to tangle with on the back of a motorcycle.

Having your senses bombarded with information is just one of the things that make riding a motorcycle so exciting and enjoyable. Feeling the temperatures change as you ride is quite exhilarating and is definitely one of the reasons I prefer to ride.

Ride on,
Torch

Day Ride to Dublin Texas

Day Ride to Dublin Texas

My wife’s uncle invited me to go on a ride with some of the members of his church. They were going to be leaving from North Richland Hills Baptist Church after a Leading Man Breakfast meeting this past Saturday morning. So, I was up early Saturday getting my V-Star 1100 ready for the ride. I tightened up the slightly leaking oil line fittings going to the Oil Relocation Kit filter housing and put the half quart of Amsoil left over from the recent oil change in the saddlebag. Then I added a small tool kit and organized the contents of the saddlebags a little better. Lastly I gave her a much needed bath.

I draped myself in my leather boots, chaps and jacket and headed to my wife’s uncles house. It was very overcast and there was some slight sprinkling going on here and there. I put on my riding sunglasses with the yellow lenses which brighten up dreary days making it look like a sunny day. The forecast was for 30% scattered showers and lots of wind. I had checked the news radar before leaving and all the heavy precipitation, thunder storms, was to the west of D/FW. I was not sure at that time which direction we were going to be riding in.

I stopped and filled up the fuel tank on the way to my wife’s uncle’s house. I arrived and he got his riding vest on and backed his Honda Goldwing out of the garage and we were headed to the church to meet up with the other riders stopping on the way to fuel up the Goldwing. The bikes were all lined up in a row and we were now ready to go. I found out there were a total of five of us going on this ride and we were headed to Dublin Texas.

We had an interesting collection of motorcycles going on this ride. The lead bike was a brand new Yamaha V-Max. What a beautiful piece of technology, it literally purred when started. He was followed by a Honda Goldwing, my V-Star 1100, another Honda Goldwing and riding drag was a Suzuki Volusia. I put on my Airflow gloves and we rode out of town staggered fashion and headed west. We battled the normal Saturday morning traffic as the winds picked up enough to keep you on your toes.

We made our way through Fort Worth and ended up headed East on Interstate 20 to 281, where we stopped for fuel. I was glad I still had my leathers on because it was still cool in the late morning. After refueling we headed south on 281 and from there I completely lost track of the directions, and just enjoyed the ride.

The ride down was refreshing. I’m sure we did not take the most direct route because for the most part there was not much traffic and we turned onto other roads several times. There were a lot of twists and turns which made the ride fun. The scenery was gorgeous, Texas farmland, the start of the Texas Hill Country, huge beautiful older homes with wrap around porches, antique cars, Texas Longhorn cattle, dairy farms, goat farms, old buildings and barns. The odor from the dairy farms is one memory I do not relish.

We arrived in Dublin to get stuck in a long line of traffic. It tuned out that we had arrived just after the Cowboy Culture Celebration Parade. The proof was on the ground in the road left over from the horses and added another element of dodging to the mix. We turned off a side street and parked across the street from Old Doc’s Soda Shop. The Texan sun was starting to come out a little now and it was starting to heat up so I removed my leather chaps and stored them in my saddle bag. In the field next to Old Doc’s there was a line of horsemen that, after looking at the itinerary later, must have been the Ft. Hood Mounted Calvary.

It was 11:55 AM when we went into Old Doc’s for lunch. We had traveled a little over 103 miles from North Richland Hills, according to someone’s GPS, to get to Dublin for lunch. I had a smoked turkey sandwich and a large Dr. Pepper. Of course, real Dr. Pepper made with the original recipe and Imperial Pure Cane Sugar, is what Dublin is famous for. And Old Doc’s, serves them up hand mixed, soda jerk style. Several riders had another soda bar specialty, Frosty Peppers, a Dr. Pepper float made with another Texan favorite, Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream. The food and drinks were very good and the small town nostalgia made for excellent ambience.

