Feeling More With Numb Hands

On Sunday when I left on my ride, it was still early. The Weather Nerd app noted that it wasn’t yet 40 degrees and yet I opted not to take my toasty Gerbing gloves to plug in. Instead, I chose my regular unlined, uninsulated leather gloves. What should’ve been a no-brainer had me walk back in to the house from the driveway twice to make my final exchange between the 2 pairs of gloves.

Ughhhhhh, I hate the way they feel so puffy in the fingersssssss.

Something along those lines is my standard complaint about winter riding gloves. Their chubby digits keep me from really feeling things in a direct way. Literally. And I hate that. I hate that whatever I touch has an obvious barrier between my hands and it. I’m feeling my glove feeling things. It’s surrogate touching.

My choice in leather gloves seem to have less of that disconnect. They’re more snug on the fingers and their skin is closer to mine. The overall sensation of touching things with my leather-gloved hands is more direct.

Though I was wearing my Gerbing liner and keeping my core toasty, I had to pull over 3 times to warm my hands during the ride. But, why? Why would I willingly subject myself to the ache, the numbness, the sting? Why do we make the choice to feel the pain when something much more simple is right there!?

Why, indeed.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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5 Responses

  1. Heated gloves and hand warmers baby!!!!
    Easy cheap installation on bike.
    I’ve been riding for weeks to work at 6:30 am in Massachusetts on scooter.

  2. RichardM says:

    I prefer the Gerbing heated gloves to my non-heated winter gloves for the same reason. Though, today, I didn’t bring the heated gear at all. Too much trouble. Plus, it was 33°F and raining…

  3. David Masse says:

    Cold air blasting on your body takes a toll. Even if you have warm hands, if, overall, your body is being chilled, those hands that are warm on the grips become like ice after the ride in a nice warm house.

    That’s why I am pulling out all the stops from my 300 mile ride to Toronto tomorrow.

    Winter gauntlets, Tourmaster pants plus the liner, lap apron, triple long sleeved layers up top, the works.

    Coping for an hour or so is OK, but 5-6 hours on the highway is another kettle of fish.

  4. I have a love/hate relationship with my hands in cold weather — love keeping them warm, hate all the gyrations necessary to achieve that. Fortunately, I have no resistance to lots of mass and insulation between my tender digits and the Vespa. I find the Gerbing classic leather electric gloves “so thin I could pick up a dime”. Well, not really but they are fine on the Vespa or any motorcycle I’ve ridden. And pre-heated grips and hand grip muffs I used to wear heavy expedition mittens while riding in hopes of keeping my hands warm. You would have loved those….

    After some unfortunate frostbite in both hands (not riding related) and recurring bouts with Raynauds and Chillblains, I can’t screw around anymore with getting cold lest the suffering go on and on after the ride.

    Coping is no longer in my vocabulary. Be prepared is now my motto. My personal preferences have little sway anymore because they often leave me muttering, “Idiot…”.

    Hope you find your own compromise so your post titles read “Feeling More on the Road and Loving It” or “Look at Me–More Great Decisions on the Road”. Or something like that.

    Still like that Triumph…

  5. Shybiker says:

    I grasp your point and there are analogies in my life. But… I love winter gloves. I have gloves in four weights (perforated; unlined; slightly padded; seriously padded) and enjoy all of them. The heaviest are for the coldest temps and you can barely bend your fingers in them. I enjoy the novelty of that which makes me feel like an Arctic explorer.

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