Well, not to get too far off thread topic, but will indulge in a quick offshoot… cold riding. Partly in defense of my childish behavior yesterday on the v85 :->
i lived in alaska for a good number of years, and have mostly TomChri’s type blood in me, Norwegian, so maybe thats whey the cold is not as bothersome 😉. Used to ride year round (on a BMW RT), but In truth, I have only very rarely in the last couple decades decided to man-up and purposely ride into very cold weather, choosing instead to re-schedule whatever i had planned when the weather gods were smiling more. Last month I had planned to go get the V85 from Denver, and the weather looked good, right up until i was about to leave, then went downhill fast (dumped snow). Cancel.
This time forecast was decent, a lot warmer on the western end of the ride (today… supposed to be mid 60’s in Boise later), and nothing forecasted worse than brief periods down around 42 and dry on the east/denver end. But as often happens, crappy apple weather app forecasts and spiteful weather gods conspire and i end up needing to “man up” as you alluded. Oh well… so be it. Riding for an hour or so through nasty cold, snowy conditions is what it turned into, so thats ok.
You riding the Quota to John Day?