03 Dec 2009
I'll admit it, I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to bike-riding weather. Over 3 years of nearly year-round motorcycle season in Texas, around the same for Knoxville, although December through February I've typically avoided it. One of the problems I have with our upcoming move to Maine is that the weather won't be nearly as amenable to motorcycling. Thats why a few weeks ago I invested in some cold-weather gear -- namely full-finger gloves and a facemask to block the wind. I need to start conditioning myself to the non-south.
It used to be that my hands and face would be screaming in pain before I got a few stoplights from campus. I would pray for red lights just for the chance to warm back up. There would be no way I'd ever go on the highway with it that cold. But now, I've ridden a few times in 40-degree weather to campus and across town on the highway, and it's not nearly as bad. It's definitely not warm by any means, since my jacket isn't completely windproof and I still don't have chaps, but with a few layers and some longjohns I make do just fine.
It's funny that I've gone from being a fair-weather rider to pretty much the only bike on the road now. Maybe I'm slightly more hardcore...