The most brutal ride....loved it.

[Toe Dragger]

Well thought I'd kick this off with a story from two weeks ago.

I was camping in Winter Park two months ago in a remote location two miles on dirt through the forest. (Actually got chased off by a bear...but that's another story.) I packed up the next morning...hopped on my Gixxer and rode back home. It was beautiful.

When I got home I realized I had left my keys there! (I don't keep my bike key on that ring.) ALL my keys....house, car, parents house...you get the idea.

So for the next two months I was working with spares.

Finally Stephen (livinlife2themax) and I decided to ride up there and get them...I knew exactly where they were. The ride up was perfect....beautiful 115 mile trip.

While at the campsite...Stephen ONCE AGAIN hung his helmet from his mirror and it fell. This time breaking the visor off with no way to fix it! I tossed him some sunglasses and we hit the road.

Almost immediately upon leaving we were in dense fog which was cool. But it kept getting colder and colder. Soon it was in the 40's when it started to rain. Stephen with no visor was taking a beating. His face was swollen and frozen LOL.

We pulled off to rest and were freezing and soaking wet and less than halfway home. We were shivering like refugees in the arctic and I was hungry as a hostage.

When I got back to town...my hands were useless peices of meat and I could no longer shift. As I walked in my house I considered a trip to the emergency room but was to damn tired to dial.

Two and a half hours of cold, wet misery...but I got my keys back. Yaay!

The worst part is....I know in the back of my sick twisted mind that I'd do it again right now. I don't know why...but I am actually fond of putting myself through shit like that.

The end and happily ever after and all that nonsense.

[mtnairlover]

Yeah...I know exactly what you mean. Of course my story isn't near as "cold" as yours, because I went prepared with extra layers, but I'd do it all over again.

So, I live up in Loveland, and met with Beotch and a few others way down south off of c-470 and Kipling back in August. We went up to Breckenridge via Deer Creek (I believe), then to 285 and over the pass by Fairplay to Breckenridge for lunch. The group decided to go home via Loveland Pass, but since I live in Loveland (no relation), I went to I-70, to Silverthorne along the Blue River, up to Kremmling, over to Grandby, up to Grand Lake, over Trail Ridge Road (met up with some cold-ass weather)...my side was cramping like anything, down to Estes Park and home to Loveland via hwy34. It was about a 350-mile roundtrip and about 11 hours on my stock seat. The very same seat that Cycle_Monkey says "sucks ass" on his boney butt;-)...and, yes, I'd do it all over again. The scenery, freedom, twisties are all worth every minute of it.

[Toe Dragger]

Hell yeah. Sometimes a trip like that can be agonizing....but two days later you are glad you did it.

[mtnairlover]

Two days recovery? Yikes, you nearly did freeze your digits off!

My first winter ride was with a guy on his BMW and we went up to Estes Park and met up with a snow squal on the West side of town. I, unfortunately, was wearing an open-face helmet at the time...nothing like being pelted by tiny snow pellets. But, he wore riding silks when he went riding...and he rides year-round.

He swore by these...(under his winter gloves of course)


and this


My next accessory purchase after my Zed gets back up and running again will be a good set of winter riding gloves. Living in Colorado means always being prepared for the extreme weather changes.

[Dysco]

Silks never helped me. Neither did poly-pro liners. Heated grips did OK, but blocking the wind away from your hands is the key. That takes bike hardware or extra insulation. Too much insulation between your hands and the grips leads to poor circulation and frozen hands.

At a certain temp though, even lobster-claw ice climbing setups don't help a lick... At least that's what I've discovered.

A fleece balaclava kept my head plenty warm for 2 winters. Always had one in my kit from September to May.


The most critical thing to remember is to always be waterproof: pants, jacket and gloves. Waterproof boots are a myth (and to some extent so are gloves) but you can usually sno-seal a decent boot and get a few dry hours out of it.


Someday, when I can ride again, I'll host a tire-studding clinic.

[Toe Dragger]

Man I was wearing jeans and a simple leather jacket and joe rocket PHOENIX gloves! Those are the mesh gloves for hot summer weather.

At least I was wearing my combat boots so my feet stayed dry.

[livinlife2themax]

I have to admit that it was a brutal ride!!!!! Now mind you i was wearing a leather jacket/with my liner, and a fleece....along with gortex pnats over my jeans.... along with leather gloves(but we all know how great leather gloves are NOT! in the cold).....but all that preperation and it did my face no good yeah the rest of my body was good except for my face which felt like it was getting tattoed for over an hour. I have a nice underarmor face mask that would have done real nice but then again you dont expect your F****N helmet to bust(my fault of course, which i have learned my lesson)... But after all of that i have to admit it was a great experience.....I learned that maybe my 15min ride to work when it is 35 degrees aint nothin and that things could be much worse.