during the 80's i was a long distance despatch rider in england , did 7 winters in a row , always made better money in winter due to there being less bikes around ,and paid by the mile self employed .
, got pretty cold fairly often , but one that sticks in my mind is 7pm on the m40 stokenchurch to watlington section ..clear night sky ,bright full moon ..
been a long day ,wearing 4 jumpers ,two jackets, delta despatch bib .. silk inner gloves, leather electric gloves ,over mits and handlebar muffs ,two pairs of track suit trousers and quilted waterproofs, inner socks, outer socks and quilted derriboots , one thin balaclava one thick one .two scarves .
bike was a honda cx500 on 86000 miles , panniers top box and big double skinned fairing .
very cold , my mind says -18 ,but im not sure now ,and i have my feet wedged in behind the engine .doing about 70 mph ,downhill, wide open feilds either side ,strong wind , pull in the clutch to change down ,let out clutch ,....nothing ,no drive .
coast to halt ,park on hard shoulder, go to m way phone call it in ,wait to 10 pm for recovery ...3..hours....to keep concious ,walk up and down beside bike ,but only as far as the leads to my gloves from the battery will reach ,about 6 ft .
vivid memory of the bright moon the deserted motor way ,and the light sparkling off the rd in a million crispy icy twinkles .
the problem ? the clutch inner cable had frozen solid to the outer shroud ,and would not let the clutch engage .
another interesting memory was ,driving at about 60 mph in the black outer lane of the two grooves cut in the snow by the cars ,again at night on the a40 past oxford , and the handle bars turning full right ,whilst the bike carried on in a straight line ,and i gently pulled them back to straight ,
and also ,the way one automatically starts to cater for strange cold effects , like how it takes about 100 times longer to blink ,so you wait to be in the clear to blink because you know you'll need the time .
regards
robert
