Motorcycle Riding in Cold Weather

I didn't think it would be that cold and for the most part, on the way down, I was right. Then the sun set just as I was approaching the highest elevation of my P to P ride, Pacifica to Pasadena. Yes, it was "shiver me timbers" cold over the Grapevine where at least one elevation sign says 4,000 feet. After 300 miles I was committed to complete the last 90 or so. Since it was already dark, I didn't even think about turning around. Besides, I think my range of motion was limited due to the cold.

Thank goodness, once I got down in the LA Basin, it was psychologically warmer. (I couldn't really tell that it was but I convinced myself that it had to be. I also promised myself that I would look up the temperature differential for every 1,000 feet of elevation. I haven't yet.) Part of it was also that I got a haircut just before I left. Not only did this deprive me of my long neck hair, but I specifically asked for it to be cut shorter--for motorcycle riding. Helmut hair isn't very pretty. What's worse, the person who cut my hair had just returned from Disneyland and was telling me that the temperature over the Grapevine just the day before was 49 degrees.

Then Saturday, my walking tour tour guide daughter hikes me all over downtown LA. It really was something to see and the walking allowed us to see more of it. (While that last sentence was really a reference to the details that can only be noticed when one is taking things in a little more slowly, it is also true that there wasn't anyone standing in our way. LA really isn't a hotbed of hikers.) What's more, it was warmer than the cooler I had dressed for. Since I was dehydrated, at least I didn't sweat up my cloths.

A metro day pass allowed us to skip over to Hollywood and walk up and down a few of those streets. I can't say I remember ever getting to Hollywood and Vine but we did get to a Costume store and Amoeba's. We didn't get an outlandish costume, although there were several to choose from but my tour guide and her husband bought several, as in at least ten, CDs from Amoeba.

This made the day just long enough to stop back in Union Station, since we had to to change trains anyway, and eat at Traxx. After the large lunch we had at the Grand Central Market, where each of us went to a different venue for food of our choice, most of us were too full to eat much at Traxx--but we did anyway. I convinced myself that I had eaten such healthy foods with lots of vegetables that I could afford to go overboard for dessert. I don't know what lies my table companions told themselves. The problem was, it was worth it.

After another good nights sleep, we had special griddle cakes with a fruit compote and ginger maple syrup, courtesy of my daughter the chef and former tour guide. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I made sweet sticky rice to go with the mango I had taken down with me for that purpose, packed up and left. I don't know whether or not they tried the sweet sticky rice for lunch or at all today.

My packing was a little more compact than it was on the way down. Not only did I deliver a jar and left it there, but better distribution of what was packed allowed me to put my tennis shoes inside my "sissy bar bag." Plus, I wore more. In addition to my t-shirt, long sleeves shirt, and motorcycle jacket with its liner, I also wore my fleece vest fully zipped up. This combination work for at least 2/3 of the ride back. Once again, when it got dark it got cold. It was so cold that I actually slowed down to 70. It got so cold that I just had to check the outdoor temperature when I got home. It was a balmy 42.3. I turned up the thermostat.

While some parts were colder than others, the only part that wasn't cold at all was the part right over the engine, the part I sat on. Well, my new motorcycle boots also kept my feet and most of my calfs warm. Since I burned the knuckle of the pinkie finger of my left hand on the ride down from turning my heated gloves up too high over the Grapevine, I kept their temperature down on my ride back. My hands may not have been as warm, but blisters aren't so hot.

All in all, it was a really cool trip in more ways than one.