We did not stay around for any of the tours this trip. I will have to make a trip back for that though. Lunch over we geared up and hit the trail. I decided to ride without my gloves, which later may have proved to be a mistake. I switched to my Oakley sunglasses for the ride back because the sun was out some. Honestly, I’m not even sure we took the same route back or not.

The ride back was fairly uneventful. We stopped one time for fuel. The wind had picked up and it was pretty bad. It was a constant struggle the keep the bikes upright. You would lean into the wind and then it would suddenly die down and you had to quickly correct your lean again. Some of the gusts were extremely strong and we battled this all the way home. It made for a tiring very ride and I was exhausted when I arrived home at 3:30 PM.

After getting my leather jacket off and getting a cold glass of ice water, it slowly became apparent that this fair skinned large guy had forgotten one important item for my trip, suntan lotion. The exposed strip on my forehead, my face from below my sunglasses, my neck, earlobes, and the backs of my hands from my knuckles to a couple inches above my wrists were all turning bright red. I looked like a reversed exposure raccoon. I quickly applied sunburn lotion to all burned areas.

There were several other interesting side effects of this ride. First my rear end was very saddle sore not being used to being in the saddle for such an extended period of time. Even with a Corbin seat, I am no Iron Butt, that’s for sure. Both my hands had a slight buzzing sensation to them, like when you have held a vibrating object for too long. This and the sunburn is where those gloves may have helped. For awhile I thought I might get a blister on the inside edge of my right thumb, from gripping the handgrips so tightly, but it did not blister up. My ears were a little deaf from the wind, road noise and my Cobra exhaust. Also, despite using my cruise control on occasion, my right wrist and forearm were very soar from twisting the throttle so much, something I really enjoy doing.

We saw a lot of other motorcyclists on our 220 mile ride and I tried to wave when I saw them in time and it was safe to do so. We also encountered a lot of local police and State Trooper vehicles, most of which had travelers already pulled over. I learned a lot about riding in a group and my limitations on this trip. I also learned to plan a little better for the trip, like using SPF 99 sun block. There are also a couple pieces of equipment and accessories for the bike I would like to get that would make longer rides more enjoyable. Things like a cup holder would be nice. I forgot to pack my digital camera so the photos were taken with my Palm Treo phone. I can’t wait to get back to Dublin the try one of those Frosty Peppers at Old Doc’s Soda Shop and take a tour of the museum and the Dr. Pepper plant.

Ride on,
Torch

When It Rains On A Motorcyclist, It Pours

Classic Pro Action frogg toggs Review

When it rains on a motorcyclist, it pours. I wanted to be able to ride my motorcycle every day possible, even in the rain. Soon after I got my Texas motorcycling License I began to research wet weather gear. I scoured the Internet reading blogs, forums, ads, and articles. One name that kept coming up was frogg toggs. The name really stands out and a lot of motorcyclists were recommending them. So I decided to check them out.

There I was again browsing around Cycle Gear again looking at motorcycle jackets, and anything else that caught my eye, when I saw a frogg toggs label. I looked at them and compared them to the other rain suites they had on display. The first thing I noticed was the Frogg Toggs were made of a thinner material making them much lighter and less bulky. The material itself felt like it had an almost waxy feeling to it. I picked up a black pair and headed toward the checkout with them. On the way I saw a sign that stated all the frogg toggs were on sale. It must have been my day.

A couple of months later I had purchased my V-Star1100 Classic. I kept the Toggs in my saddlebag. Thomas Ramirez and I rode to Bates Discount Cycle #2 to look at leathers, helmets and everything else. They had a fascinating frogg toggs display on the counter. It had water in it and showed how the frogg toggs material was 100% water proof, but would still breathe and let air through. I knew then that I had made a good choice in rain gear.

