Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Out of Town

I find myself in Garden Grove, CA, after flying in on the red-eye. Boy, I'm really getting tired of these late night flights in and out of Alaska. We flew into John Wayne airport somewhere in Orange County and it took me a while to get my bearings. But eventually found my way to the hotel. There seem to be a lot more freeways than I remember from 32+ years ago. One thing I have to say is there is a lot of food variety here. This is a Vietnamese noodle dish with a ton of nicely prepared vegetables. And this is really close to the hotel.

Since I knew I was coming down, I "banked" a couple of videos to submit to YouTube and the PBC website while I'm gone. Fortunately, the hotel has pretty decent Wi-Fi. Not as good as it was in my office where the 300 MB video uploaded to YouTube in under a minute but good enough.

Here is the return trip from ride #14. The temperature at the start is -30°F. Just a little bit colder than it is in town.  Since the camera moved on it's mount during the ride, I added some info on what I'm using for cold weather riding gear. Just for convenience, I'll list it here as well.

  • Gerbing heated jacket liner
  • Lightweight fleece over the liner
  • Flannel lined jeans
  • Wool socks
  • Leather boots or "bunny boots"
  • Gerbing G3 heated gloves
  • Roadcrafter Light
  • Bombardier Modular 1 helmet
Nothing unusual and warm enough.



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12 comments:

  1. redlegsridesJanuary 8, 2015 at 5:25 AM

    In the army, we called the "bunny boots", mickey mouse boots....they were black of course and looked quite similar to the cartoon character's shoes.

    I've yet to wear the heater vest I have...but then again it's not as cold here as it is up there!

    URAL engines are distant cousins to BMW airhead engines, I think they qualify as Airheads....

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    1. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 6:50 AM

      They sell the "mickey mouse boots" up here as well but I was told that they had less insulation. The heated liner has been a regular addition if it's below freezing. It is a lot thinner than a fleece liner and the wiring is needed in case I wanted to turn on the gloves. At -30F, the liner and the gloves were on 100% but the grips only on the second of five. Otherwise they are way too hot.

      Delete
    2. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 6:53 AM

      George had said that BMW used to have the camshaft above the crankshaft and a sling oil system as well but both were changed in the early '50s. He said that with the sling system, RPM is key. High loads and low RPM cause problems.

      Delete
  2. TrobairitzJanuary 8, 2015 at 7:23 AM

    Seeing the snow video and knowing you are in SoCal is a contradiction to my brain. The foods definitely looks tasty though.

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    1. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 7:44 AM

      I'm just trying to cause brain strain. The dish was pretty tasty. Lots of fresh veggies and a tiny bit of seafood served over rice noodles. All for less than $10. For me, it seems like a bargain...

      Delete
  3. David MasseJanuary 8, 2015 at 8:28 AM

    Richard, you're running a serious risk of de-acclimatization. It'll get chilly in California, and you'll think it's cold. Then you'll return home, and find that it's really c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-old!!!!

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    1. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 8:43 AM

      That's what the week in Barrow is for right after Calif. To re-acclimate. Plus, since it is getting cold in the northern Midwest again, it must be warming up in Alaska.

      (Yep, just checked. Up to -25°C already at home)

      Delete
  4. Martha January 8, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    Your food looks very fragrant and tasty. I'm staying bland for now. When will we get to vicariously enjoy a nice ramen restaurant or other Japanese menu?

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    1. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 10:27 PM

      The Vietnamese dish was really tasty. I think I was just really craving some well prepared vegetables and this had both regular broccoli and Chinese broccoli plus a smattering of seafood.

      As far as a nice noodle shop, I don't know as the group has grown quite a bit.

      Delete
  5. Martha January 8, 2015 at 6:36 PM

    I wanted to add this news story to your blog: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/08/america-colder-than-mars-gale-crater

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RichardMJanuary 8, 2015 at 10:30 PM

      So have you scheduled your flight to the new warm (relative to Wisconsin) vacation spot?

      Here is a LINK to the Guardian article.

      Delete
    2. Martha January 9, 2015 at 7:31 AM

      I haven't figured out how to make that link a link.

      Delete

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