We've all seen them on the roads, we've passed them more than once and more than likely, we've felt sorry for that poor sucker caught in a rainstorm while out riding their motorcycle. Last night if you were driving on I-96 or US-23 between Novi and Grand Blanc, that biker you passed feeling sorry for was me. It was a beautiful, sunny, blue-sky day when I headed out to work in the morning and the storms weren't suppose to roll into the area until well after I would be home for the day, so on the bike I went. Since this is Michigan, the storm picked up speed over the lake in the afternoon and rolled into the area beginning just in time for my commute home, according to Jen it began raining in Flint at about 4:45pm. I knew before I ever left work that I would be getting wet even if only from the spray off the front tire from wet pavement. I had to get home, there was not much point in waiting out the storm as it was a large cell that was suppose to take most of the night to pass through, so I bravely climbed on the bike and headed home at exactly 5 o'clock.
It was not yet raining in Novi when I left but the sky looked ominous off to the west and I knew I was riding right into it. I planned to stop up under an overpass about a quarter mile north of the I-96/US-23 interchange to get out the rain gear before continuing home. As it turned out that was a good plan but I was about two minutes too late. I was within 500 feet of the overpass and slowing down to pull off when the skies opened up and the large drops began to pound the pavement in front of me. I managed to stop just a little past the overpass and quickly backed the bike up under cover. I was a little wet but not near as bad as it could have been had I tried to make it the remaining 4 miles to the next exit where I could have pulled into a truck stop for a bit.
I climbed off the bike and began to dig out and assemble the rain gear. Another biker stopped briefly just to check that he was securely zipped up and covered head to toe in his gear, then wished me a fond "stay dry" with a chuckle as he rode off again. By the time I had all my gear on the downpour had subsided into a steady rain and the road was wet enough that the danger of oil slicks was low, so I pressed on toward home. I was prepared to be cold, wet, and miserable on my remaining ride home ... I wasn't. I was a bit hesitant to ride in the rain in the past not knowing how the bike would handle the slick surface and the reduced visibility involved but I quickly discovered that it wasn't all that bad. Sure my hands were wet, I don't own waterproof gloves (yet), my boots were wet on the outside and slowly soaking through to my socks by the time I got home, and the portions of me that got wet before I stopped remained wet and a little cold on the ride. But that was the extent of it.
When I arrived home I was greeted in the garage by Jen with a towel, she expected to see a drown rat standing there peeling off wet gear. What she saw instead was me, mostly dry under the layers of gear I was stripping off. My t-shirt had a few spots near the bottom that apparently were outside the rain jacket on the ride, my boots were wet, and the cuffs of my jeans were wet, but that was it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that with the proper gear (some I need to purchase like waterproof gloves and boots) riding a motorcycle in the rain isn't all that different than riding it on a warm sunny day.
So, as you drive along the roads with your wipers cleaning your windshield enough to see a "poor sucker" on a motor cycle, don't feel sorry for them; they are probably enjoying their commute far more than you, even in the pouring down rain.
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