The frogg toggs Classic Pro Action jacket had 1 inch elastic bands on the waist and wrists. It is equipped with a nylon zipper and a protective storm flap that snaps closed. The snaps are nickel coated to prevent rust. They had adjustable locking draw chords around the hood opening. The hood rolls up and tucks neatly into the compartment in the collar designed for it and zips closed.

The frogg toggs pants have 8 inch zippers on the leg openings that make them easier to take on and off with boots on. The pants had 1 inch elastic bands on the leg openings. They came with adjustable locking draw chord around the pant waist. The toggs have right and left front pass through pockets so you can still get to things inside your regular pants pockets.

The rain suite is water proof, not just water resistant. This also means that they are wind proof. The toggs come with reflective piping around various seams to help you be more visible at night. To top all that off, the frogg toggs rain suite came with a small compact water proof duffel bag with locking draw chord to store them in. All these features made this rain suite a very attractive ensemble for a motorcyclist.

I commuted around for a couple months with the frogg toggs tucked away in my saddlebag. I got caught in some showers and downpours in the morning and afternoons coming and going to work. Finally, I got to test the frogg toggs first hand. I put them on with ease. They fit over my leathers and helmet just fine. They worked fantastically, and kept the rain out while driving down State Highway 121 in a downpour. The zipper, storm flap, elastic, and draw strings did a pretty good job of keeping the water from creeping into places you don’t want it to. I felt that they performed up to their reputation. Torch gives the Classic Pro Action frogg toggs a M.M.M. rating of 9 on a scale of 1-10.

Ride on,
Torch

It sure blows in KC

NOOOO, I don't mean it sucks....I just mean there is a lot of wind around here!
My son in law took his bike out, got my grandson dressed in his gear, and the two of them rode the Buel, while I rode the Sportster. The skies were clear, temps were startin' to cook, and this was to be my grandson's first "long distance" ride!



We headed north out of KC up towards Leavenworth into KS. But as we rode further north...the clouds became dark and menacing, lots of lighting and just wasn't one of those great "cool us down and go away" type of showers. Fact is, the front of the system coming towards us had high headers....and it was black as coal and was moving very quickly.



We got to Leavenworth, pulled over to discuss our course of action and my grandson is watching the storm system come at us...he's not real happy with the prospect of getting wet...and was starting to get real unhappy about us sitting there discussing the weather instead of trying to get out ahead of it. Could see, there would be no out running it, and suggested we at least wait till the front passed over...I, am not a fond lover of the high winds that I experienced coming into KC when I got here a week ago. Turns out to have been a very good and wise choice. The winds were very turbulent...and even after waiting front of the clouds to pass, going back over the MO. River still sucked...cross winds were heavy, and the rain was coming down large as marbles.



Now of course, every one else had jackets and full helmets with face shields. Me with my pipes not heat shielded elected not to bring rain gear, I don't wear but a 1/2 helmet...actually less than a 1/2...and I didn't wear a jacket because it got blown off the bike somewhere in Indiana, and got picked up by a semi that was on my ass...I let him keep it on his grill...figured he would need it in case he hit freezing weather once he got to ID. or something....



So these huge arsed rain drops are bustin down around me, I have my t shirt up around my nose and cheeks, my son in law on his fricken Buel is riding at sixty mph on these two lane roads with pot holes as large as a taxi....and I am lost as hell...no idea of what direction I'm heading in as the sun is obliterated by the storm....I just keep on keepin on...



It was a really good ride for my grandson to experience the kind of weather and what to expect or not expect when it comes to the elements and motorcycle riding...we got around the worst of the weather...and pulled into the garage at the home twenty just as the heavy stuff started coming down...we all were laughing and having a great time...pulling off our clothes in the garage...as my son in law is a real pain in the ass about allowing drippage and such on his carpets...LOL anyway...it was a good ride all the same...didn't get the couple of hours in as we wanted...but my grandson got to experience motorcycling at it's finest...and he loved it!