Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Winter 2014 | IRON BUTT MAGAZINE  W hen we think of the role that the sun plays in long- distance riding, it is excusable to first think of only negative effects, like sun- burn and dehydration. Few of us spend time thinking about how many hours of daylight there are as we progress from one season to another, and even fewer think about how the position of the sun will impact us throughout the day. Assuming that most long-distance riders like to ride during daylight hours with all the benefits of sightseeing as well as timely hazard identification, riders need to seriously consider the position of the sun when making riding plans. The position of the sun is defined by its eleva- tion and azimuth at any given time. Ele- vation means the perceived height of the sun above the horizon given in degrees, with the horizon being ° and directly overhead being °. Any value below the horizon will have a negative value, which does not impact us.Azimuth is measured in degrees, with north being °, east °, south ° and west °. This is regard- less of the hemisphere,which means that azimuth can never be negative. Close to the equator and directly between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, there is relatively little varia- tion in the impact of the sun’s position on riders. However, the further north or south from the tropics someone is, the greater the variation in the sun’s impact will be, especially during winter when there’s less daylight. Looking at the relative movement and position of the sun between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer and over the equator the area covered over the four seasons is depicted in Figure . The yellow area is the area in which the sun will move during one annual cycle. For the northern hemisphere, the green line is the furthest north that the sun will deviate and the light blue line the furthest south.The orange line is the path for the day that this article was put together. Figure 2: The sun’s movement over the equator for one year (www.gaisma.com). Looking at the relative movement and position of the sun over Cape Town, where I live, the area covered over the four seasons is depicted in Figure . Figure 1: Illustration of the sun’s position in terms of elevation (height above the horizontal ≈30°) and azimuth (clockwise from north ≈60°). Prepared from an illustration from the Photovol- taic Education Network website. Graphic illustration of the terms used when describing the sun’s position. Figure 3: The sun’s movement over Cape Town at 34° south for one year (www. gaisma.com). Looking at the relative movement and position of the sun over Denver, Colorado, the area covered over the four seasons is depicted in the following figure and is roughly a mirror image of that for Cape Town. Figure 4: The sun’s movement over Denver, CO at 39° north for one year (www.giasma.com). Comparing Figures ,  and  gives an idea about the influence of latitude on the position of the sun at any given point and time during one cycle of the four seasons. The effect in both the southern and northern hemispheres may be regarded as mirror images around the equator for the same latitude; e.g., the path for the sun at latitudes  S and  N will be mirror images of each other, albeit flipped around the equator. Why is the position (azimuth and elevation) of the sun is important to long-distance riders? When seated on a motorcycle in a normal position facing directly towards the sun, and depending on the particu-