Worst weather you have ridden in

[the Ferret]

Thought about this subject for a thread on this morning's ride as I was being pelted with a light rain. If you ride a motorcycle much you are going to have to ride in some pretty crummy conditions. It could be rain, or heat or cold or snow. Touring for as many years as I have I could relate stories about every climatic condition, but I think the worst has been rain.

2 times I have ridden in rain so hard and so long it flat wore me out.

First time my wife and I were on a tour to New England. Coming home as we entered Massachusetts it started raining. We quickly pulled over on a bridge overpass and donned rain gear. Then it really started raining hard and continued to do so and was still raining hard when we reached our hotel room in Catskill, New York. Even though we were wearing rain gear we were soaked to the bone and our hotel room looked like a Chinese laundry with clothes laid out on every surface drying. We had never been that wet before.

The next time was on a fall men's trip to the U.P of Michigan. We had stayed in a hotel in St Ignace. When we woke up it was raining really hard. No choice we had to ride and it would be 5 or 6 that night before we would get a room in Dundee, Mich on the Ohio border that evening. Our itinerary took us over the Tunnel of Trees road, a world famous motorcycling road, but the weather was so bad, with limbs and leaves littering the road and deep puddles we rode this great rode at 20 mph. Again it rained so hard it was hard to see the bike ahead of you. We got in the middle lane and just stayed there all the way down I-75. You can hunker down on a bike but you can't hide anywhere. Rain even drips inside the shield on your full face helmet, and you will find out if the head air vents work as water works it's way in if you forget to close them first. Again everything was soaked thru. We used the hand dryers in rest areas and hair dryers at the hotel to try and dry our " waterproof" gloves and boots for the next days ride to home, which thankfully was dry.

I know it's only water, but it can make you pretty miserable when there is lots of it coming down and you are on a motorcycle.

So what is the worst weather you have ridden in?

 

[flynrider]

Funny you should mention this. Just last week I was riding over Wolf Creek Pass in CO. The skies were getting dark, so I pulled over at the summit and donned my rain gear. Not a mile later I started getting pelted with marble sized hail. Since the road wound down the mountain in numerous switchbacks, I basically stayed right under the hail storm for about nine miles. I was only moving about 40 mph, but without a windshield, it was like getting perpetually shot with paintballs for 10 min. The racket in my helmet only made the experience more miserable.

Prior to that my worst weather ride was in a tropical downpour enroute to Guaymas, Mexico. I was following my family who were up ahead in a Suburban. The rain was hitting the road so hard you couldn't actually see the road anymore. I could just see the top of the Suburban, so I just kept following it. It seemed like there was more water than air in the atmosphere around me. My sister looking out the back window of the Suburban said all she could see was the top of my helmet. It lasted about a half hour. and even though I was wearing excellent rain gear, I was totally soaked as were all my clothes in supposedly waterproof bags. It was like I'd ridden into a pool.

 

[Novice_imp]

I would say the worst weather was snow. I had a KLR and foolishly thought it could be ridden on the street in the snow. It was a short ride.

 

[Randy B]

I had to get money and the only way I could do that was to ride to the truckstop to cash a company check (I was driving a truck over the road in 1996). I didn't have the truck and my car didn't have a rear end in it at the time so the bike was my only option.
BTW this was February in Chicago. It was all of 20° out and I was wearing just about every piece of clothing I could get onto my body, and it still wasn't enough. I got on the NW tollway (I-90) and rode the 35 miles I needed to at speed. I can only imagine what the people around me were thinking.
I was a human popsicle when I got home. I think I sat at the truckstop for 45 minutes before I got the nerve up to get back out there. That was COLD!

 

[Cormanus]

Blimey, Ferret, that's a hard call. I can think of a number and they all involve rain or cold or both.

The most recent was with Pterodactyl and Jalalski on the way to Philip Island last year. I wrote about it here, but I didn't detail how relentless the rain was and how completely and utterly soaked I was by the end of the afternoon. I remember we stopped for a pie and a cup of tea at Braidwood and I realised my boots were full or water. I also knew we had a way to go and the only thing to be done was to go out there again in the pouring rain and get on with it.

