With Christmas behind me I dedicated Sunday morning to prepare for my winter riding activities.  First, I focused on my riding gear.  I have a Tour Master riding jacket and pants, I added the extra quilted lining to both.  Next, I pulled the winter gloves and balaclava from their summer storage bins and gave them a place of prominence in the closet used for my seasonal riding gear.

Then I turned my attention to the RT, I use this bike as my winter ride for a number of reasons…

1. Heated hand grips
2. ABS brakes
3. Fantastic rider protection
4. Power windshield
5. Lots of storage
6. Fog lights

A thorough visual inspection of the bike indicated everything was in good working order.  The tires are new and a simple check of the pressure was all they needed, I was almost ready to ride.  Only one thing remained; adding my handle bar muffs.  Once they were in place, all systems were go!

With the my gear, and the bike ready for the winter conditions I decided it was time to test them out.  I left Springfield at 1:00 p.m. heading east on Interstate 70, toward Columbus.  Traffic was light and it felt good to be on the road again.  Once in Columbus I jumped on I- 270, heading north.  About an hour into the ride, I noticed my left handle bar muff was allowing air in, causing my hand to get chilled.  So when I stopped for fuel, I made a couple adjustments to the muff and the problem was corrected.  My journey continued on I 270, the outer belt that circles Columbus.  I continued riding until 4:30 p.m. when I decided it was time for a little break.  I pulled into a restaurant on the west side of town, ordered a pot of coffee, took off my gear, and set back to warm up.

I enjoyed the hot beverage for an hour or so, then called my wife to let her know I was on my way home.  When she answered the phone, she anxiously told me it had been snowing in Springfield for the most of the afternoon and that the National Weather Service had issued a snow advisory.  This was news to me as I had checked the weather reports earlier in the day and failed to see any mention of snow.

I finished my coffee, suited up, and was soon on the highway heading home.  Ten minutes into the ride, the snow storm and the RT shook hands.  A blinding snow out of the west was covering the roadways at a rapid clip.  I figured “no problem, I only have about a 50 minute ride from this spot.”  But this storm was all I wanted to handle at Interstate speed.  Added to the snow was a driving wind making it harder to stay on course, throw in the fast paced eighteen wheelers and this ride was getting ugly, quick.  Soon my windshield was totally iced over and my visibility was zero, but a flip of a switch allowed me to lower the power windshield so I could see over the sheet of ice and navigate my way.

The rest of the trip was without incident and I made it home safely. The five hour road trip was delightful and the bike and the gear functioned perfectly.   I am ready to go again.

Tags: , tourmaster

This entry was posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 4:42 am and is filed under Ohio Rides, gear, ride report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.