Cold and windy at sunrise with brain announcing there’ll be no riding today. At once a coward and slacker the gray matter will convincingly guide ass into car, or couch, or other safe and slothful action. I have to guard against my brain for it does not have my best interest in mind but rather hopes to drift in a comfortable malaise fueled by sugar and fat and electrons pushed out by Netflix. With as much muddled resistance as I could muster I tried to breathe deep and ride.
And so I found myself walking out of Subway with breakfast in a bag at sunrise.
Warm sunlight bathed the scooter when I arrived at work. No caffeine necessary to wake up when 19F air is hammering at you. Dismounting the Vespa after a cold ride leaves you quivering like a dog exiting a freezing dip in a creek. While I’ve done no research, I’m certain the workdays kickstarted by a ride are better.
Departing for home at twilight in the cold can be, well, discouraging after a long day. Without a doubt driving home in a warm car is easier than bracing for a ride into the freezing night. The damn brain. It says it’s just playing things safe but I swear it’s robbing me of life energy.
Or something.
You would think an evening ride in the cold would be direct and deliberately intended to travel fast to the warm safety of home. But like one of the kids in Bil Keane’s Family Circus comics, I wander off course a bit. As the sun sank further below the horizon the challenge to monitor the road surface increased as I made the logical choice to detour.
There are plenty of dry, paved roads to ride on but I seem to be drawn to the little dirt, grass and gravel paths found here in central Pennsylvania. I wonder at times why I’m not riding a dirt bike instead of a scooter.
It was almost dark when I arrived home and as in the morning I felt refreshed and alive. All things seem possible after a scooter ride.
I think that’s called denial.
I don’t leave the truck plugged in every night so I don’t have the option of not riding in. It eliminates having to make a decision, ride in every day. I must admit that I did plug the truck in after a – 30F ride at night but that was just in case it the temperature dropped overnight.
Damn, Richard… Once the temp reaches -30F, do you even notice another 10 or 15 degree drop?!
There seems to be a huge difference between -20F and -30F. As soon as you hit -30F, mechanical things start to be unreliable and things tend to break. E.g. some plastic shatters like glass instead of bending. At -40F, it takes a while for tires to become round again and if you rush things, it could just come off the bead. This is more true of bias ply tires than radials. So, below -30F, I’ll probably take the bus…
And I had foolishly supposed that -30F was a threshold for something so trivial as personal comfort. It is fascinating, though, how materials and processes are compromised by environmental extremes.
All this thought and talk about freezing temperatures got me thinking about Richard Proenneke and the thirty years he spent in the wilderness cabin he built on Alaska’s Twin Lakes (the cabin a masterpiece of carpentry). In the documentary film Alone in the Wilderness he mentions how warm his cabin felt after he’d been out wandering in sub -30F temps: If I remember correctly, it was a “balmy” 40-ish degrees. I suppose that a 70 degree spread, wherever it falls on the thermometer, could cause its high end to feel “balmy”. The documentary is engrossing, and the book One Man’s Wilderness, based on Proenneke’s journals and on his experiences at Twin Lakes, is a delightful read.
When I lived up North we had a winter -40, but with windchill it was -75 and my tires squared off from sitting in the parking space, my driver’s side window shattered & the vinyl seat cracked, I should have just stayed home that day!
The only place I get to experience weather that cold is in the storage freezer of the Berkey Creamery at Penn State: -35F. I’ve been in there with summer clothes for a few minutes and can see how it might cause things to fall apart…
Delicious denial 🙂
Steve, I often look for these paths and back roads when I am riding …they are always a welcome reward and bravo to you for doing the same….you seem to have an unlimited supply while mine up here are more scarce .
Brent
Gunga Din, you’re a better man than I. 19 degrees. My cut off point was 25 degrees F, when I commuted to work in DC, and my main reason for doing that was convenient, free parking. Here in S C I ride all year round, but rarely below 40.
Love the reference to Family Circle.
The past few days have been dicey to ride. Probably good that circumstance has kept me busy elsewhere and off the road.
it’s not denial….its the feeling of challenge accepted and overcome.
Bingo!
Your brain, the body’s healing and survival organ, is doing a good job at trying to protect you.
Read Sam Harris’ “Free Will” and learn that it doesn’t exist rather your brain compels you to do things, this time in your best interest.
Viva il Vespa
Steve,
28 this morning here.. Quite perfect to take the Ural M70 out for a ride. Best part of riding in the cold is it feels so good when you stop. Breakfast tastes better, friends bond better and the world is a happier place when I go on my bike.
I do so enjoy your posts. Safe rides to you Sir..
SB
Sounds like you have the same experience of riding in the cold that I do. Breakfast does taste better!
Well said Mike. I’ll try and take a look at “Free Will”.
Cant imagine riding in those conditions, well done, we are complaining our summer is not warm enough down here, I have it in perspective now and won’t complain:)
cheers
Cold weather riding is an acquired taste, one that can be wrecked the first time you go out without the right gear to keep you warm. I’ve talked with a number of riders who have tried it with half helmets, warm weather gloves, and generally inappropriate gear. No wonder then think it’s crazy because with that preparation, IT IS CRAZY!
Hope you get some warm weather.
I need to reinsure my bike, I am missing it more and more each day. I wish we just had cold weather, it seems easier to deal with than rain. I just find the rain a pain in the behind because you are a soggy drippy mess when you get to the destination.
Steve as usual your pictures are always beautiful.
I agree that rain is more challenging than cold for the reasons you outline. Generally though I am able to keep the soggy and drippy on the outside.
Thanks for the kind words about the pictures. They are starting to feel predictable and repetitive to me at times. Maybe I”ll stumble upon a different approach…