They say real motorcyclists ride in the rain. I’d like to know who ”they” are so I can hunt them down beat them senseless with a blunt instrument. Motorcycles are no matches for rain… nor are their riders. OK, OK, before the hate mail comes flooding in, I do recognize that there is a certain breed of rider (a much heartier breed than I) who takes riding in the rain and even snow in stride and hardly slows them one bit. But for me, the sheer misery is contradictory to the enjoyment I look forward to when I want to ride.
Now had I a proper rain suit, a windshield so big, one would think it came off a Greyhound bus, heated gloves and boots, and a proper full-face helmet, then certainly the ride would not have been so bad. But I don’t want to wear a day glow rainsuit. I don’t want a windshield on my bike. I don’t want to plug-in my gloves and boots. I want the simplicity of throwing on my jacket, strapping on my helmet, slipping on my gloves and hitting the road. If I have to dress-up like I’m going commercial fishing in the North Atlantic… then I might was well go fishing.
When I started out, the skies were overcast and it was rather muggy. I had on my favorite brown leather jacket, my work boots, gloves and my open face helmet. I also carry a bandana with me because you never know then you’ll need to wipe something off the bike or yourself. I made my first stop without any foul weather. And as I was nearing the dealership, I felt the first drops of rain. I also witnessed a mass exodus of riders coming from the direction of the dealership, so I knew bad weather was on the way.
I made my stop at the dealer’s open house, said my hellos and took a leisurely walk around the property to check out what few bikes were still around. Not many. The slight drizzle is now a little stronger and it was obvious that the event was winding down, so I decided to leave. Knowing that I was going to be riding about an hour in the rain, I decided to wrap the bandana around my face before strapping on the helmet. A rider next to me watching me tie-on the bandana commented to me that “I’ve done this before” inferring that I ride in the rain a lot. I took off and not more than a mile down the road the skies opened up with a torrential downpour.
I was soaked so bad that when I stopped at a traffic light and lowered my arms to my side, streams of water came pouring out of both sleeves. That wasn’t so bad, but the bandana made it very hard for me to breathe. When I wear it over my face in fair weather to keep bugs & dust out, it works great and I have no problems breathing. But soaked in water, the cloth would not breathe, so I had to pull it away from my face just to draw a breath. At one point I pulled the bandana down to expose my mouth and nose. At 45 mph, the raindrops felt like little needles poking my skin. We’ve all experienced that. I kept thinking of the news reporters down on the gulf coast reporting on the hurricanes and what that must of felt like.
I made it home in one piece. The bike is in the garage drip-drying. My leather jacket, gloves and boots doing the same in the laundry room. A hot shower and a warm meal drove the chill out of my body. I’m not saying that I’ll never ride again with a forecast of rain, but don’t look for me shopping for rainsuits and windshields any time soon.
posted by RaceDweeb @ 11:43 PM
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