Before that I remember riding home 50 kms or so through a Queensland summer downpour. Flynrider's excellent description of his ride in the rain sums up very well what it was like.

Funny you should mention this. Just last week I was riding over Wolf Creek Pass in CO. The skies were getting dark, so I pulled over at the summit and donned my rain gear. Not a mile later I started getting pelted with marble sized hail. Since the road wound down the mountain in numerous switchbacks, I basically stayed right under the hail storm for about nine miles. I was only moving about 40 mph, but without a windshield, it was like getting perpetually shot with paintballs for 10 min. The racket in my helmet only made the experience more miserable.

Prior to that my worst weather ride was in a tropical downpour enroute to Guaymas, Mexico. I was following my family who were up ahead in a Suburban. The rain was hitting the road so hard you couldn't actually see the road anymore. I could just see the top of the Suburban, so I just kept following it. It seemed like there was more water than air in the atmosphere around me. My sister looking out the back window of the Suburban said all she could see was the top of my helmet. It lasted about a half hour. and even though I was wearing excellent rain gear, I was totally soaked as were all my clothes in supposedly waterproof bags. It was like I'd ridden into a pool.

Mercifully, on neither of those occasions was it really cold.

 

[ride4now_imp]

I rode my Harley from Atlanta to Milwaukee a few summers ago... I left in the rain, and rode all day to just north of St Louis in the rain. And going over the mountain south of Nashville was awful... highway speeds, a bunch of high speed sweepers, lots of heavy rain, all while surrounded by semi's. Just awful. Another time I was in Florida on a trip back from Atlanta, I was in rain so hard that the bike started running rough. At one point just off the interstate, at a light, I thought it would stall because of the rain. I hate riding in the rain. and will not venture out if I KNOW rain is coming. Besides, unless I'm on the KLR, I'd have to clean the bike again. That's not fun either.

 

[emptysea]

Just encountered my worst riding weather to date about two weeks ago. Details in a forthcoming Seat Time report, but it was the combination of rain, riding in a group, and the type and lack of familiarity with the road that contributed to it getting the "worst" label.

 

[redbirds_imp]

In 1974 I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway in a torrential rain from Ashe County, NC to Cherokee. It was November and cold as well. As the BRP climbed near Mt. Mitchell, the road started icing and following the tire tracks of a car at my front saved my bacon. The icing stopped as I came down to a lower part of the BRP but the rain kept on unabated to Cherokee and a nice warm hotel room. My rain gear helped but I still got soaked. The cold was the worst and I was near hypothermia by afternoon.

In 2007, Pam and I were riding back from the South Carolina mountains when we got caught up in a low pressure system that came in unexpectedly. We rode for 326 miles (she counted them) in a tropical system downpour to home where we had to negotiate 1 mile of very muddy road to the house. She did fine on her V-strom but my ST1300 was a handful. ST1300's are not nice in mud I learned.

 

[DJS_imp]

i've ridden in rain many many times.
a few were the hard to see in front of you kind.
i've also ridden in snow a few times, (snow falling but nothing on the ground)
i have ridden during heat waves where i would keep a damp shirt in the freezer and put it on for my commute to work under my mesh jacket.

never rode in hail.

 

[drodg33]

Back in about 2007 I was riding my R1200RT back from a conference in Wisconsin to my home in Indiana . I got caught in a horrible thunder storm that I finally stopped under a Viaduct on the highway to rest. I tried following the path of semis in front of me and finally gave up. I think over the course of multiple hours I stopped about three times. On a motorcycle like the RT I was able to stay dry underneath my Aerostitch jacket and pants. My employees make fun of my Aerostitch pants and jacket but you know they really are good stuff! Anyhow the storm scared the daylights out of me but I did make home in one piece.

 

[metallyguitarded_imp]

There was a time when I actually enjoyed riding in the rain. So long as I knew it was coming and wore the appropriate gear, I had fun. That's probably because, for the most part, we don't get too much of it here in San Diego. It also made me feel like a "real" motorcyclist. Silly, I know. The worst of it was cleaning the bike afterwards. What a pain. Nowadays, I avoid it if at all possible. That's usually always.

