Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Rainy days and rainy nights

After last night's storms and the weather forecast for more rain today, I will definitely not be riding my motorcycle to work. While there are more experienced motorcyclists who will ride in the rain, it is not one of my favorite aspects of motorcycling. While riding a bicycle in a rain shower might be fun for children, riding a motorcycle takes on an entirely different element. Instead of a nice pitter patter of raindrops on the check, rain while riding, feels more like small needles hitting you in the face. Your vision is impaired by the raindrops and mist as well, so safety becomes a factor also. Like any vehicle, stopping distance is greater on wet pavement, so greater distance must be maintained between your bike and the cars ahead of you. Like any other motorcyclist, I keep rain gear in my saddlebags in case I get caught in an unexpected summer rainstorm, but I sure don't plan rides when I know I'm going to be heading into rain. Having been caught in a few showers before, the riding experience is not what one thinks of when contemplating a motorcycle ride on the highways and byways of America. No, I'll leave the rainy conditions to those hearty souls who are more comfortable with the challenge and are more experienced in bad weather conditions than I. So I'll take my Mustang to work today and hope that better conditions will prevail in days ahead. We've certainly been blessed with great weather in the Midwest lately. One thing is for sure. I'm not looking forward to winter!

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