Hurricane Sandy Pants

Hey everyone,

Just checking in, hope you are all safe.  My bike is sitting outside..I was wondering if it would get blown over but she's standing strong!  Not worried she will blow over, kickstand is pointing with the wind, so it's keeping her planted.  Crazy storm, super windy!!

Hope nobody gets hurt or has any property damage.  Ride it out, and then go out and ride! (when it's safe)

- Pandabear

Beach Ride!

Hello Everyone,

Finally got around to writing up my group ride to the beach from August! Whoa, I am a bum!  I think in this post I would like to first cover what I learned and experienced, and then after, we can jump into the actual ride and memories!

I'd like to say that this is my first official group ride.  We had a total of seven guys riding down to Ocean City, MD.  This was very exciting, but challenging at times, as many of us never rode in a group before. The tough part was keeping the group together, especially at times when traffic picked up.  Fortunately, we had a good leader and a great sweeper, the latter who really kept us together, and would occasionally ride up along side people and indicate that our spacing was too large (don't want a car merging in between the group).  He also made sure to block traffic when we merged as to let the rest of the group in safely.

The Seven Ninjetters!

Compared to solo riding, you really have to pay attention to lane positioning, spacing, speed, and being very predictable all around.  At times I worried about being a complete noob, such as parking properly, making slow turns, and one time trying to shift into first with my kickstand down (turns the bike off!).  Once we got going, this wasn't too much of an issue. Fortuntely, no problems on the way there, though close to our destination it started to rain, and continued to pour well into the night.  On the way back we got soaked, and flying down the highway while cold and wet was the most miserable experience ever.  I thought I was getting hypothermia as it was hard to focus and I nearly felt like letting go completely and laying down (falling and getting massacred).  We hit warmer air just in time, an invisible wall which was at least 10 degrees warmer.  Do yourself a favor and get proper rain gear, or just stay out of the rain.  It can be very dangerous!

High Idling?  Oh well!

Now to the actual ride!  Myself and two others initially met up at my house.  Stopped at Panera for some delicious bagels first, then returned, got packed and suited up, and got on our bikes.  We fueled up real quick, and off we went to meet a few others in Newark.  Got on the highway, zipped through some traffic (my friend is from NYC, he is a great rider, but his style compared to mine is like a crazyman! must be an NYC thing) and reached the other guys.  From there we met up with the final group of guys, rested up a little bit, and took some photos. Then we were off!

How We Arrived at the Beach.  Charming.

Can't say it was a very eventful ride as it was down the highway and through some very slow beach traffic, but it was still enjoyable hearing all the bikes humming down the road.  Occasionally we pulled over to keep in contact with some others we were to meet up with.  At one point when we pulled over, a friend noticed my idle speed was really high, but we could not adjust it (after returning I futzed with it, and got it back to normal).  Oh well!  Fast forward a few hours and we reached the beach.  One member was kind enough to let us use his beach condo as a home base.  There, the  initial three of us (let's call us the Panera crew) took some time to walk down the beach and enjoy the sand and surf.  It was a bit cool and stormy, so we didn't get to go swimming.  I watched the sea gulls float through the air, and admired the way the water rushed over the sand and back to the ocean.  It is fascinating to see how water cuts and erodes everything.  From there, we headed back and went to eat some dinner at a typical beach type restaurant.  The food was good, and we were warm, dry, and merry.

A Stream in the Middle of the Beach

Upon leaving, we noticed a big dark cloud, a very ominous sign of the impending miserable return journey.
We decided to ride through it anyway, and went to stop for gas.  After having some technical difficulties at the pumps, we pulled out into the onslaught of precipitation.  My suit battled for a measly ten minutes before soaking through, and I felt the water filling in my boots and running down my chest and back.  It was cold, very very cold.  I led the crew down some unfamiliar, dark, wet back roads.  There was little visibility and I just hoped we were headed in the right direction.  After what felt like too long, we found the highway.  Jumped on it and were off at a much faster pace.  Bear in mind, at highway speeds, the windchill has a profound effect, and add in being wet, and you can get hypothermia really quickly.  After fortunately making it through back to my hometown area, just prior to getting home we got lost.  We went in every direction except the right one.  Fortunately by then it was warm, so we weren't in danger.

Three some hours later from Ocean City, we got inside, changed, and were relieved to be back.  After all that, we decided it was a good idea to take a car, and get some drinks at the local pub.  It was an exciting, miserable, adventurous, silly, insightful trip, but I am glad I did it anyways.  We had a lot of laughs after.  What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right?

Park Bike, Take Car, and Get Beer! DO NOT DRINK AND RIDE!!!

Big tip..get some type of rain gear!!  You never know when you may be caught in a random downpour.  It is definitely not fun or safe to ride wet and cold.  Take it seriously if you plan to ride in less than ideal conditions.

Stay safe friends, especially if Hurricane Sandy is coming for you, like it is for me!!

- Pandabear

Seagull Approved This Post

RS Taichi Matrix Overpants

Hey Friends,

My RS Taichi Matrix Overpants came in yesterday, and I got a chance to wear them on the bike to and from work today!  When I ordered them, I asked for a small but the guy at MotoLiberty told me that a medium would be the smallest I should go.  I was hesitant then and I was hesitant when I pulled them out of the box and held them up to myself.  When I put them on, they still seemed too big. However, when I sat on the bike the knee armor was in the right place, which, as the guys at Revzilla stated in a video, is the correct way to judge pant size!

RS Taichi Matrix Overpants

These pants run $150, and they are windproof, waterproof, and somewhat insulated too.  They have hip padding and knee armor (though not as tough as the armor in my 1 piece suit!).  They are made of nylon, so they have a bit of that swishing sound when you walk.  Not a big issue as I don't forsee myself going for strolls in them..off the bike, get inside, take them straight off.

Schoeller Dynatec

They fit well when sitting, and they have Schoeller Dynatec heat resistant material  on the bottom of the legs to resist melting on the exhaust.  They also have nice reflective flaps which you can adjust around your boot to keep cold air out.  Not sure if people will be able to see that reflecting, but I haven't looked down while riding to check which way it was facing.  Since my pants are so long, they can also block the vents at the bottom of my boots which often times let the water in when it rains!

Snazzy Reflective Taichi

They also have adjustable waist straps, and a solid piece of nylon across where the zipper area is, so in case the zipper comes undone in a slide, your lower abdomen won't be ripping across pavement!  I have to wear them up high on my waist, but that is ok for the same reason..in case my jacket gets pulled up, my pants will still be covering my waist and a little north too.  Just to give an idea, I am 5'3" and the medium seems like it would reasonably fit someone who is between 5'3" and perhaps 5'6" or so.  

Out on the bike, they definitely block the wind and keep very warm.  I haven't tested them in cold yet as it's been relatively warm up north, in the low to mid 60's.  I'll follow up when the mercury plummets again.  I will also test it in the rain! The best part is that I don't have that "vulnerable" feeling as I did riding in jeans.  I know I'll have some level of protection - maybe not leather race suit level - but definitely a decent step above jeans.  It is also easier to grip the bike and shift around in the seat!

Ride safe everyone,

Pandabear

New Gear Coming!

Hey Friends,

Cold weather is coming!  Some of it is already here actually!  I got my first taste of cold weather riding, and it was a bad first taste as I didn't have the proper gear.  Still commuting in jeans, jacket, perforated race gloves, my body got really cold.  My hands got quickly numbed in the wind and it was difficult to use the controls.  My legs were cold and my muscles quickly became slow and achy, and it was hard to grip the bike.  This seemed dangerous so I decided to look into winter gear!  Initially I decided that my snowboarding gear would be good for cold/rain, so I put those to the test on the bike...after all, they do work very well on the slopes!

Glamtastic? Heck Yeah!  Waterproof?  Not so much.

Took these out in two conditions..one in low 40 degree weather with light rain, and another in 50 degree weather with an initial downpour.  First time, everything worked well.  They do block the wind completely, and light rain has no effect.  Hands got a little cold though, as I was still wearing the RS Taichi gloves, but keeping your torso warm definitely promotes blood circulation to the extremities.  Second time with this gear, not so good.  I was fortunate this time to have gotten some "severely cold weather, hike mountains in blizzards" type gloves from Eddie Bauer, the Heli Guide gloves for a whopping $150.   I was disappointed when they arrived though.  The material definitely worked, but they felt so flimsy and cheap.

$150?  Might as well burn your money instead.

First..a fun little video of testing the gloves waterproofing.. - Also, sorry for the poor quality, I recorded using my junky laptop webcam instead of the HD camera on my phone.  I didn't want my phone falling into the water!

So yes, my test, and riding in the storm proved the gloves' rain-busting ability.  Unfortunately in the huge rainstorm, I found out on the way to work that though my gloves and jacket were seemingly immune to the water, my snow pants...well let's just say when I got to work I had to pull a Billy Madison.."Peeing your pants is cool!!!"  The rain rolled right over and down my tank and into my lap, where it soaked right on through.

Ok so pants were a no go, at least until I apply some type of waterproofing material, boots were as usual fine until water rolled in through the heel -boot covers coming soon-, and then jacket sure (by the way, I wear the jacket over my armored motorcycle jacket, just an fyi!). Gloves, I still wanted to test further.    They were great in the rain, sure, but how about in colder conditions?

Took them out in high 30's low 40's conditions, dry this time, and rode to work.  What I found was that after 30 minutes my finger tips began to tingle and ended up numb!  These are $150 gloves which are windproof and waterproof, with supposedly excellent insulation, and my fingers are still getting cold?  What a shame.  I ended up deciding that I will return them in the next few days.

As for wet/cold legs, and cold fingers I ended up ordering more motorcycle specific items!  And of course, as I love my RS Taichi gear so much, both articles are made by them!  I decided that I should definitely get some over pants with knee and hip armor.  Ordered the RST Matrix Overpants which are coming in tomorrow after work!  I also ordered RST e-heat winter gloves, battery operated gloves with multiple heat selections.  Hope these two work well, and I will post reviews when I get them!

I put my trust in RS Taichi! Top notch quality!

Have a great night everyone!

- Pandabear