Kind of a ride report

[The emperor has no clothes]

I had a meeting in Flagstaff today. A couple days ago the weather report was to be 50* and 60% chance of rain. This morning it had changed to 30% chance. I figured the odds were good and I have rain gear so what the hell. I take off wearing my mesh jacket and jeans. About a hundred miles up the road it starts to get cold and I stop and layer up a little. Ride is going great, not too bad for trucks and traffic was moving at a brisk rate. Another 40 miles and I can see it’s raining further up the mountain. So, on goes the rain gear and water proof gloves. As I get higher in elevation it looks like it’s not rain at all. It looks like I’ve gotten lucky and I’m in the clouds above the rain. Uh...no. It’s SNOWING. And it’s snowing hard ! So, the last hour of up was in the snow. But it’s not sticking so all is good.
  As we are sitting in the meeting, one of my bosses nudges me and points out the window. The flakes are the size of baseballs now.  but it’s still not sticking. I’m ok. Meeting gets over and I take off in a blizzard. But 30 miles and a couple thousand feet less in elevation it all clears up. It’s very invigorating doing 85 mph in a snowstorm.  I only got one pic and that was after all the excitement.

[msb]

You actually own raingear living in Arizona? Did you have to order it online from Seattle? 

Best thing about riding in snow is relating the story afterwards. Thanks for the "kinda of a ride report"

[hubcapsc]

That was an exciting ride!

-Mike

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Sounds like an exciting ride. The kind that make you pucker at the time and enjoy memories of for years. Thanks for sharing. 

[Hook#3287]

No kinda about it, that's a ride report, and a good one too

[sandy]

You actually own raingear living in Arizona? Did you have to order it online from Seattle? 

Best thing about riding in snow is relating the story afterwards. Thanks for the "kinda of a ride report"

The local cycle shops sell heated gear too. I don't own heated gear but I have good rain gear too.

[Oss]

Thanks for the ride report Rob

It snowed in Flagstaff the evening before I arrived toward the end of March 4 yrs ago.  I didnt see any by 9am but there was plenty on the mountain

[old2soon]

Flag can git to be delta sierra in less than a heartbeat. Been there done that got the T-shirt BUT in an 18 wheeler!  Glad you got in and out SAFELY.  Anyone here chained up-tires-a motorsickle?  RIDE SAFE.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Thanks guys   I had taken my GoPro and had planned on more pics and videos for a proper Ride Report. But the snow and cold kind of altered my plans. It is funny how other people look at these adventures as misery of some sort. All of my fellow workers at the meeting thought I was crazy or something. As long as I’m not in danger of crashing it’s still fun for me. I think Willow’s tag line sums it up pretty well.  

[Beardo]

Thanks guys  I had taken my GoPro and had planned on more pics and videos for a proper Ride Report. But the snow and cold kind of altered my plans. It is funny how other people look at these adventures as misery of some sort. All of my fellow workers at the meeting thought I was crazy or something. As long as I’m not in danger of crashing it’s still fun for me. I think Willow’s tag line Simms it up pretty well. 

Very few of the stories we tell years down the road are ones where rides went perfectly as planned with great weather. 

[old2soon]

Thanks guys  I had taken my GoPro and had planned on more pics and videos for a proper Ride Report. But the snow and cold kind of altered my plans. It is funny how other people look at these adventures as misery of some sort. All of my fellow workers at the meeting thought I was crazy or something. As long as I’m not in danger of crashing it’s still fun for me. I think Willow’s tag line Simms it up pretty well. 

Very few of the stories we tell years down the road are ones where rides went perfectly as planned with great weather. 

                    Look up my tale of comin back from R Js after Spearfish when Ross-da prez-and I hit a serious cow floater toad drowner of a wee mite of rain!  RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Good report Rob. 

A few years ago, I took off to hook up with Yuri (Ice, recently of Winchester VA, now moved to Idaho) and Petra, and the couple of Germans who come over once a year to ride, and we all head up into WVa mountains.  It's nippy but not terrible and we are all geared up.  We stop on top a mountain at a coffee shop to take a break, and it starts snowing like mad (hard blowing, big fat flakes).  We all just laugh and decide to see if it quits, and it doesn't and the bikes look like snowmen out in front of the place.  We've all had 4 cups of coffee now, and the snow slows down to spitting, so we go out and brush it off the bikes, and take the direct route down the mountain in like 3-4 inches of fresh wet snow.  Slow and easy, but the good thing was a bunch of dump trucks were working some project up there, so they had pounded the snow down with their dually rear fat tires into more of a muddy icy mix.  In a half hour, we have left the higher elevation and now there is no snow, but the bikes and we riders are also a filthy muddy mess.

Only time I ever rode in 3-4 inches of fresh snow in my life.  It wasn't that bad, but I wouldn't make a hobby of it or anything.

