Personal cold WX riding record

[Cassius086]

I went 20 min ride in 15 degrees, with my 145lbs, and no body fat, needless to say it was a bit nippy.-darren

I am with ya on that Darren (145lbs., no body fat...). A good friend of mine and I left Deal's Gap Sunday after thanksgiving couple years ago and it was 18 degrees...I rode 240 miles that day, all the way back to Charleson SC. My hands were the only victims...First Gear Thermal suit, and my First Gear Trekker (AWESOME jacket by the way), were great. Now for some grip heaters and a heated vest. Like was mentioned earlier: who need winterization? BAH!!:-D

[louisciccoli]

The coldest I ever rode in was 17. I was on my way home for christmas from Yorktown, VA to west of Gainsville,FL. There was light snow on the roads but I found no ice, luck I guess. I was bundled up in a full suit with heavy gloves & boots, noninsulated.

[alan]

I've been riding every day this winter that the pavement has been dry. going to work in the morning (4 miles) and coming home for lunch 8 miles or more round trip if I take the long way ) the nthe 4 mile trip home. On a few mornings at its coldest, the temp was a few degrees below 0 F. It was an exhilerating ride to say the least. The ride is only 35 mph at the fastest and no hard curves, which is good since the tires were quite hard at that temp. We're having a 44 degree heat wave today and it's lunchtime... off to ride

[stankemp]

personal cold wx record

It was 1971.
I had my new Yamaha XS650.
The bike had an oil leak and the dealer was 35 miles away. High speed roads.
Nasty day with 25F on the thermometer.
I broke out the full leather WWII bomber suit (it had a heater , but there was no hookup on the bike). Bubble shield on open face , remember those?
When I got back to the house it took (as I recall) about 2 hours for the violent shakes of hypothermia to stop. A very long hot shower helped.
I try not to ride in nasty weather any more.
Stan

[kramer]

This year I snuck in 4 rides of over 100 miles each in January here in Wisconsin. February was a blur; it goes so quickly and is usually cold, so I can't even remember if I rode. In March I've managed a couple more 100+ mile rides. Saturday, March 11th was sunny and in the lower 60s, but did I ride? No, I nursed a nasty hangover from the night before. Sunday, March 12th, the high never reached 40, and it was overcast and windy. Did I ride?

You bet! About 130 miles. I wore leather chaps, and in addition to my lined Icon TiMax jacket, I had a black hoodie and snowmobile gloves. Cold? Oh yeah...I usually warm up within two hours after cold rides, but for some reason, it took over 4 hours for my legs and knees to not feel cool to the touch. Does the cold bother me? Hell no, that's how we do it in Wisconsin! The best part about that ride? Literally 15 minutes after I got home, it started sleeting, which then turned into rain and then snow. Ain't winter grand?

[maparker]

Since rescueing the 450 last summer I rode it to work, 100 mile roundtrip, whenever the weather was what I call decent (>40F). I rode at it at least one day every month...although it took 'til the 28th to get the Feburary ride in! A couple of times I didn't leave early enough and got caught in the after dark temperature drop. Its kinda wierd when you can't keep your legs from shivering uncontrollably while you're riding along...My wife is convinced I'm nuts, of course I think she was convinced of that years ago

[bradleymaynar]

Just a word to the wise for when it's coldest. While it does cool off significantly after sunset, the actual coldest part of the day is right around sunrise. I've learned this well since my job went from second shift to first shift.

Brad tt

[Rick]

Personal cold record...

My record was winter of '94' in Port. OR. a twenty minute commute to work for a weeks worth of 17F....alls well until the scarf wrapping up the neck opens slightly exposing the neck to the unfaired windblast..feels like a blowtorch on bare skin!!!
__________________________________Rick.........