Goodbye to February

The heavy rains over the last several days melted 99 percent of the snow and washed away any road salt, so when I saw that the roads were dry today, I was tempted to ride my Harley.

Apparently, I was not the only one. As I drove my van to North Kingstown to have Sunday dinner with my brother, I saw a Harley and its owner stopped in the breakdown lane on Route 1 north. I pulled over to see if the rider needed any assistance or tools. The bolt for his air cleaner cover had fallen out, but he said he was okay, so I went on my way.

When I returned home around 4:30 p.m., I threw on a hooded sweatshirt, grabbed my leather jacket, helmet and leather gloves, backed the Wide Glide out of the garage and started it up. I badly needed a ride and was glad I went, although I paid a price for it - it was colder than I thought. I thought it was in the low 40s, but it was about 38 degrees, I later found out. My prescription eyeglasses fogged up every time I exhaled (I was wearing a half-helmet with eye shield). A full-face helmet would have prevented this problem and been a lot more comfortable in these temperatures, but it doesn't look right on a Harley.

This was only my second ride on my new bike and I had a brief scare when my rear tire fishtailed when I downshifted a bit too abruptly, but it happened so quickly I didn't have time to think. This bike is much more powerful than my little Yamaha, and I will have to ride it conservatively until I get used to it.

About halfway into my 20-mile ride, mostly on country roads, my fingers started going numb from the cold. Then when I got home and the blood began to circulate back into my fingers, the pain was excruciating. For about three minutes, it felt like my fingers were on fire. I can see why many people are fair-weather riders, and next time I ride, I'm going to wait for a 50-degree day. With March beginning tomorrow, I'm hoping that I won't have to wait more than two or three weeks for that 50-degree day.

A failed experiment

Today, it was about 45 degrees, which is when I begin to have problems with my fingers going numb from the cold and turning white after anything longer than a 10-mile ride, even with heavy, insulated leather gauntlet-style motorcycle gloves (which I paid $50 for last year).

After doing some research online, I learned about a few options:

• Become a fair-weather rider (not really an option for me, as I love to ride);
• Get some heated gloves (again, not a viable option, since the electrical/charging system on my 20-plus-year-old bike is marginal);
• Install an accessory called "Hippo Hands" (basically, these are small fairings that mount around your handgrips that are supposed to shield your hands from the wind); or
  
• Try mittens instead of gloves.

A motorcyclist from Massachusetts recommended Air Force "extreme cold weather mitts" from an Army/Navy surplus store, worn over some lightweight wool gloves. "I wear this setup to scoot from Mass. to Daytona each year in February/March," he wrote.

I've been wanting to try this recommendation, and there happens to be an Army/Navy surplus store near me. I got home around 2:00 this afternoon, so I took my bike out and rode to the store. The college-aged kid behind the counter wasn't the most knowledgeable clerk, and he called another store, which had something supposedly similar for about $40. I didn't want to ride (or drive) that far, so I took a chance and spent $10 on a pair of insulated mittens (like basic ski mittens) and $5 on some lightweight wool gloves. I reasoned that if these mittens didn't fit the bill for cold-weather motorcycle riding, I could always use them to shovel snow.

I wore the mittens over the wool gloves and it was bulky, but I was able to operate the brake and clutch levers okay, although with less precision than leather gloves. I use a throttle rocker (a/k/a cramp buster), so I don't really need to grip the throttle. I hit Route 108 in Narragansett, one of my favorite local roads, and stopped for gas. As I was leaving the gas station, a guy wearing a full face helmet rode by - the only motorcycle I encountered this afternoon - and gave me a fist pump, as if to say, "Rock on, bro - we ain't no fair-weather riders!"

At first, the wool glove/Thinsulate mitten combo felt very warm, as I pushed my bike through some twisties around Galilee, Point Judith and Scarborough Beach. It was great to have the roads practically to myself. But, eventually, after about 17 miles, the cold began to invade my fingers like needles and pins.

My experiment with the new "gear" wasn't a total failure. I was able to ride a bit longer before the cold bit my fingers, and it didn't bite as severely as with the leather gloves. They were red and painful, but they hadn't turned white or blue yet (there is a name for this - it's called Raynaud's phenomenon, I discovered during my research). At home, I did my usual cold weather post-ride routine of holding my fingers under lukewarm water to thaw them out, and they returned to normal more quickly.

So, it was an improvement, but only a slight improvement. I don't know if the "extreme cold weather mitts" or "artic mitts" would be a further improvement, but I'm not sure I'm willing to spend $40 to find out.