Unk Greg Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 (edited) Popping in with a blog. Decided to ride into work a few times this week. Work odd hrs, so Gear on, back pack with fleece and rain togs mashed into small confines of canvas bag. Absolutely beautiful ride in. It's bright and sunny and 75*. One of them temptations of turning right instead of left at workplace drive.Got the nite squared away and folks coming in saying foggy out. So I don my layers of gear, somebody says, 30* out? Fleece coat under riding leathers, ski mask and laid the rain suit over all of that. As I sit in pkg lot warming bike up and putting on gloves...3:30AM...I watch as, in the headlite, there are tiny droplets hanging in mid-air. A short stint up the road and suspicions confirmed....there are flowing streams of water rolling off my arms. Hvy fog. As I get thru town at a very respectable 34 in a 35 on 36, I hit open road and the fog gets worse. I find myself searching for the darker areas to the left and right of the pavement...defining the road surface. Straining to see not only the road, but also the ever present kamikaze wildlife lurking in the darkness to ambush me. The fog retreats to patchy in wave like sections that are strange, but nice...thinking some sort of horror movie special effect, with the dead dragging limbs along....the fog gets intense again and I actually almost stop. I begin thinking of stopping and walking the bike. I choose instead to press on and weave side to side at a whopping 14 to 17 mph. This has to be a stark contrast to me being 15 over by the time I exit my driveway. Strange to is, there is no one else on the road. There is no other car, truck, bike....nothin'! Flash back to horror movie theme.I ride like this from Apple Valley (SR36) to Howard and over to Amity-Danville Rd. At the top of the ridge, the fog breaks and I can cruise at 30 to 34 mph. The visor doesn't fog up, at least on the inside. It has a double screen and stays clear. It does however load up with sticky water on the outside, but fortunately I have on a pair of ice fishing gloves. They are a rubbery kind of an affair and perform admireably as a squeegee. Stopping at Danville to gas up, I am amazed, as I walk in to pay for my gas....oops, forgot had my helmet on over the ski mask....quickly flipping the visor up and apologizing to the girl behind the counter. She says, That's okay. I recognized you. I have to think about that one for awhile....completely armored up and draped with rain suit and full helmet....she knew it was me??The rest of the 20 miles are better, cruising up at 30 to 34 mph....only seeing, 5 raccoons, an O'possum Pete and one deer. A deer that was courteous enough to cross well ahead of me and scamper up the bank before I get too close.This has to be the slowest that I have ridden the blackbird.....ever.....I am amazed that I didn't fall over putting along at 14 mph for those several miles.So there it is, my ride. Maybe next time I'll run 514 and 520 home....prolee not as much fun as running it into work though.Ghostwriter Lance .... Welcome yer improvements....and 650 cc could work, right? Be a lot lighter to push home, eh? Edited May 10, 2013 by littlecarbsbigsmiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 I hate fog and get a lot of it on the ride home. Got kamakazi'd by a possum a few nights ago, little Fucker was on the other side of the road pointed the other way,heard me coming and ran like hell across to get run over. As a rule I pin the gas when this happens, lighten the front end and roll over said critter with no problems.The fog clinging to my visor is a different story, and I think im going to try to attatch a piece of squeegee or windshield wiper to my left glove to try and help with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unk Greg Posted May 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 Critters, yeah, +1...once upon a time I had a BBQ string of stuff mashed while riding. Best one ever was the momma unit rolling over a snake. She never even saw it! Laffed with the visual of what if it got caught up in the chain and whipped the back of her leg?Nope just squished in spot and all wriggly for the unstuck body parts. :>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motociclista Posted May 11, 2013 Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 (edited) Ghostwriter Lance .... Welcome yer improvements....and 650 cc could work, right? Be a lot lighter to push home, eh?Yeah, I generally find that 650cc is plenty for powering through those 15mph rides. A pleasant sunny day ride where nothing goes wrong is fun, but it's the foggy, dark, deserted, snowy, breakdown rides that are most remembered. As long as you survive them.I think im going to try to attatch a piece of squeegee or windshield wiper to my left glove to try and help with that.Both my foul weather waterproof motorcycle gloves (lightly insulated and heavily insulated) have the squeegee on the left glove. Works well. So you don't necessarily have to do it yourself. Edited May 11, 2013 by motociclista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unk Greg Posted May 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 Smiles..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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