The Paulcb Memorial Coldest Ride, Winter 2024-2025

centralMN said:
The KLR worked just fine today coming home from work at 22 F. Then tried out the R1150RT and it worked pretty well too. Neither qualified as a proper 100 mile ride with the ton involved, although I did have to test the RT's new tires to check balance at ton speeds briefly. They passed! RT was possibly a little better on the feet, but not nearly as nice on the hands as having hand muffs for the hands. Looks like the RT is getting hand muffs.... Hard to say which provided better core warmth.

But I actually preferred my morning commute on an ebike at about seventeen Fahrenheit. That's a pedal bike so I'm making heat using it. Cheating I'd say for my interpretation of the Paulcb rules. And a light tail breeze made it, well a breeze!
Click to expand...
11 F today on the town electronic church billboard in St Rosa MN (and accuweather) on the way home from 80 miles on the RT. Just had to go shopping 35 miles away you know. Adding large hand muffs had me turn down the heated grips until I would stop and chat at the gas station for example. Then full heat until everything warms up again. Had the heated socks on today too. And now waiting for heated chaps to tie into the socks - have been using some y cable that has a springy section and is not only uncomfortable but has unplugged the socks a few times giving either cold toes or a long trip to the bathroom at a gas station to undo/redo layers of pants to gain access to that connector. Will be nice to have warm legs too. Gears Canada stuff on the bottom half if you are curious. Even charged up aux battery pack that can be used on say a bicycle, walking or standing around. Worked well at small town parade and fireworks tonight. Not sure if I'll get out any colder tomorrow because I've got plans for the morning when temps are around zero. No pic today, left my phone in a difficult to reach/warm pocket. Looks just like an 1150RT with black nylon hand muffs. Dusting of snow was pretty though.
 
FINALLY got out to ride after being busy with new windows and finishing and painting trim, etc. I've also been real lazy in between doing all that work. This morning I decided that if the temp was still below 15F when I climbed outta bed I'd get out. Had to motivate myself somehow so I made up a reason. Anyway, I added air to the tires to bring them up to normal. Been a month and a half since I last rode so they each needed just a few psi more. I only rode about 21 miles but saw temps a bit under 12F and over 13. Based on my temp sensor that I carry in the clear pocket of the KemiMoto bar muffs I'm going with 12.5F for the temp on this ride. I'm certain that if I got out an hour earlier that would have been 3-4 deg lower but that lazy bone just took a bit to overcome. Also, I went south instead of north so I didn't go where the colder temps were located. That's OK. It's still only November. We normally get a lot colder in January and February.

Oh, and the bar muffs over heated grips kept my hands really toasty even though the grip heat was set on low.
 
Just remembered that I forgot to set my windshield to the high position for this season. It's still in the low position for warmer weather. Didn't seem to make a difference since I rely on my helmet visor anyway. We should have a day with the high temp above freezing on Wednesday so maybe I set it higher then. The garage has been a bit cooler than a refrigerator these last few days so I try to minimize my time working out there... like working in a restaurant cooler (BTDT a long long time ago).
 
Kind of fun to read other nutcases out riding in December. But I can't figure out why to not ride. Had to go to the closer store today (30 miles round trip) and made it back before dark to see 100 swans gathering on the lake in the back of the two bike picture. New low for me on a KLR 650 at 12, which isn't saying much as I've only had one in the stable since October this year. Pondering taking it to work in the morning which entails parking in an unheated storage shed and riding an ebike home to repeat in the opposite direction on Wednesday. All temps predicted above 10 so it's all doable in theory until the flurries tonight or Tuesday evening turn into an inch or more and glaze the tar. I can do 70% of the commute on gravel which lowers the pucker factor when there's more traction beneath the snow......but how much?

BTW I'm pretty happy with that lap skirt on the KLR - makes it better than a full fairing on the bottom half. Not so much on the shoulders
two winter bikes.jpg
KLR skirt mitts.jpg
 
Those "lap skirts" are called a Thermoscud and are very common for cold weather riding on scooters in Europe and Asia and many other countries outside North America.
 
uh oh The Dan is back....who can compete with him? lol I remember a few years ago when he did a -25! :eek:

16 degrees when I took off at 8 AM this morning .... verified by my bike thermometer.... rode 36 miles

bUKCnmA.png


rode down to the Ohio River and took a pic of the steam coming off the water as the warmer water hits the colder air

XZmsRnh.jpg
 
rjs987 said:
Those "lap skirts" are called a Thermoscud and are very common for cold weather riding on scooters in Europe and Asia and many other countries outside North America.
Click to expand...
Thanks Robert - I thought that was the brand name. Had to source it from UK even though it was made in EU. FWIW I bought it off of "Urban Rider" and it's called a Tucano Urbano Gaucho Motorbike Leg Cover - R119. It seems to fit the KLR although I bought it before the KLR came into my stable for other bikes and the R118 is listed for KLR 650.

The bad news......1/2" of snow and the salt and beginning of packed ice in the shady parts of the gravel road leading out of here. So no ride in the dark this morning, no e-bike commute home and desire to go skating on a shallow local lake that I haven't tested the ice on yet faded when it's now covered in a thin layer of snow and thickness is harder to gauge when whizzing along the surface. Of course it might be clear for a few days and the KLR can surely traverse some ice....? Doesn't look like snowmobiling here any time soon either. Suppose it wouldn't hurt to just go walk in the woods.
 
Last edited:
I'm just going to sneak in here for what I expect to be a brief spot on the list.... out today for a spin, it was -1C when I started so, I'll take a 31F spot if that's OK. We had a dusting of snow overnight, nowhere near what they got elsewhere, but roads were clear and mostly dry.
 
Yesterday morning I woke up to the first snowfall that accumulated on everything in this area. I think it was 1 to 1.5 inches. Used the wide shovel to clear the driveway and walks, but the city let the sun and wind mostly clear off the streets this time. No plows went by. Streets all cleared now and the only snow left is on grassy areas... especially shady grass areas.

Another cold morning coming up Thursday morning. We'll see if I can overcome my laziness enough to go for a ride. My dogs get me up by 7 am to go outside but then we all climb back in bed and it's hard to get up again with my Cavalier snuggling up against my legs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom