The weather this month has been great for testing out cold weather gear. I'm experiencing the typical stuff, fogged up visor, frozen fingers, stiff upper body.
I went with an antifog insert a couple years ago. It works okay initially, but after a couple of months, you lose optical clarity. I've tried wiping the inside of my visor with a chemically treated cloth. The method works okay until the ambient temperature gets into the forty degree range and the humidity is about 80%. Motorcyclist magazine featured the Respro Foggy Mask neoprene half mask. Until I got the mask positioned properly in my helmet, it pinched my nose, and the material bunched up against my lips. After making small adjustments for several days, problems are solved and I'm ready to say that it does the job. Foggy Anti Fog Helmet Mask
I tried on several touring-style jackets, including the new Kilimanjaro jacket which impressed a gear reviewer so much he said it made him moan. I had no such luck. I went with BMW's model and had the sleeves shortened. The wires of Gerbing jacket aren't cutting in my radial nerves any more, and I'm toasty warm on my rides up to Berkeley. Except for my hands. Still trying to find the right waterproof glove. On my munchkin hands even the size "small" gloves have material left at the ends of the fingers. Imagine trying to untie a knot in your shoelace while wearing rubber gloves that are one size too big. Now think about reaching for the brake or preparing to downshift and feeling the edge of your empty glove finger tips catch but slip off the levers.
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The 2005 Paris-Dakar rally is over, with KTM taking the field. I have been lurking on various websites watching the progress of this event. Cyril Despres (Team KTM Gauloises) won the 27th run of the most grueling rally on the planet. 230 motorcycles left Barcelona more than two weeks ago. 104 of them reached Dakar, including Ludivine Puy, a 21 year-old French woman riding with the Euromaster team on her first Dakar rally. Of the people who did not finish, two riders died, Jose Manuel Perez, riding his fourth Dakar Rally, and Fabrizio Meoni, who had won the race on KTM in 2001 and 2002. May they rest in peace.
I've had the Sprint about a month and a half. If I can ride it for four and a half more months and not make any mistakes, the statistics say I'm less likely to get into an accident due to unfamiliarity with a new bike. After last year's debacle with rained out track days that were scheduled early in the year, my earliest track day this year is scheduled for May. I am looking forward to a ride down the coast to San Simeon in March with my friend Gerbing.
In zazen (seated meditation) we sit for long periods without motion but sometimes want to move our bodies. Our core is alive, present, watching and listening to this experience. In Aikido, we practice with constant motion, but our goal is to train with a calm inner core.
When I'm riding, my mind is active while my body is calm. As I have remarked before, this bike reads my mind so if I get tense, that tension translates into my body and my riding suffers. I thought I knew something about riding. The Sprint has brought me back to shoshin, beginner's mind.
The other parallel I find with Aikido practice is a game I play with myself called "no wasted movement". On the mat, my objective is to execute a technique without taking unnecessary steps or making unnecessary hand changes. On the road, the objective of the game is to ride from point to point with no errors, no unnecessary position changes in my lane, no unnecessary lane changes, no reactive braking, you get the picture.