Well, good February to all you ground-hawg watchers. I finally took my first ride to work. I had sort of planned it at the last minute last evening. Knew I was expecting about a high of 50 today but the internet showed sunny skies with a few clouds. I let the clock get away from me this morning and started getting dressed for the ride late. It was dark when I was leaving but expected the weather to be clear. By the time I was outfitted with my Gerbing clothes I put the garage door up and low and behowld, there was evidence of a late minute shower but had begun clearing. I looked at my watch and determined that I was about to miss my van-pool anyway if I abandoned my ride mission, so I told myself that I had already committed myself to ride so ride is what I would do. Looked like it was beginning to clear so I set off on my 35 mile ride.........mistake #1. I went about 10 miles or so and realized that it was beginning to fog up. A little farther up the road and I realized the road beside the river was fogging up a lottt! So, I determined that vehicles were about to speed up as the mph increased (why do people just go faster during fog because the sign says you can??) so I got off that road and crossed over to another path that I thought was surely more fog-free.........mistake #2. I didn't even get 100 yards and had to pull over to the side of the road because the fog on my glasses was too intense. I had already raised the faceshield on my fullface helmet because I couldn't see through 2 layers of fog. It became too intense to run with the faceshield down. So, I dried my glasses beside the road from that intense engine heat that we will despise next summer. A short ride and another stop. Glasses went inside my pocket because they were useless! Now I was running about 30 mph or so in complete fog with my faceshield open and my face freezing from 32 degree weather. Shield kept flopping down with the turbulence caused from our short windshields and so it was a case of down/up/down/up/down/up with the faceshield...........all the way the rest of the way to work. Was a little late to work but the boss was coming in later as well. Found my parking place (nobody else had the required kahunas to ride so there was a wide open field of parking availabilities. So I got the best and closest space.
All in all it was the worst case of fog I think I have ever been in. At 32 degrees and heavy fog, even the nose piece on my glasses was painful. But you know what? The rest of my was fine. my hands and body were warm. My toes were a little cool but that could be overcome with my electric socks that I may press into service when I go on the next ride in a couple weeks of any distance. 85 miles to Moses Lake, Washington. I reconfirmed that you have to be tough to ride in this sort of fog. And you have to be committed. And no doubt there will be some who have some other "have to be" 's that pride obviously is shielding me from at least this morning. But we gain experience in many different art forms and one is 'riding'. Even on foggy days. So, when you're telling yourself that 'surely nobody is riding today', more than likely there is somebody out there that just feels a need to ride! Take care, all, and know that brite skies are on the way! Puxatawny Phil did not see his shadow in SE washington state so we are heading to spring like Nobody's business!!
Oh, and another thing I found was that when your faceshield is a little fogged up in the morning, that bright dashboard is very easy to distinguish the rpm and speed, etc. Also, the front blinker/running lights we have are great for illuminating the gauges that I have double-back taped just forward of the handlebars. Had been looking for some type of 12 v lighting system to cast just a small amount of light for the gauges and what we have with the bike worked great for that purpose. 'Til later............
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Topic: On the move.........slowly.............in the fog (Read 2055 times)