Richard and I met at Johney's around 7:30 AM-ish (Richard has this habit of getting ANYWHERE at least 15 minutes beforehand, so I have to hustle to even get there on TIME) and it was cold, wet and foggy. VERY foggy. The fog didn't bug me...the wet didn't bug me. The COLD bugged me, and I'm really glad that the four of us went on a pre-cold weather-check-out-all-our-cold-weather-stuff ride the weekend before (Bub, Richard, Johney & I went down to Fallbrook via Wildomar, off Clinton Keith Rd. down thru De Luz to Fallbrook and back up to Temecula) to make sure that we had riding gear that worked well in cold weather. That'll be on another blog, one that's more informational for cold weather riding. Anyway, at Johney's today, he informed us that he couldn't go, which was a bummer. I told he and Richard that I felt like one of those little kids whose momma's put so much clothing on them for cold weather that they feel like one of those Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons, hardly able to move!
Richard and he laughed and Johney said that Richard was saying the exact same thing. I felt (and looked) like the Michelin tire man.Richard and I went down to Stan's, left and got to the church before 8 AM. One thing about foggy conditions is that if there's no circulation of wind or anything, the mist just settles on cars, streets, everything.
It looked like it had rained. Richard and I drew happy faces on our windscreens-his came out better. I tried to make mine look like a girlie happy face, didn't quite work. 
In the pic at Stan's house, notice how foggy it was just down the street? Doug (our lead rider on this trip) was saying that at midnight last night at the church you couldn't see 25 feet in front of you. I will also say that if it mists on the windscreen, it ALSO mists on your helmet visor.There was one other girl rider (vs. passenger) on the ride-Cindy who was riding a V-Star 1300 with the heated gloves and jacket plug-in. Actually, her glove liners were plug in. That sounds SO cool. For some reason, everybody commented that my bike looked bigger than it actually was. Go figure, but I was kinda bummed that Laine had taken off Lambie from my bike. Oh, well.
There were about 12 bikes and 16 people-Joe got there just as we were lining up and starting up. Notice the fog and how wet the parking lot is? There goes my spit-shine job that I did on New Year's Eve!!!
And check out Richard's jacket-nobody should have ANY problem seeing HIM! The person in the blue outfit 2nd from the right is Cindy.
The route:Chapman Ave. W to Brookhurst N to the 5 fwy;
5 N to the 91 W all the way to the end where it turns into Artesia Blvd. PCH S, down to Palos Verdes Blvd W, around to Pt. Vicente
(where there's a lighthouse) to stretch our legs. (See the pic of the 4 Cold Crew FOS) We went around Portugese Bend to where it turns into 25th Street to Gaffey N to the 47/Terminal Island Fwy over the Vincent Thomas Bridge, past Ferry St. where the Federal Prison is (I told Stan later that he missed his turnoff there, and he said yeah, he'll do it next time. I told them that I had been there in the 70's, just to see their faces! I then told them that I was on the Post Office girls slow-pitch softball team and we were allowed to play the TI prison girls E to Ocean Blvd E to Atlantic N to Broadway E to just before Alamitos St.. Parked across the street from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, and interesting combination that worked REALLY REALLY well. GREAT FOOD!!! See farther below for restaurant description, link and food analysis.The weather:
When we left Johney's at 7:30-ish, it was 47, cold, overcast, foggier 'n shit. On the freeway, 46-47. At the church, 50. Back on the 91 when we came off onto Artesia Blvd, 48. It never got above 50 until we got to Long Beach when the fog lifted and we were inside the restaurant for awhile. At LEAST a lot of us weren't so cold that we had to thaw out (I HAVE been that cold, like the Hwy 2 Angeles Crest/Tehachapi trip last year with STAR 230-THAT was cold because I was relatively unprepared-jeans and only pantyhose vs. thermal leggings; no windscreen; stupid regular gloves vs. cold weather gloves; no neck gaiter; no leathers; a TOTALLY inadequate jacket, etc etc etc. When we got to the restaurant in Tehachapi it took at least an hour to defrost. You know, it's extremely hard to ride a bike when you're shivering up a storm. BOY did I learn from that...I thought I knew cold weather because of skiing for years in anywhere from 45 degrees down to 12 degree weather, but that TEHACHAI RIDE...)
When we left Long Beach it was actually 60-65, almost swimsuit weather!
The ride:
Richard and I got a slight taste of what was what when we went to Stan's. Just that small amount of a couple of miles of freeway kinda told me, "Uh-oh, it's gonna be COLD". At least with skiing, we could bring a flask along and warm up with some ETOH in our bloodstream. (ETOH is medic/EMT/paramedic talk for alcohol, aka antifreeze for humans.) This riding stuff I have to take STRAIGHT, no drinking.
Got to the church, and I'll tell ya I LEFT my helmet and gloves on (except to take pics) because what, 80% of your heat escapes from your head? So I wasn't about to give ANY of that up! And I'm still feeling that this ride is doable...Until we left and got onto the 91.
For the first 30 minutes, it was ok. Then my fingertips started telling me that they were getting cold, so I'd put my left hand (the right hand was throttling, for those of you who don't know motorcycles) between my tank bag and my legs to let it kinda thaw or at least not have the cold air hitting the fingies. When we went to the end of the 91 to Artesia blvd, we'd stop at a light and I'd bend down and hold my hands close to the engine. It kinda worked...a little. For some reason, right after the freeway ended and when we turned onto Palos Verdes Drive were all of a sudden cold snappies.
I HAVE TO ASK WHY: Why is it that I can be on a bike for hours, but no matter how long or short the ride, AS SOON AS WE STOP, I have to go potty???? WHY??? and is it just the 650, or do others feel it on bigger bikes??
