I don't know why, honestly, but it burns me to hear about motorcyclists and bikers talk about some sort of riding season. Riding a motorcycle isn't like playing baseball. It doesn't take sunny skies to enjoy riding a motorcycle.
All it takes is a road and the right gear.
Where I live, it rains about eight or nine months out of the year. If I limited my rides to cloudless days and temperatures above 60 degrees, I'd ride maybe a dozen days out of the year. Well, maybe a bit more than that, but whatever the true number, it wouldn't be enough.
My philosophy all last year was that if it was dry in the morning, I'd ride in to work. Sometimes, I got caught in the rain on the way home. By December, I didn't care if it was raining on my way in to work, either.
Snow and ice, well, those sidelined me. I found out it can still be dry with the temperatures in the 30s. I also learned that Carharts actually keep your warmer than denim, and long johns are even better.
Even so, some days I was pretty stiff legged walking into the office and it took until my second coffee break for my face to thaw out. This year, I'm going to invest in some Gerbing wear, unless all the BMW and Goldwing riders bought them out.
Recently, to save money, I joined a vanpool to work. I like my co-workers who ride the van. One of them even brought a dozen doughnuts for the group the other day.
Still, after four days in a row of the vanpool, I craved a morning commute where the only sound I heard was the wind and my engine.
Well, and the 80's soundtrack I've got on my iPod. What can I say? That was my era.
