Cooler?

Yes, I rode to work today.

And,

it was a little cooler for the home ride. Much to my surprise I actually noticed. I didn't think I would.

The question of the day is: Are you officially on vacation when you leave work the last work day before vacation? Or, does it become official when you don't have to show up for work the morning on the first day of vacation? Either way, I won't be riding to work Monday. Vacation here I come.

• 81F/27C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 105F/41C with a couple of clouds for the home ride.

It's Hot

Yes, I rode to work today.

Recently, I was reminded there are very few riders who wear all the gear all the time. What is true is some riders gear up more than others. I've been accused of gearing up more than many. I mention this because the heat we are experiencing here in St. Louis presents additional challenges to gearing up. Today when I rode home it was 108F/42C. I still wore the knee guards and the back brace. I wore a mesh armored jacket and vented Cordura pants. I wore my rather new dual sport helmet.

AFX FX-39DS

Riding to work, also, has caused compromises in my gearing up. When I ride on the weekends in addition to the back brace I often wear a chest protector. And, always wear hip guards and a coccyx protector. During the work day rides these stay at home. I rationalize these changes in gear around my reduced speeds on the ride to work, please no laughter the Symba has some go. Of course, it isn't about the speeds I travel. It is about convenience, not wrinkling clothes, and not taking up half of my work area with gear.

But today I added another piece of gear to my normal work a day gear-up.

I wore my Coolvest. The vest seems to me to be a gearing compromise. The cooling bars are solid when I take them from the freezer/refrigerator. I only load the front of the vest and I suspect experiencing impact to my chest while wearing the vest early on in a ride would be most unpleasant.

This was what the bars looked like after forty-five minutes of riding. Still pretty solid--a good thing and a bad thing.

On the other hand, keeping the body core cool in high temperature riding is also a safety issue.

Today's heat was a new kind of heat for me. The heat here in St. Louis is usually accompanied by high humidity. Having the heat index be above 115F/46C is not all that uncommon. Today the heat index was actually 4 degrees F cooler than the actual temperature.

I was grateful to have the face shield of the dual sport helmet. It was more comfortable riding with the face shield down then with it up. And, it was good to be able to lift the shield at stoplights.

Humidity or not, it's hot.

It is forecast to be nearly as hot tomorrow as today. Summer indeed.

• 81F/27C with maybe a cloud or two in the sky for the ride to work.
• 108/42C with lots of sunshine for the home ride.

I Knew That Look In His Eyes

Yes, I rode to work today.

This morning  in the parking lot of the Cafe as I was gearing up for the ride to work a man and his wife parked next to me . This is the second time I've seen this couple in the last week. The first time they parked next to me on the man's side. He got out and was looking over my Symba. He wanted to know how many miles to the gallon it got, how fast it went, and how many miles it had on it. He was easily in his 80's, but I knew that look in his eyes. He started to walk away. He'd walk a few steps turn around and look at the Symba and smile. Then a few more steps, stop, look, and smile. There was no mistaking it, he was suffering a raging attack of the wants.

Today they parked next to me again, but this time it was on the woman's side. When she got out she asked me how far I had to ride "that thing". I told her a little over ten miles. She thought that wasn't too bad. I told her most mornings I wished the distance was longer. She seemed astonished at this. Next she wanted to know if I rode it even when it rained. I said I did and told her the last time I'd driven my car to work was in January. She just shook her head. I couldn't tell if it was in disbelief or pity. As she headed toward the door, her husband was again eying my bike with that same look. Again, he did the walk, stop, and look thing as he followed after his wife. It was a wonderful way to start my day.

The forecast high tomorrow is 108F/42C. I'd say Summer has arrived.

• 71F/22C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 99F/37C with nothing but blue sky and abundant sunshine for the home ride.

Even Pinocchio

Yes, I rode to work today.

And, the day began with a surprise. Since the weather has been so predictable of late and I knew we are looking at forecasts above the 100F mark by Thursday with no rain in sight, I didn't even bother to check the National Weather Service website before leaving the condo. To my surprise it was chilly. I sure could have used a windbreaker under my mesh jacket for the ride to work.

At lunch time as I was eating pita with hummus a group of people walked by. One was carrying a sign. It said in large letters, "Performance Today." I couldn't read the where. Two others were carrying chairs and the remainder of the folks were just walking along. They all moved like dancers.

When I got to Citygarden I saw where the performance was.

Even Pinocchio seemed to join in.

Citygarden has added so much to my enjoyment of working Downtown.

• 61F/16C and nothing but blue sky for the ride to work.
• 85F/29C and not a cloud in the sky for the home ride.

Blue Sky

Yes, I rode to work today.

And, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was on the warm side, but hotter is coming.

• 77F/25C for the ride to work, and the National Weather Service said there were a few clouds. but I didn't see any.
• 89F/32C and a crystal blue sky for the home ride.

No Socks

Yes, I rode to work today.

And, the scooter riding guy who wears a suit was out today on his Ruckus.

He wears a suit, but no socks. Go figure.

• 68F/20C with a very few clouds for the ride to work.
• 86F/30C with a few more clouds for the home ride.

The Clouds Did Look Promising

Yes, I rode to work today.

And, the forecasters were calling out a 40% chance of rain after 9am.

The clouds did look promising.

Early in the work day I had cause to visit another department. There was a cake on one of the desks. On the cake was written in bold orange frosting: "Happy Birthday Cheryl". While I was there a manager walked through. He looked at the cake and said, "Oh, whose birthday is it?" A co-worker and I looked at each other and said nearly in unison, "Cheryl's." I'm happy to report neither of us added, "Duh." I took this little episode as a gentle reminder of how short the supply of situational awareness is. If a person can look directly at a birthday cake and miss the person's name whose birthday it is, how can it be a surprise that people overlook motorcycles in broad daylight? I'd like to think if this manager had been driving he'd of been paying closer attention, but I have to wonder.

Later on in the day, on my way back from lunch another manager, the Harley rider who has turned up in this journal before, said to me, "So, you gambled today did you?"

"How's that?" I responded.

"You rode today. You gambled it wouldn't rain."

"No, I didn't gamble," I said, "I brought raingear."

He's response? "That's what I said, you gambled."

"You know the last time I drove my car to work..." He interrupted me before I could finish and said to me, "It didn't rain."  "No," I said, "That's not what I was going to say. I was going to say the last time I drove my car to work was January 17th."

"Well," he said, "I hope you luck out today."

I'm happy to report I didn't add, "Whatever."

It never did rain today and by home ride time it was sunny. We really need rain. Being lucky for me today would have been riding home in a nice gentle downpour.

• 78F/26C and mostly cloudy for the ride to work.
• 83F/28C with some clouds, but plenty of sunshine for the home ride.