Just another time I was pleased as punch to have a fat car tire on the back. 

[John Schmidt]

Flag can git to be delta sierra in less than a heartbeat. Been there done that got the T-shirt BUT in an 18 wheeler!  Glad you got in and out SAFELY.  Anyone here chained up-tires-a motorsickle?  RIDE SAFE.

Actually yes.....back when I was in my teens, remember those days....you had all the answers and nary a clue as to what the questions were/are yet.    We had various 2-wheeled contraptions and one winter decided to try riding on packed snow, taking bets as to which of us would go the farthest before dumping. One guy grabbed chains out of his dad's car and tried wrapping them on his bike wheel, took off and ooohh what a clatter. Tore up his rear fender pretty good so using him as an example(lesson?), I removed my rear fender and tried it with chains. Pretty noisy yet, had decent traction as long as you were going in a straight line. Turns didn't work out very well. Next project was strapping the front wheel so it wouldn't turn and wiring the front portion off my buddy's sister's ski. We didn't tell her at the time, that explosion came a few days later. Worked pretty good but you still got dumped with the first two dozen tries. Aaahh the good old days....don't tell me there's no such thing as guardian angels. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

Good report Rob. 

A few years ago, I took off to hook up with Yuri (Ice, recently of Winchester VA, now moved to Idaho) and Petra, and the couple of Germans who come over once a year to ride, and we all head up into WVa mountains.  It's nippy but not terrible and we are all geared up.  We stop on top a mountain at a coffee shop to take a break, and it starts snowing like mad (hard blowing, big fat flakes).  We all just laugh and decide to see if it quits, and it doesn't and the bikes look like snowmen out in front of the place.  We've all had 4 cups of coffee now, and the snow slows down to spitting, so we go out and brush it off the bikes, and take the direct route down the mountain in like 3-4 inches of fresh wet snow.  Slow and easy, but the good thing was a bunch of dump trucks were working some project up there, so they had pounded the snow down with their dually rear fat tires into more of a muddy icy mix.  In a half hour, we have left the higher elevation and now there is no snow, but the bikes and we riders are also a filthy muddy mess.

Only time I ever rode in 3-4 inches of fresh snow in my life.  It wasn't that bad, but I wouldn't make a hobby of it or anything.

Just another time I was pleased as punch to have a fat car tire on the back. 

Thanks  I've ridden bikes in snow a lot. When I was 14 I had a paper route delivering them at 5-6 am. It was illegal to ride my snowmachine on the street, and the cops seemed have nothing better than looking for me doing it. But, riding my Suzuki 90 in 2' of snow was perfectly legal. It was much better than actually trudging thru it on foot. But there were some hills that I had to take several runs at to make it. I have also ridden a Honda 125 out 30 miles on the frozen ocean. The wind would pack down the snow like concrete. You could do 60-70 mph out on that. Every once in a while though you would hit a soft drift and do a major endo. What I am very leery of is black ice. You can go down faster than a right cross from Mike Tyson. When I bought my Interstate in Tampa Bay, I hit a severe ice storm in Texas and thought I was going to die several times. ICE SUCKS !

[Jess from VA]

Ice can be fun.  Growing up on Lake Erie where it would freeze out 4' deep for a mile in front of the house, we'd make big honkin' kites (plastic, not paper) and go out and let the wind blow us 50-60 mph on ice skates.  Hit a patch of snow and go flying.  You'd have to be so bundled up that there was plenty of padding.  But you really had to watch bonking your head on the ice.  No one ever thought about helmets, we just wore hats.

It's a wonder any of us survived.



Dad:  Where are the kids?

Mom: Out on the ice going 50mph.

Dad:  OK.

[Dennis from Blythe]

Nice ride report Rob.
Now if you were running with one of these winter runflat tires, you wouldn't have had to worry about the little snow on the ground 

[The emperor has no clothes]

That's a good looking tire Dennis  I forget what you are running, a Kumho ?

[Dennis from Blythe]

That's a good looking tire Dennis  I forget what you are running, a Kumho ?

This is a Pirelli snow control.  I just installed it. I  had a Michelin PA3 winter runflat, but I guess they stopped making them. And after 23270 miles on it, I figured it was time to change it out before my trip to Virginia for the InZane rally. So though research,  I went with this Pirelli.  I have just a few miles on it but seems fine. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

That's a good looking tire Dennis  I forget what you are running, a Kumho ?

This is a Pirelli snow control.  I just installed it. I  had a Michelin PA3 winter runflat, but I guess they stopped making them. And after 23270 miles on it, I figured it was time to change it out before my trip to Virginia for the InZane rally. So though research,  I went with this Pirelli.  I have just a few miles on it but seems fine. 

I will need a new tire before Inzane also. I'll check and see if they have that in my size. Glad to hear you are making Inzane.