Cold weather riding

Heh. ****.

Acherly, I've timed it. Not in the SadAsDes way, with a stopwatch
whirring away while I get my gear on, but when late for a recent
physio appointment and watching the clock, desperately willing the
fucker to wait for me, or even run backwards just a little bit.

From arriving in the bedroom after getting out of the shower to going
out of the door pulling my lid on as I went - 8 minutes.
Plus pulling on me Pathans, if you want to be pedantic.
No earplugs 'cos they take another minute or so.

 

Ben Blaney wrote

I had an interesting little discussion wiv a bloke today as it goes. He
thought it was fucking funny to take the piss out of my flowing locks
and I accused him of sexual discrimination on the grounds he wouldn't
fucking dare say that to the bitches. And him a pillar of the local
establishment and all.

 

steve auvache said...

But mullets look stupid on people, and always have done.

 

Lozzo wrote

It has long since finished being a mullet Lozzo me ole mucker. I ain't
it cut at all for 3 and a half years now.

Mind you the back does have a head start.

 

As though Elly would give away her secrets...

 

Why would he go on the new toll road?

 

I'm smirking right now.

 

Conspicuous consumption.

 

Talking of which, would you ever use it travelling by bike? shouldn't be
necessary really.

 

That's what I thought at first. However, I think it would still be
better to fly down an emptier road than filter through the usual mass.

Better still, avoid the region entirely as I have been.

 

I thought the old road might be a bit lighter on congestion now.

 

*Christo joins Greenpeace* shocker

 

It may be, but not nessecarily. I thought traffic grew to fill the
available space.

 

Heh - I quite liked the thing on R4 the other night about fuel cells
though,

 

I would. I prefer riding normally at 75 to filtering at 40.

 

Pip's advice is pretty damned sound and is the principle wot I have found
works (with a couple of tweaks), so I'll just list my kit...

Top half
Two or three layers underneath; ASL technical base layer (Polartec wicking
stuff - very light, thin, excellent), M&S (no, really!) heavy-weight
thermal top made with Marino sheep's wool, Helly Hansen Cotton crew-neck
top.

Lower half
One or two layers of thermal stuff; Horizon thermal leggings and most
often, M&S (yes, again!) heavy-weight thermal longjohns made with Marino
sheep's wool.

I've also got a Gore Wind-killer neck warmer thing which is /excellent/ at
sealing out draughts as it can be pulled up over the chin and has a
semi-circle of Polartec-style material for the mouth so's one can breathe


I do also posess a Buff Polar which has a Polartec band sown in around the
bottom which is pretty good, but doesn't work so well with the Dainese
jacket which has quite a high, snug-fitting (and soft) collar.

On top of this lot, I wear the aforementioned Dainese Atlas Goretex jacket
with removable thermal lining up top and for the lower bits, just my usual
leathers, at the moment with a pair of cheap (£10) Lewis nylon
over-trousers wot have served me well now for 5+ years!

I fully intend to buy some /good/ Goretex trews real soon now (HG Voyager
Gore most likely, as soon as HG have any in stock...) as they have a
removable thermal lining and a bib/brace setup.

On me handies, I wear the /superb/ Gerbing heated gloves which I've now
augmented with a controller as they were actually /too/ hot under certain
circumstances!

On my feet, my Sidi Couriers are big enough to accomodate a pair of
regular socks plus a pair of nice, thick, M&S (hurrah!) thermal wooly
socks and, if needs be, some Berghaus Goretex socks, too. I have some
Horizons thermal socks, also, but they were purchased for wearing inside
racing boots which I seldom wear these days.

I've never bothered adjusting tyre pressures; some say do, others say
don't. I don't. Never bothered changing the oil, either -- this country
seldom gets cold enough to warrant it. Most modern multigrade oil
(15W-40) can cope with something like -15C to +40C ambient.

I have to confess that the GS is very good at spoiling me -- it is just
/so/ planted even on the shittiest of days (possibly the Michelin T66X's
have something to do with that, too...) and, giving away over a hundred
bee-aitch-pee to the Kwak, one can be a little hamfisted and get away with
it.
:-/

**** off?

Oh, not that sort.

--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2003 R1150GSA -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

Filtering at 80 please.

 

On the M6 past Birmingham, 80 would be pretty suicidal. Plus you'd be
highly likely to get nicked.

 

<cough>
It's been done at considerably more than that, sometime in UKRM company.