Motorcyclist

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i have gone and done it again. i bought myself a dual-sport (on-off road) motorcycle. it seemed like a good idea. i even started to think about driving it to las vegas and idaho, etc. to visit friends.

then, i drove it 2.5 hours to a work place. the wind was gusting at near 50mph and it sucked, despite my attempt to take my time. i even traveled the old pass, over ice (very little) i might add.

i arrived and felt much worse for the wear. i felt quite horrible. the 60 minutes spent in the whirlpool did little to help. only after i took 800mg ibuprofen did i begin to feel a tiny bit better. the only saving grace i hoped would be the two days i spent working, thus resting my body from any cycling, motorized or otherwise.

when it was time to leave, there was more wind forecast with a late day storm to develop. i decided to leave early. the problem with that was the freeze which occured that night. wind? or freeze? i know how bad the wind treated me so i decided on the freeze. so i donned all clothing, clean and dirty and set off for home.

it took less than 5 minutes to realize that i needed more protection for my hands, though my helmetless head felt good with its' plastic bag, followed by a balaclava and then a wool watchcap on it. so, i stopped and put a plastic bag over the throttle hand. a couple of miles later, i saw a plastic bag stuck on a barbed wire fence-i am in the middle of nowhere basically, so i stopped. it was torn to shreds by that wind i mentioned. a short bit later i saw a seriously thick sheet of plastic, i stopped again. i ripped the bag and used it as a windshield for both hands, as the original plastic bag was already shredding.

i am not sure it helped but i drove across the pass (where the temp was in the single digits-that is well below freezing for any centigrade users) wanting to reach the next town and halfway point for a warmup. i could barely operate the controls by this point but i made it to a VA nursing home. i bought a hot tea and chatted with the worker that suggested i place my hands over the food warming trays. despite the lack of enthusiasm for this, i accepted her offer. i was careful to keep on my glove liners as i had noticed that the scaldingly hot water now in my bottle did not feel so to my frozen/numb hands.

i stayed there for better than 1/2 hour then decided to continue. there was a bit of a warmup in that time and the next hour on the bike felt much better, even at 80-90mph. i was traveling far slower up to this point.

despite the numbness/pain in my hands, i think i'll opt for cold again versus wind. only next time, i plan to be better prepared with more cold weather gear, which by the way is already stored on the bike!


ps: my enthusiasm has waned a bit, but i hope that my body will toughen up with a few more shorter rides. i think i'll drive it the 55 miles, one-way, to climb at the "garden of the gods" tomorrow. though i am not uncertain that last weeks' climbing did not add to my acheing(sp) body.
wish me luck!

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Photos

picking up the motorcycle
woohoo!!!!