Quote from: DanielyLol what the hell, why is GA having better weather than california?

Ha Ha ... Charlotte and of course Atlanta is nice and cool ... for now, and I actually have noticed Charlotte does have better weather than Nor CA... especially winter ... Our winters are generally dry and 30's 40's except for those freakish (OK happens 2-3 times a year) ice storms ... when of course the whole damn state comes to a grinding halt... Nor CA winters are a shade colder but more humidity and more rain ... outside of Ice we get no rain in winter ... OK we are still in fall technically ... what I hate in NC ... rain in summer ... and the goddamm humidity ... which Bay area is the exact opposite, dry and sunny months together ... not here ... So better winter, worse summer for us NC'ers... the spring and fall pretty much even ...
Now AZ ... On one day in early dec, I saw the temp 5 mins before sunset, and it was 75 degrees, we stop at a gas station and my wife goes in to the restroom while I am sitting on the tailgate of the truck ... she comes back out and its 5 mins after sunset, and I am in the truck freezing ... its 45 degrees now... WTF 30 degrees in 10 mins ... must be a record.
I drive to Yuma/El Centro on Christmas eve 2001 ... from San Diego ... and ~ midday the temperature is .. 90+ ... WTF ... and we drive back and its ~7pm and its now 35 degrees ... How the heck do you guys decide what to wear ... Its all very predictive ... you anticipate returning at 5.15 ... miss by 10 mins either way and you are screwed...
Cool.
Srinath.

Frost on my tomato plants this morning in central texas. Rode to work anyway.
Not too bad once I closed my helmet vents (only took 3 miles to realize they were open  :lol: )

Welcome to the desert, srinath... in more expansive deserts, water will steam at noon and freeze at midnight...

My sister and her husband moved to Arizona.  It works for them, but I don't like a land where A/C is not a luxury and ice is something that only exists in drinks...

Yea, too hot for me, I'd like it to be right at 50 degrees all day, all night,  all year ... I sweat like a buffalo even at 70 + ... dry and no rain and no humidity ... but I'll bet that will play havoc with most other peoples respiratory systems... heck even mine prolly...
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: red_philPerhaps a hair dryer might warm that seat lock enough for you to get to the battery? I'm assuming it's the cold making it contract so that the key won't fit right.

Now why didn't _I_ think of that?   :dunno:

I was able to unlock the seat last night and hook up the Battery Tender.  The bike started up just fine this morning, and I squirted some WD-40 in the lock and the works, for "insurance".

Quote from: red_philHere in sunny Scotland (55 degrees north) I have the Gulf stream to thank for the temperature getting down to -1 Celcius as the low point so far this year.

The marquee at the bank said it was 24F on the way to work.  (That's what, -4.4C?)  I'm holding out for about 10F (-13C), but hopefully we'll never get that low this year.   During riding hours, anyway.

I'm a little below 41 degrees north, but living at 4,850 feet (~2,300m) seems to make a big difference in the temperature.

Quote from: red_philOn the down side it doesn't get light till 08:40 and it's dark again by 16:20 so I do a lot of riding in the dark.

I'm not sure what the theoretical dawn and dusk times are right now (around here) but actual sunrise is delayed by the mountain range to the east.  (See this panorama taken from my roof in early summer last year.  The left edge of the view is looking roughly west, the right edge is looking to the southesast.  If you have the bandwidth, check out the larger, uncropped version.)

Nice panorama's Kerry!!

It's been cold here in SoCal...
Last night it was 34, rode in to work and was about 45, actually set some records in some areas! Very chilly, especially at 80mph. I might have to get some boots and a baclava soon. But I can't complain too much, at least I still get to ride every day...  

Quote from: cucamonga<Snippage>
baclava soon. But I can't complain too much, at least I still get to ride every day...  

Yea I love Baclava ... but I cant eat it while riding ... too dangerous ... and the sugar and honey get everywhere ... :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Cool.
Srinath.

Wow, gorgeous panoramas!

I'll have to come visit.  During the summer.  

Not TOO far into the summer - it gets pretty HOT, too.

I must confess that the panoramas give a somewhat skewed image of Utah.   The cities / towns tend to be nice and green with trees, lawns, etc.  But the stretches in between can be pretty desrt-like.  (Kinda like seeing pictures of western Washington and then riding through Eastern Washington.   )

But some of the mountain / canyon roads are truly beautiful.  For a smattering of several "habitats" in the state, see:

* My

Around the Great Salt Lake page

* My Cow Trip 2 page

* Photos from my as-yet-"unpublished" Jan 2003 trip to Southern Utah

* Days 1 and 10 from my British Columbia II page[/list:u]OK, I have to stop now before I let thw "Winter Blues" REALLY get to me.... :mrgreen:

Oh no Not the cow trip  :lol: ... oh no look what you've done roadstergal ...  :lol:
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: KerryI'm a little below 41 degrees north, but living at 4,850 feet (~2,300m) seems to make a big difference in the temperature.

It's not so much the altitude as the location inside a large continent. makes for huge temperature differences between winter and summer. Oceans nearby have a stabilizing effect on your temperatures, even without the blessing of a warm stream such as phil is enjoying.

Ah, I see from the Salt Lake trip that you're a seasoned traveler... er... sorry.  :p  Love the Mirror Lake shots!

I'll take Eastern Washington in a heartbeat for a roadtrip over the I-5 corridor to Portland.  That three hours is a godawful and heavily patrolled trip.  Eastern WA is actually pretty scenic all of the way through - but in a laid-back, simple way, not like the I AM BREATHTAKING!! LOOK AT ME!! vistas in Western WA.

Eastern WA:
http://www.edoghouse.com/cbishop/3_7_04/y62.jpg
http://www.edoghouse.com/cbishop/3_7_04/y52.jpg
http://www.edoghouse.com/cbishop/3_7_04/y63.jpg
http://www.edoghouse.com/cbishop/3_7_04/y113.jpg
http://www.edoghouse.com/cbishop/3_7_04/y122.jpg

I want to head out to Arches some time in 2005...

Check out this site, Its a local riders group here in Cincy and on the left side if you scroll down about half way, they have a MC wind chill factor calculator.



http://freeridersclub.org/index.php

you guys are so lucky u still get to ride.....we have almost a foot of snow here and its a steady -1 degrees celcius    :dunno:

I got the blues a bit tonight when I stopped by my friend's place after class.  Got to his place about 8:15PM, came back out to find my seat had frozen over at 11:00PM.  Friggin' A!!!  Ah well, I rode the 5 miles home with my regular summer jacket with the liner in, my summer gloves (Teknic Chicane), electrical tape over the helmet vents, and a T-shirt with a thermal longsleeve shirt over that.  Oh yeah, and a pair of windbreakers over a pair of cotton slacks.  Only cold spots were my uncovered neck, and the gap between my pants and shoes.  If I'd had boots on I'd been fine, along with a balaclava of some sort.  Temp now (11:55) is 32F.

Having lived in New England for 20 years I know exactly what the winter blues are all about.

Of course I took care of that problem  :lol:

Just thought i'd let you guys know the last few days here have been 100+ degrees fahrenheight or 38+ degrees celcius but this afternoon we got plenty of cloud cover and the weekend should be of low 20s to a high of high 20s degrees celcius. c0r.