Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Commuting in light snow

Ah yes, one of the reasons I'd traded my 1150RT away for a Ural Sportsman Sidecar Rig was the rig's inherent stability when weather conditions can make the roadway iffy in terms of traction.

We had light snow starting early before dawn and falling throughout the day. It was light and did not stick to the roadways, just making them wet. It stuck only to grassy areas and vehicles in parking lots for the most part.

Still, I'd put on the fairings and leg protectors last night and away I went into the pre-dawn darkness on my commute to my new job location south of Peoria and E-470.

I got to my work parking lot just before 7AM and as you can see, it was still quite dark but I'd arrived with no issues.

7Am, dawn is not for another 15 minutes or so

I watched the snow fall throughout the morning, just waiting for the official lunch hour to start so I could get out on Natasha and ride around the business park complex. The snow still wasn't sticking to the roads you see so it was just wet riding conditions.

The above was taken through my phone's camera...maybe a couple of inches accumulation, tops!
I am using my small bike cover for the sidecar to prevent it from filling with water. Note the schweinhundt SUV driver next to me, parking in the row for compact cars.....

Lunch hour in the Meridian Business Center

This is the building where I work

As you can see, yeah I guess you could call it a snow storm but it did not amount to much so far....just wet conditions for drivers and yours truly. Still, it was a good test of Natasha's recently repaired engine. She started just fine each time, though I had to use the choke when the engine was cold. No overheating issues today! I think it was a high of 40 degrees!

The ride home was uneventful, just wet. I did have to keep wiping the ice that formed on the windshield but that's it. Had I been on Brigitta, my R80 Beemer, things would have been a bit more tense.

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