My worst weather experience was getting caught in an unanticipated downpour with only about 10 miles left to get home. The rain was so hard, so persistent, I couldn't see a thing with my face shield down. I tried turning my head slightly to the left and right and down to clear the droplets (something that has normally worked for me) but this time, it didn't matter. I was staring, wide-eyed through the distorted face shield, barely making out tail lights and painted lines. The rain had soaked my jeans and worked its ways down my back and into my gauntlet gloves. My hands were soaked and frozen within minutes. I had to open my face shield and take the stinging rain on my face just to be able to see. It was then that I realized riding in the rain isn't always a pleasant experience. Those last few miles were sketchy to say the least. I came through it all in one piece and am happy for the experience.

 

[furious_blue_imp]

I've been through horrible torrents of rain, but the worst ride due to the elements that I ever had was crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats (on I-80) in a horrific sidewind. Leaned over at a ridiculous angle just to go sort of in one direction. The wind was strong and varying so it was constant adjustment, every second, bike swerving from side to side. My biggest fear was to be thrown into the other lane and into another vehicle.

I finally made it to the Nevada border and was glad to be checking in to a Motel 6 instead of a morgue. That motel had a huge tall sign towering over the establishment, probably to let people know from 10 miles away that they were there, must've been 4 or 5 stories tall. Well, in the middle of the night the sign had had enough of the wind and the base failed from metal fatigue, the sign came crashing down into the parking lot. How it avoided the building, the street, parked cars AND my FJ1100, was miraculous.. Didn't have a camera (and esp, no digital cameras back then), so no pics, but it DID happen !

 

[drodg33]

I've been through horrible torrents of rain, but the worst ride due to the elements that I ever had was crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats (on I-80) in a horrific sidewind. Leaned over at a ridiculous angle just to go sort of in one direction. The wind was strong and varying so it was constant adjustment, every second, bike swerving from side to side. My biggest fear was to be thrown into the other lane and into another vehicle.

I finally made it to the Nevada border and was glad to be checking in to a Motel 6 instead of a morgue. That motel had a huge tall sign towering over the establishment, probably to let people know from 10 miles away that they were there, must've been 4 or 5 stories tall. Well, in the middle of the night the sign had had enough of the wind and the base failed from metal fatigue, the sign came crashing down into the parking lot. How it avoided the building, the street, parked cars AND my FJ1100, was miraculous.. Didn't have a camera (and esp, no digital cameras back then), so no pics, but it DID happen !

Well that story tops it for me so far.

 

[Redbird_imp]

Rain for me as well. I was going back home (Denver area) from a great weekend in Santa Fe NM and woke up to heavy rain. And the temp had dropped to the low 40s. Since I needed to be at work the next day, I put on about everything I had plus my rain gear and set out. After about an hour I was pulling off at about every other exit on I-25 and going into the coffee shop to just warm up and get out of the rain for a bit. It was a very long ride back, but I'll bet it seemed longer for the Harley riders heading the same way with their leather vests and chaps and soaked to the bone. They were hitting the coffee shops just like I was. A week later I was the proud owner of a Widder Lectric Vest!

 

[the Ferret]

I have always felt bad for going into restaurants after pulling in, in the pouring rain, with my rain gear on. Wherever I sit and on the floor under me is a big puddle someone has to clean up.

On last years trip to Cali we ran into bumper to bumper traffic in 105 degree weather from San Fran to Sacremento. Being afraid to split traffic on my touring bike we just sat there and baked. Every once in a while I would pull out my water bottle. take a swig, and pour a swig down the front and back of my jacket. When rolling it would cool me off. When sitting there it was like a clam bake lol

 

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

The worst weather I've ridden in was coming home from California to Scottsdale, AZ in July. 125 degrees in the shade and about 10% humidity, it had to be 140+ in direct sun light on that black asphalt. It sucked the moisture right out of my body and was indescribably miserable. When I finally made it home I was screwed up for a full day.

Chip

 

[Guth_imp]

I simply do not have the wealth of distance riding experiences that many here do. Even my commute is short. However, this past December we had a wind storm creep up that was a real doozie and since I had ridden to work that morning, riding home that night was my fate. This is the only time I have truly been rather fearful to ride, as opposed to just being miserable, due to weather conditions.

