BRRRRRRRRRRRRR, I'm just in from a cool morning ride. I've been trying to get a good cold ride this winter and finally today it all came together. I awoke this morning knowing it was to be near record lows here in Kansas. I turned on the computer and checked the current temps at 5:30 a.m., -12 in Emporia and -10 in Cassoday, cool. REALLY COOL. Cassoday would be my goal.
Some of you may have heard of Cassoday, Ks. It's home of the largest monthly motorcycle meet around these parts with up to 3,000 people on a good warm summer Sunday. All makes and models of motorcycles and many food and motorcycle vendors.
Back to my ride...
Not wanting to be in Cassoday before daylight I slowly started suiting up for this cold ride around 6:15. I left the house in the dark at about 6:30 and plowed across the back yard through some 6" snow drifts to the main road a block East. No going down my drive and street as it's 4" deep with packed hard snow-ice. I had to use my feet a bit as my ST1300 didn't go well through the deep stuff.
Well 2 minutes away from the garage and my face covering (Zubb) is soaked with heavy breath and starting to freeze. This is going to be just the experience I've been wanting for years, A FUN BELOW ZERO ADVENTURE! I rode north from my home town of Andover on the Kansas Turnpike and everything settled down into a safe ride.
I rode along in the near dark at 45 to 60 being careful to try to watch for any black ice that may lurk on the road or bridges. The roads around here are mostly dry today with lots of good white powdered salt mix and sand. Not good for the bike but I wanted the ride. The ST1300 on board temperature gauge stops going downhill at +9f and it never gave me anything but the blank dashes, - - , I knew it would not work down low and prepared for that issue by buying a new digital thermometer that works down to -58f. That should do it today.
I jumped off the turnpike at Cassoday and the friendly toll booth attendant there gave me the same blank stare the Andover attendant where I entered the turnpike had for me, "What a stud". Or was it, "Thank goodness he has a K-Tag and I don't have to open the door in this below zero air". Regardless, I stopped under the electronic reader and waited for the flashing sign to display my approval for passage.
Cassoday is a small town with a resident populous of 350 souls. None of them were out or about at 7:00 a.m. this morning. I made my the mile trip south off of the turnpike to the town sign that declares Cassoday is indeed something special, the "Prairie Chicken Capitol of the World". It's not much but it's been the mantra of Cassoday long before it became the "Sunday motorcycle run capitol of Kansas". I parked in front of the sign and got the Gage out of the trunk to let it hang out a bit and soak in the cool air. I was hoping for a -10f reading today and right out of the slightly warmer trunk it gave me a -8.7f. Now to let it "soak". This new gadget works great and has both indoor and outdoor readings. The indoor temp reacts much more slowly then the outdoor but they do eventually mostly agree on a reading.
The last time I tried to digitally image record my "cold ride" the camera refused to work as it rode in my Hondaline Pan European trunk and froze it's poor batteries right off. This time with better planning the camera came out of the jeans pocket working fine. Down to -10.1 on the Gage now, -10.3, back to -10.2 and so on... It finally bottomed out at -10.6f (-23.67c). I was chilled but smiling.
I made several various images of the Gage and the bike by the town sign and decided it was time to dip back into the 12 volts of heat by reinserting the connector for the Gerbing jacket, glove and socks into my ST, the "Black Pearl". Oh yes, that Gerbings stuff is sweet.. I was calmly standing there and I heard someone else was finally stirring in town.
A big 4X4 Dodge truck approached and passed slowly by then turned around and came back to my parking spot. "Are you alright", two young men dress in camouflage asked? "Yes" I replied but if you want to do something for me could you snap a picture please? The passenger must have really been cold in the truck as the first picture he made was of my knees. The second shot was perfect and we had a short chat. They were heading out to enjoy some hunting but decided it was too cold after they looked at my thermometer and saw -10.5. They told me the town convenience store would open soon if I needed to stop in and warm up some. I told them the gear I was wearing was working fine and bid them a good day.
I jumped back on the turnpike decided to ride on the 5 miles more northbound to the Newt Rockney memorial turnpike rest area which had inside restrooms. I was due for a rest and the clothes were going to make that a tough task. The rest area was named for Newt after his untimely demise in a plane crash just 2 some miles away in the scenic Kansas Flint Hills. I visited the restrooms and headed back out and checked the temp Gage I had left outside to soak for a reading. -8.6, I had rode into a bank of ground clouds just at the rest area and the temps were warmer by a few degrees. I decided riding farther north would be both futile and possibly dangerous as the fog clouds were already icing my bike wind screen over.
I jumped on the Black Pearl and zeroed the trip meter to see how far from home this point was. I plugged in the Gerbings and headed south. I had not been cold up until this point as the Gerbings were doing their job nicely. My torso was almost hot from the jacket liner and the toes were fine. The gloves could use another 20 watts in my opinion but the open breeze around my hands could be causing that problem. My ST1300 has few options and the stock wind screen set up at full height leaves a good breeze over the knuckles from the gap at the bottom of the wind screen.
The coolness hit me about 2 miles down the road, the Gerbings weren't working. I pulled over and fiddled with the connections but no heat. I guess the fuse has burnt. Oh well, I get to see what this cold riding is really like now. I didn't stop again all the way home and pulled into the drive with 45 miles on the trip meter. I was now cold. It was -2f on the city hall display as I passed by. I was not frozen but yes, I was cold. I dug the camera out of my pants pocket and snapped two more pictures of the ST parked at home.
The ride was all I expected and now that it's over as usual I wish I was still riding but warmer temps would sure be nice.
Good day to everyone and enjoy your rides no matter how long how far how warm or how cold.
Raymond
