Okay, it's been over a month now since I have taken the Vision out of
the basement. It seems like forever now that the temperature has stayed
below freezing. I don't have a problem riding the bike in the cold, in
fact, I think it adds character. However, when the temperature drops
below freezing, I get a little paranoid. Due to the geography in my
little part of the planet, to go anywhere you will have to travel over
bridges. Mostly just small two lane bridges over creeks and streams. It
is over these little streams that the bridge will collect moisture.
Moisture and air temperature below 32^oF don't
mix very well when you are on only two wheels. the coldest weather I
have ever ridden the bike in, if I recall correctly, was
21^oF. This was before I had the heated grips and
heated vest... Wow was that COLD.

A long time ago, when I
used to live in Vermont, I had owned a 1984 Suzuki GS650E. I was
working as a Police Officer in Waterbury and lived in Proctor, Vermont.
That was one heck of a commute, an hour and a half to two hours one
way. In any event, I had to attend a training in Montpelier in February.
On that bright, crisp morning at my apartment in Proctor, it was
40^oF. A beautiful day for a ride on the Suzuki
to Montpelier.

The ride started out uneventful as I rode through Rutland toward Killington
Mountain. Vermont DOT does an excellent job of keeping the roads very
clear, so snow covered roads were not problem. I stopped somewhere on
the East side of the Killington Ski Resort and found a place to get a cup of coffee (as I could not feel my feet). I guess somewhere between Proctor and Killington, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. I overheard an older gentleman in the convenience store say "And here I thought all the fools were dead".

I
continued on and arrived in Montpelier to find a parking lot completely
covered with snow. I made my way through the snow and found a place to
set the bike and went into the training room. I sat for the entire
first half of the day sitting on the steam heat radiator as I could not
stop shivering. I found it rather ironic that the training I attended
was called Defensive Driving for
the Emergency Vehicle Operator.

The ride back
home was just as eventful as the morning trip. As the sun was setting
on the afternoon trip, I made several pit stops along the side of the
road just to be able to stand in the fewer and fewer spots of sunshine
to warm up slightly. I made it back home just as snow flurries started
to fall in Proctor. The best thing I can say about my Vermont winter
adventure is that this fool is not dead. Cold is
just a state of mind.