December 26, 2010

Little red rooster was peckin' in the yard
Said put the bike in the garage before it starts to snow hard

Well, I had to put in a picture of something...

I was hoping to finally find out why they call this boxer day but it just wasn't really a day for long ride. It's cold and the weatherman has been predicting a foot of snow starting in the middle of the day. Tim took a wait-and-see attitude via e-mail with the implied threat that he might not be in any condition to get up in time for an early start. Dave was iffy on identifying any firehouse breakfasts on the day after Christmas.

I got up early and checked e-mail for updates on plans. Unbeknownst to me, my cell phone had decided it could not find the Verizon network but spent the night trying with the result that the battery was dead and I missed the call and voice mail from Dave. Being fairly oblivious so early in the morning, I suited up and headed out towards Reading taking the long route up 662 through the Oley Valley where the temperature was around 26. Not too bad, but when I swung into the ATM in Oley for some Jacksons, I took the opportunity to crank the Gerbing up to full force. After a quick stop to top up gas at Redner's Quick Stop, I headed across the ridge on Pricetown Road towards Reading. The temperature dropped to 23 degrees.

Now one of the fundamental questions I have been looking for an answer to is "How low can you go?", meaning in temperature on the motorcycle with the current winter gear. Turns out the answer lies somewhere between 23 and 26 degrees. Over the past month and a half, I have ridden in 26-28 degree weather several times and made out fine with the electrics on, but even with the jacket and hand grips cranked up to high, 23 was just too damn cold. So now we know. Problem one was face protection. At 23 the point of my chin and my cheekbones were burning. Problem two, shoulders and upper arms were cold even though the electric jacket felt hot. Also, legs were getting chilly. Amazingly, when I got back to 26 going back through the Oley Valley, these problems eased up. So there is a very definite break point between basically comfortable and unbearable right in that temperature range. Looks like we will have to bulk up a little further (I am looking at the Aerostich face fleece this afternoon) to be able to ride reliably in the 20's. For now we are geared up for anything down to 30's with the occasional dip into the upper 20's. Not bad.

December 12, 2010

OK, no way around it, this day got whacked pretty hard with the ugly stick. The temperature has popped up to the mid-50's, it's pouring rain, and everything is just hung down gray and soggy.

I'm sure if we had to ride, the gear would be up to it. We're waterproof enough and plenty warm. But on the other hand, we don't have to ride and today looks like a pretty good opportunity to stoke up the wood stove and sit in the warm and catch up on stuff. We'll get back to it next week.

December 5, 2010

Beemer Stats:
65.2 Miles
38 MPH Ave
40 MPG Ave

Gypsy Stats:
4 Hr 8 Min elapsed time
1 Hr 42 Min Riding Time (long breakfast!)
62.1 miles
36.2 MPH Ave

Tim: ’96 BMW R1100RS
Dave: ’03 BWM F650GS
Lindsey: '07 BWM R1200R (Grin!)

Looks like our own little BMW club today.

Up before the sun again for an early and chilly start. I checked on the internet and that beautiful, bright Morning Star in the eastern sky is Venus, not Jupiter as reported previously. It's still just as glorious. Still just as chilly out, too - around 28 leaving the house a few minutes after 7:00, dropping to 26 as I make my way across the Oley valley with the rising sun lighting the tips of the trees.

The leaves are down and the crops are in, so the landscape is a wintry mix of grays and browns with the occasional spot of green from a south facing bit of grass.

I'm suited up in what is now winter-standard wear: long LD Comfort base layer, thinsulate lined jeans, Gerbing electric jacket, Rev-It suit with liners, and Frogg-Toggs pajama top. Today, I put up the hood of the Frogg Toggs jacket under the helmet instead of the Balaclava. This provides a very effective seal at the bottom of the helmet without a lot of bulk under the helmet. With the jacket plugged in and turned up, I was toasty.

As we formed up to head over to Kutztown for fire house breakfast, Tim reported that the control unit for his electric vest was broken. He decided to try out his new layering system with the Gore Tex top layer without electrics. In the spirit of solidarity and experimentation, I headed out to Kutztown with my jacket unplugged, too. Well actually, I gotta be honest, that solidarity business is BS. It was more like stupidity; I forgot to plug in as we were heading out. The experiment was worth the trouble, though. Riding through 28 degrees relying on just layering was not too bad, except my finger tips and toes got cold. So it appears to be true, if you can keep your core warm with the electric jacket, the body pumps warm blood out to the extremities to keep them warm. If your core needs to conserve heat, the first thing to go is the toes.

Breakfast was crowded because the fire company was having its Christmas celebration, complete with grandchildren getting pictures taken sitting in Santa's lap. The local Brownie Troop was busing tables. I swear they must have been getting paid by the dish - little girls in brown vests with badges hovered around the table pouncing on each plate as soon as the last fork full of food was raised from it. Twice I had to actually wrestle my coffee cup back from an eager Brownie so I could get another cup of joe.

I was short on time and we were planning to go out to buy a Christmas tree, so I parted company with the others after breakfast and headed home. Not quite straight home, of course. I headed over the backbone of the county towards Frredricksville, then dropped down through Landis Store and Hill Church pausing long enough to take a gray winter photo of the Upper Perk Valley spread out below Franklin Hill. Short ride - long breakfast - great morning.