I think about stretching before my motorcycle ride usually when I am riding my motorcycle LOL. Seriously, though, I must confess that stretching is major part of my pre-ride checklist. I spend about 10-15 minutes doing various leg, arm, wrist, hand, back, and ankle stretches. For me, I have learned to stretch through the different sporting activities I have done in my life. As simple a process that stretching is, the benefits are really impactful to me. What I have learned, is that I must stretch outdoors to help my body adjust to the weather, which I will be riding in. Stretching indoors, is a false narrative. You need to be in the climate you will perform in. So, outside my Mom’s Garage is my favorite stretching spot before a crank up my Moto Morini.
As I wrote at the beginning of December, in the blog post “COLD Weather Riding”, cold weather requires a much different approach. This impacts my stretching. Today, while beginning my work commute on my bike, I quickly realized I had not stretched yet. My 30-minute commute is a bear, and I knew I needed to perform some stretching before I arrived at the office. So, I stopped at a local James Island gas station, bought a cup of hot coffee, and did a few simple stretches in the parking lot. This was a great move because the temperature was in the low 40s. Riding my motorcycle for a brief mile proved to be a good way to warm up my body, mind, as well as my bike. A quick stop at the Circle K provided me a space to do some stretches before I continue on my ride to work. Cold weather keeps your muscles tight so a brief warm up before stretching in the cold weather will do you a world of good. Maybe a few jumping jacks or a quick run around the block is all beneficial to getting the muscles warmed up BEFORE you stretch. As with any advice I provide, it is really up to YOU to decide what works for YOU. Please remember, DON’T FORGET TO STRETCH!
Rolf