Fits Like A Glove

There's less than a month to go before KC and I head north for our Six Days in New England tour.  So, out come the checklists and that drives the decision making process for what gear I'll need to pack. Although I cannot know what the weather will be, given that we are talking about the northeast US in late September, I think we can expect a bit of everything.  And that includes some fairly harsh stuff...I suspect we'll see serious rain and cold temps.  There will be no days off...got to be ready for everything.

While my hands may only account for 5% (my unscientific estimate) of my total body mass, they may account for 50% of my DP (Discomfort Potential).  And given that my hands do most of my steering, accelerating, controls operation, helmet wind screen cleaning and braking they are, with the possible exception of my head, the most important part of my body while riding a motorcycle.  The fact is that my hands are highly exposed to the weather and wind during a ride.  And so, my gloves are highly important pieces of gear and an area that I obsess over.   I’d estimate that I own a dozen pair of motorcycle gloves and will probably bring 4-5 pairs of gloves on our upcoming trip…gloves suited to a variety of weather conditions.  After a couple hours of obsessing over which gloves to pack, I have made my decisions.

On the edge of your seat yet?

Fair Weather

Held Airstream

My Held Airstreams are my favorite gloves.  Bar none.  They fit me perfectly and are sublimely comfortable.  I’ll wear these in dry conditions down to 50 degrees.  They are made for summer riding conditions and have breathable mesh between the fingers, hard shell knuckle guards and goatskin palms.  When these gloves are on I have zero awareness of them...nothing pinched or pressured.  Expensive and worth every dime.  I love these gloves so much that I bought a replacement pair and have those on the shelf for the day (Oh, the horrors!) when these finally wear out. 

Dry, Cool Weather

When the temps range down to 50F my Held three season gloves come out and of course can be  supplemented with my BMW’s heated grips.  With an embedded thumb squeegee, these gloves can also handle helmet windscreen wiping chores in an intermittent rain.  These gloves are less comfortable than the Airstreams, but offer a good fit and are well constructed gloves made from very high quality materials.

Held Three Season

Cool and Wet Weather

BMW Goretex

In a steady rain in cool temps, I have two choices.  The first is my BMW Goretex gloves.  Honestly, I've never worn these gloves but they fit OK and should be waterproof and breathable.  With some insulation and a squeegee thumb, they'll be OK in a light rain.    If the rain gets more intense, I can go to my Aerostich Lobster Claw Mitts.  Constructed of fully waterproof material and extra long gauntlets, I have ridden with these mitts in cold, heavy rain (Livingston-Great Falls) and stayed completely dry.  Seriously, 100% bone dry.  With my heated grips set on "high" and a pair of fleece liners, I’m good into the low 40’s and maybe a tad lower.  I’m not crazy about the crash protection offered (practically zero) with this combo, so it’s probably my last choice.

Aerostich Lobster Claw Mitts

To complement these Aerostich Mitts I'll wear a pair of fleece liners to provide some insulation, since the Lobster claws are simply rain shells. Again, these offer zero impact protection and minimal abrasion relief, though a crash in wet conditions is likely to end up as a sliding event on a wet highway. 

Cold Weather- Wet or Dry

My newest glove edition, Warm & Safe Ultimate Touring Heated Gloves, will come out when the temps fall below 40 degrees (think Cherohala Skyway last New Years Eve...snowing and 26F).  These are conditions that go beyond uncomfortable and become dangerous, dictating serious technical gear.  The W&S gloves have cowhide outers,  Thinsulate insulation, Carbon fiber knuckle guards, a waterproof/breathable membrane and 12V heating elements.  The manufacturer claims they work in the worst weather...cold and wet.  I'll probably form an opinion of this by the time our trip is over.

Warm & Safe Ultimate Touring Gloves

When the weatherman trots out his worst-case scenario, bone chilling cold and raining/snowing/sleeting hard, I'll resort to my Nuclear Option. 

The Wunderlich Handlebar Muffs have waterproof and windproof shells that should allow my hands to remain dry while the heat produced from the bike's electric grips is trapped in the cocoon surrounding my hands.  The Wunderlich muffs are unique in that they have "windows" designed to allow the operator to see the key control clusters on the handlebars.  This may be of limited practical value, but it appeals to me.  The muffs also incorporate a heavy plastic band that creates a wide rigid opening...one of my fears about handlebar muffs is that the opening closes after you've withdrawn your hand for any reason and then you engage in a struggle to get your hand back on the handlebar, perhaps at a critical point. Wunderlich seems to have a solution to this problem.

I may even be able to pair the Warm & Safe Heated gloves with the Handlebar muffs…but I doubt I’ll need both.   Also, re-entry to the muffs while wearing thick gloves may be an issue, especially when the heavy gloves are wet leather.

Scattered, Covered, Chunked and Diced

This post has NOTHING to do with our upcoming New England ride, but since it occurred after I started my New England Tour blog I thought I'd add this.  Also, it was a chance to test out my new King of Fleece rain cover so it was part of my New England tour prep.  So sue me.

Yesterday KC texted me and asked if I'd be up for an early ride today.  A quick check of the weather showed that it wouldn't hit 80F (my personal "boil-over" point) until nearly noon, so I checked the "yes" box.  When I pulled in to our usual meeting place on Sunday morning, I saw that his son Kyle would be joining us.  Adding Kyle to the ride allowed us to add a third participant to our Sena intercom...and that worked well all day...though we think Kyle's unit was adding in some audio noise all morning.  Could have been his missing windshield or microphone cover.  In any event, it was helpful to have all three riders connected to call pee breaks, road gravel and to negotiate our lunch plans.

It was great fun having Kyle along- he is a highly skilled rider and definitely one of the cool kids.

Our route took us north on Hwy 441 to just outside Franklin, NC at which point KC had us peel off to the east on a winding two lane road that skirted alongside the Tuckaseegee River.  As we negotiated the twisty and scenic road, the southern tip of the Appalachians loomed in the distance and KC announced, "We're going over those." For the next two hours we wound our way through mountain twisties, shielded from the sun by hillsides and a dense canopy. Some of the views were stunning although we agreed that a winter ride through here would reveal much more of the terrain.

The temperature stayed around 60F for a long time and I was thankful that I'd thought to add a long sleeve shirt under my new Klim mesh jacket.  The traffic was nil and the road conditions were generally excellent, though we did have to keep an eye out for gravel in places.  Much of the ride today was on new roads for me, though we did ride on the same route we'd followed earlier this spring coming home from Cherokee, NC...an amazingly beautiful and densely shaded road.  Its a great warm weather ride.

We stopped in Clayton for a late breakfast and found crowds or Sunday closures at our preferred joints.  Since Waffle house seemed to have room for us, we grabbed a booth and ordered an embarrassing amount of food.  My gigantic hash brown plate came the way I like 'em...scattered, covered, chunked and diced.  The ride home was marginally comfortable...it was now 80F+ and moving through the hot, heavy air at 70 MPH was the only way to tolerate it.  By the time I pulled down my gravel driveway, it was like a sauna.  Still, it was a great ride and overall, very comfortable.

Here's an overview of our route...note that the southernmost portion of the route (along Hwy 441 is missing)...nothing to see there.

Thanks to the Keith and Kyle for including me on their ride!!