Score: Heat 1, Me: 0

[bountyhunter]

So, my poor motorcycle just sits in the garage waiting for the inhuman heat wave to let up..... all tuned up and ready to go.

And today was the promised relief... note the word PROMISED......

It was only supposed to go up to a high of about 95 today .... "only 95"? Well after 110, that was going to be a cold snap.

So, I took the motorcylcle out and when I rode to work at 8:30, it was a lovely 75 degrees. I was planning to ride it home for lunch and take my car back to work for the return trip in the heat of the day.

UNFORTUNATELY.... at noon when I was going home to lunch, it was already 95 with high humidity. But it's only a 15 minute ride home.....

I was doing pretty well as long as I was moving, but a couple of miles from home the traffic stopped on the expressway and it felt like a wall of heat glaring up from the road.

I knew I was in deep trouble as I felt heat flushing through me and I my skin was starting to turn red and I got light headed.

I looked for any escape and dove into the Kaiser parking lot and drove into a closed gate in their parking structure. I bailed off, chucked my helmet and laid down on the cement in the shade. My heart rate slowed and my head cleared in a few minutes and I made it home.... feeling lucky to have made it.

Moral: never trust a weather man and don't screw with the heat.

[Nik Habicht]

Moral #2: Drink more water.......

Quick thinking on your part though ---- glad you're safe.

[Chriss Grube]

Guess you didn't shoot nationals last year?

[Trisha Lowry]

My addition to the heat and sad bike story.....Haven't ridden much this summer and we just recently hit 115 with 40% humidity as we start our Monsoon. Felt so guilty that the 'you haven't been riding police' might come and take me away that I jumped on the bike and rode it to work last Friday. I have a whole 9 minute commute but what the heck, at 6:30 in the morning it was already 95 but it was a nice ride! About 4pm our admin downstairs called up and asked if I had looked outside lately. ICK outside the second story window was the wall of dust where the storm had hit and I hadn't noticed!!! Grabbed my helmet and headed toward the door....had I a single brain cell left I probably would have waited it out but had a kidlet that I had to retrieve. No rain yet but the wind was pushing my Low Rider side to side like crazy, all I could do to keep it upright in the turns...about 5 minutes into the fwy I was doing the wet tshirt thing as the sky opened up and poured for the last 5 minutes till I hit the blue skies in front of my house. Scary ride, major dirt and rain on my bike......BOY WAS THAT FUN!!! Is it time to ride again yet?

[DMS42]

This is one of those times that I begin the story with "There I was...."

I was stationed in Erlangen, Germany and was on leave. I had rented a motorcycle in Nice, France and was on my way to St. Tropiz to see the sights that could be seen. I had it on good authority that there was a topless beach there.

Someplace along the way there was some hills with a windy road. I was in shorts, tee shirts and my cowboy boots. As I looked up into the sky I could see some dark clouds. Saying to myself, "boy I hope that it doesn't rain." But to no avail. It rained. A short kind of downpour and I got very wet. The sky cleared and I kept riding. The sky clouded up and I got wet again. And again. But the ride was nice and when the sun came out I got dry. No problems with the bike. I knew enough to slow down through the curves, but (and there is always a but) I got a little bolder on the curves and went faster and faster as I became used to the bike and the way it handled. The but part is that one time I took a curve a little too fast and crossed the double yellow lines. Right in front of a pair of French motorcycle cops. Then the fun began. I spoke no French and they didn't seem to speak English.

I knew what they wanted and started to dig out the necessary documents--driver's license, insurance papers, rental papers, etc. As I was doing this I open my wallet and one of the cops reached in and took all the paper money that was in it and said what I translated as "Just right". I was sure glad that I had all the big Franks folded up and placed elsewhere. A couple miles down the road the shakes set in so I pulled off and had a smoke. Also looked at the ticket and noticed that the fine amount on the ticket was what was pulled from the wallet. So I had a little better thoughts about the motorcycle cop.

Just got the cig. smoked and was about to get back on the road when a police car pulled to a stop and the passenger got out and walked over to me. I still didn't speak French, but he at least did speak English. He asked if I had any problems and I said no. Then he said that he had seen me stopped there and was wondering why. I didn't tell him if was because of the shakes that I got after getting a ticket. Instead I told him that I had stopped to take some pictures of the big house on the island just off shore. And showed him the cameras. Then we had some discussion about why I had 2 cameras, one from Germany and one from Japan. So told him that one was single lens reflex and the other was view finder and showed him. He was happy and said have a nice trip and left.

I was happy as a clam, but was not just a little short of money. And besides that the weather had closed in and now it was cloudy and cool. No topless girls to be seen at St. Tropiz.

[38superman]

Not many people seem to get this but on a motorcycle, extreme heat is just as tough to deal with as the cold.

A few years ago I took a road trip from Kansas City to Southwest Colorado during August.

The temps crossing western Kansas were flirting with the 100 degree mark.

When meeting trucks coming from the opposite direction, you got blasted by what I called 100 x 100.

That's 100 deg air at 100 MPH.

The cattle pens around Dodge City have a really wonderful smell at 100 deg.

Tls

[bountyhunter]

Not many people seem to get this but on a motorcycle, extreme heat is just as tough to deal with as the cold.

I've done both in my 40 years aboard two wheels and a motor, and cold never scared me. Your hands and feet go numb and your muscles get "reluctant" as they start freezing up. I also noticed that I start to think in "images" not thoughts as the brain freezes....

But I was never in danger of passing out.

The heat raises your core temp which forces your blood vessels to dilate and your heart to race to pump blood out to the skin to get "cooled"... except when its 100+ outside, that reflex is killing you because the blood is being heated, not cooled.

The other heat killer on a bike is that the head releases about 1/3 of the heat which radiates from the body.... and with your full face helmet on, that is really going to make your core temp spike in a hurry.

[ErikW]

I went riding at Carnegie Hills one day, not paying attention to the (hot, 100+) forecast. Got my DR350S (on/off road dual sport thumper) stuck on a hill and lifted/dragged it around a bunch. Went through all my water in no time, got dizzy, vomited, got out-of-my-mind delirious. One of the worst experiences of my life, worse than nearly getting hypothermia.

Sold that heavy P.O.S. and got a real dirt bike (light two stroke) to drag up and down hills. But I just won't ride in the heat now.

[AzShooter]

I had the misfortune of riding my bike the day it hit 122 in Phoenix. It was the only day I ever made the mistake of riding without my leather on. I thought it would be too hot.

Well, I had to pull over at every gas station I could find and pour water on myself to cool down. Worst then any snowstorm I've ever been in.

Next day, 121 with the leather I had no troubles at all.