Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Freezing my troubles away

I hadn't ever experienced motorcycle riding in the cold before mounting up in Kentucky. Dad and I had done a little under 200 miles on Tuesday, but the weather was relatively warm and pleasant. By Friday, things had cooled considerably. With highs in the 40s, and lows in the 20s, it was clear that Winter was on its way. The sun sets early this time of year, and by 5:00 in the afternoon, things start to get chilly. Knowing this, I set out on a solo ride just before 4:00.

If you head East from Scott and Laura's neighborhood in Cecilia, you head toward Elizabethtown. However, Scott informed me that there were some rural towns and less traveled roads West. Eager to get some solo saddle time in, I suited up and pointed my bike in the direction of the setting sun. Temperatures were in the low-40s, so I dressed myself in insulated gloves, both layers of my jacket, wool socks, and thermal leggings underneath my jeans. Unfortunately, I thought it would be reasonable to set out with only my half-helmet and goggles protecting the skin of my head. In less than five minutes at 55mph, the exposed flesh was screaming for me to rethink my desire for exploration. Unable to tolerate the pain, I turned back for my full-face Arai. Scott suggested I add a 'gator neck' to the ensemble, which seemed like a great idea, and I was off once again.

Riding alone gives me an opportunity to disappear into the clarity of purpose brought about by motorcycling, so that I can clear my mind, and better focus my thoughts. On this particular journey, I was rolling around the usual subjects. I remembered how much I enjoyed riding alone with no defined destination, letting the bike carry me as it will, letting my mind meander around life's circumstance. As I rode along with nowhere to be, it occurred to me that I was beginning to rediscover the joys in being alone.

If I can find a way to remain in that place, content to let the world do as it will, so long as it let's me do as I will, I think there is a real possibility I might be free of the persistent questions which have haunted my thoughts off and on for most of my adult life. Being alone and free to go my own way is a comfort against the questions that surround life's intersections with human beings. Accepting that humans are unpredictable and uncertain necessitates a certain distance for me. Whether or not that reaction is the byproduct of fear is debatable.

With these thoughts fluttering through my conscious, I found myself riding on into the cold longer than I had originally intended. My mind wandered with the winding of the road in front of me and before I knew it, I crossed the city limits of a little town called Leitchfield. The time was nearly 4:30 and Cecilia was now 30 miles back the way I had come. The prickly burning in my hands served as notice that the temperature was starting to drop and the time to head for home was upon me. With some earnest I turned Audrey East and set the engine to soothing my troubled mind. As the minutes and miles rolled by, I started realizing that being caught out after dark in my relatively light gear would make things incredibly unpleasant, so I picked up the pace and tried my best to chew back the desire to stop and get warm.

My front tire crossed the threshold of Scott's garage at just after 5:00. I had been forced to stop once on the way home in order to get feeling back into my hands, and was having some trouble working the hand controls at times. The air had found its way into my boots, turning my feet to fiery lumps at the ends of my legs. Fortunately, my core, legs, and head were all reasonably warm, otherwise I might have had to slow my pace to a crawl. In less than 30 minutes, the cold penetrated so deeply that it took more than 20 minutes to get feeling back in my hands and feet.

In retrospect, I think the mid-to-high 30s are as cold as I can stand without a windshield or fairing to protect against the windchill. Any colder and I would have started having trouble using the controls at all. That said, I am glad to have gone for the ride. Opportunities to do some solo exploring have been far and few between the past couple months, so it was nice to get on the motorcycle and discover a new corner of the world. It would have been nice to have been warm and comfortable during the process, but no one said self-exploration was always a pleasant enterprise. :)

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Posted by Erik @ 11/27/2007 12:26:00 AM