WORDS: Aaron Frank
I rode my GSX-R yesterday. In fact, it was the third time that I've ridden it in the past week. Not unusual, you might say, except that I live in Wisconsin and it's January. In a typical month of January we might expect to see 14 inches of white stuff falling from the sky, roads iced over or crusted in salt, and an average temperature hovering around 20.7 degrees F. The past two weeks have been anything but "typical," though. Temps have been lodged in the forties and fifties, we've only had one snowfall so far this year (a month ago, it all melted in days), and the lakes haven't even frozen over yet-frustrating those of us who like to keep our go-fast skills sharp racing dirtbikes on the ice. If it weren't for the changing calendar, you'd swear it was still October here. Not that I'm complaining-I'm not suffering the riding withdrawals that winter normally brings, but it does change things. When you're still riding every week, there's not the same off-season opportunity for leisurely bike projects, overdue teardowns or long-term rebuilds. The annual New Year's Day ride-traditionally the litmus test for the true hardcore Midwest riders-isn't nearly as epic on a sunny, 55-degree day. And man, what I wouldn't give to roost a little ice... Believe me, I'm just as nervous about global warming as the next long-haired, dirt-worshipping, granola head, but a few more weeks of riding time each year might go a long way to calming those fears. I can always eBay my cross-country skis or hockey skates to finance another set of sticky tires. Just as long as both coasts don't end up under water, and all you displaced motoheads don't start heading to Wisco and crowding our great roads.