mcatrophy
Privileged to ride a 2018 FJR1300AS
So, this morning, SWMBO says to me, "I'm going out for most of the day, why don't you go for a ride?"
Never one to argue (at least not with her), looking out of the window at bright sunshine, I thought about it for all of half a second. "Yes!".
I'd already planned a route to take me up into parts of the Peak District I don't often get to. A loop that is a little over 100 miles, it should take about three and a half hours. So, loaded the route into Tomtom and kitted up. By this time the sun had disappeared behind some murky clouds. The bike showed the temperature as 4C (39F). Ok, I've ridden in colder than that, no problem.
Set off, the start of the route following roads I know well. Traffic was light, I was beginning to enjoy things. A bit of light rain started, I put the screen up a bit to keep the wet off my visor. Then Tomtom told me to turn off onto a road I'd not gone on before, even though it was only a few miles from home. It had a sign saying "Unsuitable for HGVs". I was glad of that because the road was only wide enough for one car, hedges tight on either side, and grass growing along the centre. The road twisted and turned, vision restricted to the next corner which was never more than a few yards, so I was going quite slowly, concentrating on the muddy surface and the blind corners.
Eventually the road climbed a bit higher, and I could see the landscape over the hedges. "Really nice views, beautiful wintry scene with all that snow on the fields" thought I. "SNOW? oh, sh*t". That light rain had turned into snow, it had been settling on the fields for a while, but not yet on the road. Errm, yes it was, slushy at the edges, but spreading. The temperature had fallen to 2C, certainly cold enough for snow to settle on the road, warm enough to guarantee it would be very slippery. I don't "do" snow.
Stopped for a quick piccy ...
Click on image for larger view
... then headed for home [being very grateful for Touring Mode, traction control, and how well the YCC-S controlled clutch engagement moving from rest and changing gear on some slippery stuff].
Just as well, a little while after I rode into the garage, this is what happened:
No way could I have got up my road or driveway with surface snow.
I would have posted this in the "Aborted Ride Reports" topic, but I couldn't find it.
Anyway, there it is, a 100 mile loop reduced to 26. Ok, so I'm chicken.
Never one to argue (at least not with her), looking out of the window at bright sunshine, I thought about it for all of half a second. "Yes!".
I'd already planned a route to take me up into parts of the Peak District I don't often get to. A loop that is a little over 100 miles, it should take about three and a half hours. So, loaded the route into Tomtom and kitted up. By this time the sun had disappeared behind some murky clouds. The bike showed the temperature as 4C (39F). Ok, I've ridden in colder than that, no problem.
Set off, the start of the route following roads I know well. Traffic was light, I was beginning to enjoy things. A bit of light rain started, I put the screen up a bit to keep the wet off my visor. Then Tomtom told me to turn off onto a road I'd not gone on before, even though it was only a few miles from home. It had a sign saying "Unsuitable for HGVs". I was glad of that because the road was only wide enough for one car, hedges tight on either side, and grass growing along the centre. The road twisted and turned, vision restricted to the next corner which was never more than a few yards, so I was going quite slowly, concentrating on the muddy surface and the blind corners.
Eventually the road climbed a bit higher, and I could see the landscape over the hedges. "Really nice views, beautiful wintry scene with all that snow on the fields" thought I. "SNOW? oh, sh*t". That light rain had turned into snow, it had been settling on the fields for a while, but not yet on the road. Errm, yes it was, slushy at the edges, but spreading. The temperature had fallen to 2C, certainly cold enough for snow to settle on the road, warm enough to guarantee it would be very slippery. I don't "do" snow.
Stopped for a quick piccy ...
Click on image for larger view
... then headed for home [being very grateful for Touring Mode, traction control, and how well the YCC-S controlled clutch engagement moving from rest and changing gear on some slippery stuff].
Just as well, a little while after I rode into the garage, this is what happened:
No way could I have got up my road or driveway with surface snow.
I would have posted this in the "Aborted Ride Reports" topic, but I couldn't find it.
Anyway, there it is, a 100 mile loop reduced to 26. Ok, so I'm chicken.
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