Following is what I wrote in the "Today's Weather" thread back in December.

Guth Wrote:That wind made for one nerve wracking commute home. This was compounded by the fact that the office building that I work in is located in a wind corridor, which tends to amplify the gusts considerably. This caused them to close off multiple streets in the immediate vicinity which really interfered with my planned escape route. When I departed, my initial fear was being blown sideways into oncoming traffic. That fear was soon replaced by the need to dodge moving objects blowing around in the wind. Garbage cans being tops amongst the key offenders. I was plenty glad to make it home safe 'n sound.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

I rode a bit in the rains back in the 1980s, when I was a n00b on an SR500 and wearing leather...you do NOT want to wear real leather when it's raining and you're on a naked bike. Cold and wet and gets the mind running to thoughts of grisly suicide.

But that's far back in the brain-case files. More recently? THE worst weather I rode through was a month ago, on the Oregon coast. Cold, in the 50s; raining hard and fog. AND...TRAFFIC. All the out-of-state sightseers (like me!) were out there to watch whales and see the coast, and by gum and by God, they were GONNA WATCH WHALES.

And they didn't much like me slowing down, on that wet pavement, for hairpin turns. Never mind that I couldn't even see out my helmet face-mask half the time...it was steaming over inside and smeared with crud on the outside...man, oh man. TWO HUNDRED SLOW MILES OF HE**!

 

[flynrider]

I forgot about the heat (probably because I live in the desert). Last July I stupidly decided to ride my bike from Phoenix to San Diego for a friends wedding. I planned to go early to avoid the 115 degree afternoon temperatures across the desert, but circumstances intervened and I ended up leaving at 11AM. I stopped often to completely soak all of my clothes in water, but that would only last about 30 miles. When I got to the sand dunes, the wind was blowing and I got painfully sandblasted. After 350 miles of that I was thoroughly cooked, dehydrated and sanded smooth.

Two days later i had to make the return trip. Circumstances again caused me to depart at noon and repeat that miserable ride all over again. I learned my lesson. As much as I love to ride, I'll never be making that trip again.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

I simply do not have the wealth of distance riding experiences that many here do. Even my commute is short. However, this past December we had a wind storm creep up that was a real doozie and since I had ridden to work that morning, riding home that night was my fate. This is the only time I have truly been rather fearful to ride, as opposed to just being miserable, due to weather conditions.

Following is what I wrote in the "Today's Weather" thread back in December.

Guth Wrote:That wind made for one nerve wracking commute home. This was compounded by the fact that the office building that I work in is located in a wind corridor, which tends to amplify the gusts considerably. This caused them to close off multiple streets in the immediate vicinity which really interfered with my planned escape route. When I departed, my initial fear was being blown sideways into oncoming traffic. That fear was soon replaced by the need to dodge moving objects blowing around in the wind. Garbage cans being tops amongst the key offenders. I was plenty glad to make it home safe 'n sound.

This raises an interesting point. Now that deer are more populous and hunters fewer; and now that I've hit two deer with my cars and one on a bike (didn't go down)...I'm REAL gun-shy about the whole thing.

On a trip, when I can, I pack it in for the night around seven at the latest. I try for earlier...about six is when the deer start wandering down to the watering hole. Sunrise and sunset are the most likely times to hit wildlife.

That's well and good; but sometimes real-life intervenes. This same trip, coming home over Lolo Pass...I was running late. Meaning, I was forty miles from home when the sun was setting...too close to home to waste money on a motel; and yet I was in prime deer and elk and even moose country, and at the time they were gonna be running the roads.

I didn't have any true close calls, but I did find a few on the side of the road. It was the only time I ever wished I had open pipes.

I took to tooting the horn, short bursts every five seconds or so. Stupid? Probably. I didn't hit a deer. Maybe the horn had nothing to do with it; but my first order of business was to NOT WRECK. I'll think about courtesy and noise pollution later.

I did make it; but the danger was palpable. I have known a guy who hit a deer and was killed. I hit one, and I thought I would eat pavement. It totaled a $3000 bike. It was the pain of abscessed adrenaline...tangible fear.