The gear (clothing):
I have learned to wear more than I need, because I can ALWAYS take it off later. Last weekend I was contemplating not bringing my glove liners; I'm glad I did bring them. I was contemplating bringing a balaclava, I didn't bring one and I NEEDED one. So this trip I got stuff out the night before and decided to have EVERYTHING I could need out and ready, to do a mental and visual check-off in my head.
I was going to wear my jacket with the cordite shoulder/elbow pads...I decided to wear the ski jacket-like jacket that I got at Boot Barn last year after the trip through Julian to San Diego. I'M GLAD I DID.
I was going to wear a regular balaclava (the full-face-head piece that comes down your neck and tucks into your jacket to help your neck combat the cold air that ALWAYS finds it's way down your neck...I decided to wear the balaclava with the Bula polartec neck extension for extra warmth...I'M GLAD I DID.
Laine last night took Daddy's bike to La Canada to stay w/friends and go to the Rose Parade, and he 'kinda' grabbed my deerskin gauntlet gloves that I wore last week. I noticed he grabbed 'em, I said GIVE 'EM BACK, but I was wavering on letting him use them, but I said no, use daddy's lined gloves since Laine was only going for 30 minutes up the 57-210 and in 58 degree weather, & I kept them for myself for today...I'M GLAD I DID.
So I wore:
**Thermal Meister turtleneck bought last year from Sport Chalet-this t-neck is usually used for skiing and winter sports, but since Bub and I taught ski lessons in the late 70's-early 80's, we've come to realize that a thermal t-neck is worth it's weight in GOLD to layer underneath other tops.
**Regular knit turtleneck
**Jeans
**Thermal socks from Big 5 when they were having a sale on all their winter thermal gear and clothing-the other thing that Bub & I learned with that skiing shit is make sure your feet are warm! And they worked.
**Polartec Bula balaclava, with the 'turtle' polar gaiter around the neck-you can bring it up over your cheeks and nose, leave it down, cover your nose, whatever.
**Leather chaps
**High leather 'riding' boots (they look like horsebackriding boots, but the 'stovepipe' hightops give added protection.) The toes aren't as thick as my HD motorcycle boots, but the thermal socks made up for it BIG TIME.
**Ariat down cold-weather jacket that I got at Boot Barn. Again, Bub and I had known the benefits of a good waterproof down jacket when skiing, so I figured that a waterproof down jacket would be perfect for M/C riding as well. And it WAS.
**Glove liners that I don't remember where I got them, but I want to go get some more because I remember they worked really really well last year as well as last week and today, but Richard has some that he got at a sporting goods store that are for skiiers/snowboarders, so I'll have to check that out.
**Deerskin leather, lined gauntlet gloves. The longer 'over the wrist' part helps to keep air from going up and into your arms from the jacket wrist area.
I also brought extra gloves that I usually wear to work in the car; an extra polartec Bula neck gaiter; the lighter balaclava; tankbag (of course!); camera, cell phone, extra batteries for cell and for camera, bungee cords, AND OF COURSE the first aid kit strapped around my waist in the fanny pack. I also told Doug the leader of this merry band that I was a First Responder, going thru EMT training and had a first aid kit on me.
The food:
Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (hey, the combination WORKS!) is in downtown Long Beach and is a beautiful place. http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/
I had already looked up the menu so I knew I was going to have something with a chicken breast, waffles, gravy and perhaps a biscuit. I had Sloes #1 southern fried chicken breast, leg, 2 waffles. I got gravy on the side and a biscuit on the side. Turned out I didn't need the biscuit because I took the chicken and dipped it into the gravy! I had a lot of gravy anyway, so I slopped some of it onto my plate and passed the rest around so everybody else could have some. Richard got a chicken salad sandwich, lots of folks got omelettes, but the main theme was chicken. I didn't even consider this, but a lot of people shared. I think I'll do that when Bub and I go...he can have a waffle and the leg, and I'll have the breast and a waffle. Ok, ok, I'll let him have a waffle and a half. The food was great, and while some of us were deciding, we could warm up a tad by their fireplace. Yes, the place DOES look that warm and cozy because it's all really warm wood.
The food came out UBER fast, the coffee was great (with those vanilla International Creamers to boot!!) and the waffles tasted like they had just a TINY pinch of cinnamon or something, but they were WONDERFUL. Sopping with butter, warm syrup with just that hint, that soúpḉon of cinnamon or some sort of spice....YUMMIE. Plus my tummie was primed for it since I thought we would eat first before the ride, but we ate after the ride, so my tummie was growling.
After lunch everybody broke off for the day. Richard wanted to go to the Cycle Gear sale in Fullerton, Joe wanted to also, so we took off for Fullerton. Surprised me that it only took 35 minutes from Downtown Long Beach to Fullerton. Yours truly (of course) lead, with Richard in the middle and Joe tail. Ocean Blvd/2nd street E to Studebaker and the 605 N to the 91 E off at Harbor/Lemon. Got 2 pairs of cold-weather gloves for Barry (BUT one pair will fit me ok also, heh-heh-heh).
Came home and since my bike went thru mist and dirt and stuff, HAD to clean it again! I had done a spit-shine last night to really gloss it up, and when I went to clean it again, found that one of the heat shields on the top exhaust pipe (the one more towards the back of the pipe) FELL OFF. Shit. More stuff vibrates off this thing...and it's not something I could see during a T-CLOCS check because the bolt is behind the heat shield on the pipe. Luckily it's covered by my extended warranty (they covered my helmet lock when THAT fell off, and this is much more serious an item), I just have to find time to take it in.
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