When you are motorcycling in winter, there are multiple facts that can be dangerous for you. In this text, we are going to talk about the first fact that could be dangerous for you: the cold and more particularly the wind chill.

Physical effects of wind chill on your body

First of all, there are two types of wind chill: the one that can be experience by any person (showed on weather report on TV) and the other experienced on a motorcycle. The difference beetween these two factors are really important.

When you ride in a snowy weather, the wind causes moisture on your body. After a short ride, the first thing you are going to experience is the heat leaving your body. Indeed, riding on a bike doesn’t require a lot oh physical activity so you can’t re-heat your body. Wind chill can lead to bad outcomes in a short amount of time, even if the outside temperature is not freezing cold.

The first effect you are going to feel is the beginning of hypothermia. To prevent any signs of this issue, you have to know all the symptoms:

• shallow breathing,
• weak pulse,
• very low energy,
• confusion or lost of consciousness,
• shivering,
• lack of coordination

As a rider, you have to be aware of all these symptoms to stop riding when you experience one of them. Hypothermia can lead to serious issues like cardiac arrest. When you want to go on a ride in the middle of winter, you have to evaluate the risk of riding by using this site to know how to evaluate wind chill.

Be aware of weather issues

Before going out on a ride, don’t forget that the weather is against you whether it is snowy, rainy or windy. These three factors are responsible for thousands of accidents in the world every year. The heavy wind, for example, can lead to fatal accidents.

Fortunately, protection exists and you have to remember that covering your body with adapted equipment is necessary when you go riding outside: a hat, a waterproof jacket and pants and some gloves. For your jacket, you have to know that heated clothing exist, it goes on with your bike’s battery and avoids hypothermia. To conclude, an air-bag for bikers exists, that thing can trigger in 0.1 second. In practice, there are captors in your jackets that send a signal when they find out you are falling.