[Ducati] A ride...to winter blues!

[Peter Bonner]

These days I am a fair weather racer, but in the 80's we raced my Hailwood
Replica in a 6 hour MRA endurance race at Pueblo Colorado in late September.
It started as just being cold, but then began snowing. Sure was easy to tell
where the racing line was though, it was the black wet area, the rest was
covered by 3 inches of snow or more.  We took shorter shifts, and during the
time the other two riders were on, I was sitting in my MGB with heater on
max!

For three years, as I commuted in the Albuquerque area on my Guzzi Monza, in
winter the time and temp often showed single digits in winter, but on the
road, the absolute coldest I remember was riding through the summit outside
of the "Little Switzerland" area of Ouray, Colorado during a rain and
sleet/snow storm. On the other side, I pulled into the first motel I found
to unfreeze. Too wimpy to do that stuff now, but sometimes the heat and
humidity of summer riding in Texas, or the trip to Mid Ohio seems nearly as
bad.

Peter

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Hatten" <hatman at columbus.rr.com>
To: "Ducati Owners Group" <ducati at ducati.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Ducati] A ride...to winter blues!


> I'll freely admit that I'm a fair-weather rider -- the car just seems like
a
> much better idea if it's too hot or too cold, rainy, etc.  However, I've
> raced in every kind of silly weather.  Racing in the rain is not unusual,
> but I've also raced in the rain when it was so cold that flurries were
> coming down and your face shield  continually iced over.  Or when it's so
> cold that you have to roll your bike into your motel room at night so the
> water in the radiator (no anti-freeze allowed) doesn't freeze, and people
> are crashing before they even get out of the pits because their tires and
> the pavement is so cold.  Of course, I've also raced when it's so hot and
> humid that the track got shut down because both ambulances were gone
> transporting racers with heat exhaustion/heat stroke to the hospital.
>
> Mark Hatten
> Wounded Duc -- Used Ducati Parts Online
> Home of the "Loud Clutches Save Lives" T-Shirts
> www.woundedduc.net
> (Note the URL change!)
> AMA Pro #352
> AHRMA #52 (#1 for 2007)
> "Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something
salty" -
> Peter Egan
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Alec Moss" <amoss at coastside.net>
> To: <ducati at ducati.net>
> Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2007 7:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ducati] A ride...to winter blues!
>
>
> > To me, 60-65 degrees is perfect.  It's pretty easy to stay warm, and
> > overheating in your gear is not a problem when you stop.  Sixty degrees
on
> > a
> > clear sunny day is awesome.  Sixty degrees in damp air is not quite as
> > comfortable, but usually feels fine.  I no longer ride on 30 degree days
> > as
> > I did when young and stoopid.
> >
> > Tomorrow, no shopping, so I'll take the long way to work.  It's normally
> > ten
> > miles, but there's a 50 mile loop and a 100 miler to choose from.
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Alec
> >
>
>
>
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