Traveling from DC to Philly, Saturday morning,

[H1Alpha]

My daughter is competing at Univ of Penn Track and Field Invite this Saturday. The meet starts at 10a.m.
I was hoping to ride the bike up to Philly and back to DC on Saturday.

My question, I just checked the weather, supposed to be sunny, but the day will start out at about 37 degrees, warming to mid 60's in the afternoon. I'm not concerned about the ride back, it'll certainly be warm enough.

What are your thoughts about riding several hours in these temps, and I should add I'd be leaving DC around 6a.m.
What riding gear would you all recommend? Or do you not recommend riding for several hours in these early morning temps?

[ammolab]

Easy enough to ride at 37F if you have great gloves and "snowmobile" type clothing.

I have a great Browning hunting jacket that is windproof at speed and use Swedish surplus motorcycle pants
that are similar to the pants in this set. I don't see the "motorcycle pants" listed anymore but these pants are
similar.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/n ... x?a=306935

[karamazov2]

I don't own a car, so out of necessity I frequently ride in these temps (8 hours last weekend, most of it below 40 degrees.) I wear a full face helmet, balaclava, and have a mini-Schampa for my neck. I wear an insulated 3/4 armored jacket, insulated riding pants, BMW thermal long underwear, insulated socks, my Redwings, and a pair of winter riding gloves.

Even with all that, and the heated grips cranked up, there are challenges. Without hand guards, keeping the front of your fingers warm is virtually impossible, and keeping your feet warm can also be a difficult.

There are of course lots of options for keeping warm, the Gerbings guys will tell you that. I just layer up, and stop to warm up when I feel my core dropping. Once you lose it, it's really hard to get back.

Ride safe,

Nathan

[mogu83]

What I would recommend and what is adequate are two vastly different scenarios.

Recommended: Electric jacket liner and gloves, insulated boots, Hi vis motorcycle jacket and riding pants. And naturally a full coverage helmet with a decent size windshield on the bike.

BUT: You could most easily get away with a heavy shirt plus a sweatshirt, and jeans covered by a MC jacket and riding pants (could always put on rain gear if you get too cold) boots and heavy gloves.

The sun comes up around 6:30 so that 39 will rapidly become 45 and looks like the sun will be out all day. Looks like a great MC weekend in the Mid Atlantic states.

BTW: I'm heading just north of Philly to a vintage thing on Saturday. Jeans (flannel lined), sweatshirt, heavy gloves, a vintage Belstaff and an open face helmet on a virtually naked /5. I'm planning on a cool morning ride and temps in the 50s when the sun gets up.

[websterize]

Rich, you should be fine with layers. Worst case, and you can't feel fingers or toes, just pull into a Dunkin Donuts. I would highly recommend purchasing a balaclava before the trip. This one from Patagonia is excellent for 30-40 degree riding. If you do a lot of cold-weather riding, nothing beats the Gerbing's heated jacket liner and gloves. Toasty toast.

Good luck to your daughter at the Invite.

[H1Alpha]

Thanks you all that posted responses! I'm going to "Layer Up" and head out to Philly Saturday morning. Bill, thank you for well wishes for my daughter. She's been a hurdler and triple jumper, but the coach wants her to compete in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Championships as a Heptathlete.

[H1Alpha]

It was a Fantastic Ride to Philly and back to DC. I dressed as recommended and was warm the entire way, even though the temp was 39 degrees when I left at 5:45a.m. this morning. On the ride back, the temps were in the 60's, great weather.