Off-Season Riding: Green Means Go!

As I raise the garage door, I wonder what the LED lights on my Battery Tender are going to tell me. I just spent 5 minutes putting on gear, so she’d better be charged up. As the door opens I look down at the garage floor and see nothing but green light. Green means go.

The Spidercycle, my modified Yamaha V-Star Classic 1100, roars to life, her new Hard Krome pipes pumping steamy exhaust into the air with steady rumble. It’s 31°F. We can both see our breath. I’ve grown to like hers. That spent gasoline smell. I just stand there and enjoy it for a few seconds. Then I think about carbon monoxide and move. I save my balaclava, helmet, and gloves for last, usually carrying them out to the garage after gearing up. So many layers. Not uncomfortable, but I feel like a member of an elite anti-terrorism task force. I would look as much at home with a sub-machine gun in my hand as riding a motorcycle. Ballistic jacket. Insulated pants with protection in the knees and hips. Gore-Tex riding boots. Military grade thermal underwear. Smartwool socks on my feet. I’m ready to storm the castle.

She takes about 2 minutes to warm up. I gradually ease in the choke every 30 seconds or so as I put on the rest of my gear. The gloves are the most complicated. Connect the wires in the gloves to the wires in my sleeves, put your hand in, tighten, adjust, repeat. Connecting the wire down my back to the switch on the bike while wearing thick leather gloves is actually easier than one would think. I sit down on her feeling the smooth as glass shocks take my weight and start to back her out of the garage and stop in the driveway. Kickstand down. Then I get back up to close the garage door...oops! My umbilical cord! I quickly undo it and close the door, then get back on the bike and reattach. The next few hours belong to us.

A lot of sand has collected in the alley so I stay in first gear all the way down making sure not to make any sudden movements. All of my corners are taken in first gear in this weather. Slow, look, slow, lean little, and roll. Destination: the highway. I’ve found it’s safer to stick to neighborhoods or the highway in this season. In neighborhoods, your speed is low and you can deal with sand and salt more easily. On the highway, most of the sand and salt has been blown off the roads when they’re dry. It’s the 35-50mph roads that still have silt and debris that make emergency maneuvers more harrowing.

Down the block to the highway entrance. Even after the warm up she jerks around a little. “Easy, baby,” I whisper. Then it’s nothin’ but throttle. She picks up speed like a snake running for cover these days. No you see her, now you don’t. The only place I can feel the air is my nose, which I leave uncovered under my helmet so my breath isn’t pushed up onto my visor past the deflector. There’s a little fogging at lower speeds, but I keep the visor open a crack to clear it until we get up to speed. My eyes get a little teary for second, then adapt. The cagers always look at me. The guys usually check out the bike, the women just give me that, “whatever,” kind of glance. The motorcyclists honk, wave, and sometimes even open their windows just to say, “rock ON, man!” or “you are hard CORE!” I flash them the standard ASL sign “ILY,” which means “I love you,” “rock ‘n’ roll,” and “I’m Spiderman” all at once. I’m sure that looks cool.

I decide to head to Minnehaha Falls which are probably frozen now. That means taking the Great River Road which is gorgeous. The leaves from the trees have fallen so you can see the river much more clearly. When I get to the road, I notice the temperature drop as I head down into the river valley. Now we’re talkin’ about temps in the high 20’s. No problem. I’m toasty. Since the sun doesn’t usually ever get down to this road at this time of year, the road has some frosty patches. Again, the leans are mild and the speed is slow. The posted signs say 25, I’m doin’ 20. The cagers behind me are clearly annoyed as they line up, but too bad for them. The twisties are fun even at this speed.

Suddenly my left foot tells me, “hey, it’s cold,” followed by the right a few minutes later. I’ll stop in the coffee shop near the falls to warm them up before riding back. I park the bike, and head inside. “Hey, you were in here a few months ago, weren’t you,” says the guy behind the counter.

“Yeah, that was me.”

“Aren’t you cold, man?”

“Nah. Look at me!” I point to my outfit. He nods and asks me what I want to drink. Hot tea and a scone. I snarf them down and walk out to the falls. The falls are a natural urban wonder...like I wonder how they didn’t get bulldozed. Sometimes people are smart and appreciate natural formations. The falls are amazing. 50ft cascade of ice that looks like the inside of a cave, complete with icy stalactites and stalagmites. My feet are still cold. Time to go.

The run back up the river is a little chillier, but not uncomfortable. As I come out of the valley I can feel the air getting warmer. I cut through downtown Minneapolis and up Central to home. A crazy cager decides to cut me off as he’s changing lanes so I do a quick slow down and curse his name silently under my helmet. I hope he doesn’t ride. Up the alley, into the garage, and she’s ready for another nap. My feet are all done riding for the day and so am I. As I pull off my helmet I can feel the steam rise up around my head. Out and back in less than two hours. Another good cold ride. They say tomorrow’s going to be in the 40’s.

These heat waves are freakin’ me out.

Whizbang is a contributing editor and special projects manager for beginnerbikes.com. Check out “Whizbang’s Spinning Wheels” on his website, “WHIZBANG!” http://home.mn.rr.com/whizbang/spin.htm