Sounds like fun! Don't know if that makes me crazy, dumb or both... Amazing story and very well written. I'll give it my best shot but I'm not that good of a rider. I've written about this ride before.
Last summer I did a 6 day trip through Washington and parts of Western Canada. My last day was going to be a long one. As I rolled into Marblemont Washington around 4:30pm. It was kind early to stop but I wanted to save the North Cascades Highway for a 6am, sunrise ride. I was woken up at 5:30 by the storm outside and the rain pounding my window - not a good sign because I was wearing ear plugs. I took a quick look out the window and saw nothing but horizontal rain. I got up anyway, and got ready for the ride. My problem was that I had a 520 mile day ahead of me and didn't want to wait that long.... It looked like the rain was slowing so I started out at 6:30am - it was still raining but the wind had dies down. The North Cascades High is amazing and if you ever get the chance to ride it do. I was about 1/2 mile way from my hotel and the wind started to blow again like crazy. Horizontal wind into my face. My mainland bike is a 1982 650 with a fly screen - in other words no help at all. The good news is that I had on Frog Toggs (Gortex riding gear) and Olympus winter gloves. The only part of my body that was exposed is my neck, however, the rain was coming straight on so in about 5 minutes me neck was hurting and I was drenched down to my boxers. About half way through the 150 miles in the rain I came around a corner and half of the roadway was covered with a fresh landslide. I was doing about 50 and came really close to falling trying to avoid the motorcycle sized rocks and mud. The scariest part of the ride was when I crossed a wooden bridge and with the water and wind the bike just floated like I was on ice. I just held on and hoped that I wouldn't hit the side before I got across - I think my pulse was at about 200bpm. At about 150 miles the rain stopped and I was really excited to get out of the rain and back to comfortable riding - I should have known better. The storm had gone over the Cascades but the wind if anything had increased. The next about 150 miles were spent fighting head winds and side winds from both sides. When the winds slowed down I would move to the middle of the lane and get ready for the next gust. I then turned off the highway I was on and headed up to White Pass for the nest 100 miles or so. It was sunny, warm, no wind - life was good and I was still having a great time. With about 100 miles to go I got on I5 south to Portland. OR. This was by far the hardest and worst part of the ride. I felt like I spent the entire 100 miles staring at the back of semi-trucks. If I had the chance and knew what I was getting into I'd do it again tomorrow I'd just avoid I5 - which would have added 20 miles but would have been worth it. Sean On Jul 28, 4:00 pm, Stumpi <[email protected]> wrote: > I've had an interesting day. > > I took my weekly 4 hour trip today and started off on the wrong foot. > I was stopping on the side of the road to adjust my music and as I was > slowing down I apparently was a little too aggressive with the front > brake because before I know it I'm standing over a running bike lying > on it's side. Nothing but my shoes hit the ground and the only damage > was a bent shift and clutch lever. I rode it home spent 20 minutes > hammering the shift lever back into shape, threw a spare clutch lever > on it, and then rode out to try again. > > It was a hot sunny day and the short jaunt I had made before my little > spill had left me drenched in sweat, I decided to leave my riding > jacket and gloves at home this time. The next few hours were filled > with beautiful scenery, nice roads, getting lost, a lack of traffic, > the lovely scream of my little Nighthawk, and everything a good ride > should have. However 30 minutes from home I began to see a line of > dark clouds on the horizon. This puzzled me because the radar had > only shown popcorn when I left. I rode on hoping it would pass by the > time I reached it. About the time I got under the edge I found a good > place to stop and I stowed my phone and wallet under the seat, there > was no way I was avoiding this one. I also phoned my father to let > them know I was probably going to be late for dinner. He suggested I > find a bridge and wait for it to pass. I've never been a particularly > patient person and I decided to blow through it. > > About 5 minutes after I hung up it found me. My boots had an inch of > water in them inside of 30 seconds. I've ridden in rain before but > this was one hell of a storm! The rain stung like hornets but after a > minute or two the nerve endings realized they're weren't going to win > and shut up. Lightning and thunder what a sight! A bolt comes down > 500 yards off the road ahead of me and the thunder rattles the keys on > the handlebars "Haha this is one hell of a show!" I yelled through my > helmet. I was still doing about 50mph when the wind started really > blowing. It was blowing across the road driving the rain and me > sideways. I slowed down to 30 but I was rapidly loosing visibility, I > had to stop. As I slowed down I realized the rain hadn't stopped > hurting even though I wasn't moving. It occurred to me a second later > I was getting hit with hail the size of .22s and I looked left across > the field I had stopped next to. It looked like a snow storm, the > wind was playing with the curtains of hail and rain blowing them up > like whitecaps on an angry ocean. I just stood in awe of nature's > fury for a minute or two just sitting there idling and ignoring the > little needles bead blasting the outer layer of skin off my arms and > neck til it slowed enough that I could get past the field. > > I crawled on for 2 minutes at 20-30mph til the hail finally stopped > and the wind slowed enough that I could see. As soon as I got back up > to speed a bolt hits a tree 50 yards ahead and to the left of me as if > nature was taking a parting shot after failing to get me with the > hail. It rang my ears good and I practically jumped off the seat from > the shock wave but maybe next time nature. It took 10 minutes for the > after image of that bolt to clear from my retinas. The rain slowly > tapered off as I pulled up to a intersection that had a restaurant > with a handful of bikes parked out in front of it. As I pull away I > hear cheers and yells from the covered veranda, apparently they at > least found me amusing. "Well damn if this isn't living I'm not sure > what is!" I told myself. And I then spent 20 more rather chilly > minutes riding the rest of the way home in and out of little > squalls. :) > > I have to lend credit to both my little bike and that helmet. The > Hawk didn't squawk one bit even when it was coming down hard enough > you could've considered it a water cooled bike. It was idling a > little funny at the stops til it dried out but ran beautifully on the > road. While everything else on me was soaked my head was completely > dry, no seepage through the visor, no leaking around the neck, > nothing. I still couldn't see very well but I was using bug guts as > RainX so I wasn't expecting miracles. The system itself was one of > the most powerful lake effect thunderstorms I've seen in quite a while > and I got front row tickets for it. :) > > So who else has some good storm stories? > > Matt -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
