Cold Weather Obsessions

Furry Prognosticators Disagree — Scandal!

Punxsutawney Phil, clearly the most famous weather-predicting rodent in the World, is not a singular animalistic meteorological oddity, however. It seems that all manner of towns and hamlets in the U.S. and Canada have their annual “see-or-don’t-see your shadow and thereby predict the length of time left until spring” events – they just don’t get the kind of publicity the folks in Pennsylvania do.

The Internet has changed all that.

For the better? Who knows?

What we do know this Groundhog Day 2008 is that most of the lesser-known beady-eyed burrowing weather-chuck-hogs disagree with the venerable Phil. Seems Shubenacadie Sam and Wiarton Willie of Canada, Woody the Woodchuck of Livingston County Michigan, Staten Island Chuck, and New Hampshire’s Pennichuck Chuck ALL predicted an early spring this morning. Only Phil, who in one incarnation or another has reportedly been predicting the distance to springtime since the 1886, says it’s six more weeks, the rat-bastard.

It kills the spirit, but you’ve got to go with Phil. His overall stats are pretty impressive, even though it’s all make-believe and he lives in a stump.

Six more weeks of winter, that can only mean one thing. Gerbing’s Heated Clothing.

The Gerbing’s heated jacket liner is a mainstay for any rider wishing to start early or extend the motorbiking season into the cooler, even significantly colder months. On a non-wind-chill 20-degree day the jacket liner under a normal motorcycle jacket is as warm and cozy as a crackling fireplace in a rocky mountain log cabin. It’s wired like a thin electric blanket, only with sleeves, collar, and zipper, and made from 100% nylon and thinsulate. The collar is also wired and stands straight up to protect the neck. The wiring system has interconnects that allow hooking up a chain of accessories, like electric gloves, pants and even socks. Sizing is excellent, fitting every rider from the tall and gangly willow trees to the short and squatty beer barrels.

The garment is hand-wash and hang-dry only. I’d recommend sponge-bath surface cleaning as dunking the whole think in a hand-wash bath is a bit frightening.

The Gerbing’s electrical systems draw too much juice to be hooked up to the standard BMW auxiliary power outlets, so it’s best to tap directly into the battery with an easy to install harness. The liner comes with a basic lighted on-off switch, but you can’t beat the temperature regulator (a simple rheostat) that allows the rider some level of comfort control without having to constantly fiddle with the switch.

The heated gloves are a dream. They come in a variety of styles. The pair designed and marketed to the snowmobiling crowd are a bit bulky but nevertheless work very well on the motorbike. Combined with heated grips they ensure that the hands are never too cold, which is a big deal when you need subtle throttle control or the ability to reach clutch and break levers in a hurry. Construction, fit, and finish are superb. I found that, oddly enough, the color matched, and the piping lined up perfectly with my Cortech ADX jacket.

The gloves plug neatly into the jacket liner’s sleeve sockets, and when not in use the sockets tuck easily away into their own personal zippered pockets,

The liner and gloves don’t look electric, either. So don’t be surprised when you ride on a particularly freezing day and have people unconsciously give you major Man Points for being such a hardy soul. You don’t have to confess when they make the question/statement, “seems a bit cold for motorcycling?” You can just smile, bank the Man Points, make that “I don’t really understand the question/statement” face and say, “No, I’m really good to go anytime after Groundhog Day.”

More on “Man Points” later.