A few days ago I posted a story about us needing Road Guards, how we have too few showing up for the rides. Well last night was no exception, not too few...None. Not one Road Guard showed up for the ride. As a matter of fact the entire turn-out was rather thin.
With the skies threatening dire weather,Gerry and I arrived at Davids for supper at about 5:15pm, we ate and waited for riders. Craig arrived and ordered his supper but wouldn't be riding. A.O.B. was set for 6:30 but at 5:50 the the Black clouds which had been off to the west rolled in and dropped altitude, If you ever saw an alien movie where really threatening clouds start heading for the ground you could appreciate these. The wind picked up bending trees over and throwing debris around. When the umbrellas started leaving the tables we figured we would take off instead of waiting out the storm inside. We got on the bikes and headed east on 85 hoping to stay ahead of the rain that was sure to be coming. About 30 feet down the road I was hit by a wind gust, it felt like I was slammed in the side by a medicine ball and it sent me and the bike about three feet to the side., if I had been riding closer to the center of the road I would no longer have been on the pavement. Trying to get ahead of the storm we hit the light at chesterfield rd and the one at 161. We took off down 85, the trees where whipping around, they would be bent over in one direction only to instantly snap the opposite way. The road was debris covered with the air full of swirling crap, leaves, sand, dirt, twigs, and small branches. Amazingly the junk was swirling around but it was also getting sucked past us towards the approaching storm. As we were passing the reservoir, the air was filled with the sound of cracking trees and branches, this brought my attention not only to the road ahead but also to the tree line ahead. One second the trees on the right would be waving over the road, the next second the trees on the left would be over head. The sun was gone, blocked out by the black clouds, the debris was swirling and then ahead, above, I saw a branch, it was dropping straight down, as if someone had been holding up above the road and just let go of it. I locked the brakes, checking the mirror at the same time to see where Gerry was, the back end drifted a bit right, release brake, re-apply, look for the branch, hard to see through the dark and the crap, then it came into view in the road, a quick look determined I could not see either end of it. It was about 6 or 8 inches in diameter, and across the entire lane. I had two choices, either stop, pull over and see if we could move it while the trees above continued to drop debris from the sky. or just drive over it, I chose the later and cranked the throttle. The bike slammed over the branch and we continued on. We were still ahead of the rain, then we stopped for lights at 395, cross roads, Target, Home Depot, and I-95. a couple drops on the windshield and we jumped on 95 north, The wind gusts continued but if at 65 we were buffeted back and forth we found at 70 it was fairly smooth, we jumped off the highway in Mystic, and split up as we headed home. I put the bike in it's shed just as the rain started to fall. I got the car, went to Gerry's to pick him up. I found him trying to smoke a cigarette while cringing under a small roof ledge at his house as the rain poured down. The run to the car, 20 feet, was enough to soak him. We headed back across the river, now in torrential down-pour, Wires down on 32 near the college and south 32 was shut...what do we care we were heading for coffee at DD, Montville.
The ride was actually rather fun, we stayed ahead of the rain so we didn't drown, the wind gave you something to do as you rode, and the debris in the road gave you enough of a challenge avoiding the larger objects to keep it interesting, The only down side was the amount of crap in the air, I got hit in the face, directly below my right eye, with a twig, it stung like hell. I remember wondering, "where the hell did that come from, how did it get around the windshield?" I didn't complain though... I just looked in my mirror and smiled, knowing Gerry was getting a pasting,...ahhh...there's nothing like riding a low rider...that no windshield, light cruiser, in a swirling debris field. he's probably still picking bark out of between his teeth this morning.
klay
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