Rain avoidance was to become as much of a planning tool as anything else for the next week or so… Dang, we all have ridden in it, and we all will again… Most of us, however, won’t do it intentionally, but many of us have even done that, too. Like when we have reservations or some other deadline driving us forward.
I didn’t really have any of that going on this time, and it would have been smarter for me to have just delayed my trip a week or so and waited for the weather pattern to shift… I ain’t really that smart… Plus I was in dire need of some wind therapy!
I kept a sharp weather eye out as ALI and I made the turn onto AL 9. We were both eagerly anticipating the very pleasant ride that awaited us… rain notwithstanding… We didn’t actually get into any to speak of, but it was certainly around, and a few sprinkles did find us along with several stretches of wet pavement. Nothing to warrant suiting up, however.
Flexibility is the hallmark of my planning these days, to the extent I even do any. I seem powerless to completely avoid ‘planning’, though, as it just seems so natural to anticipate routes, weather, meals, motels, yadda, yadda… Naturally, all of this becomes infinitely more complex if another or others are involved, but that would not be the case on this adventure… for the most part… but it would for the first part… sort of…
I am experimenting with a new strategy now… I go ahead and let plans develop, then I change them… often… I suppose it’s working marginally well. Oh darn, though, I do feel like I’m betraying some sort of sacred gypsy biker code or something, but at least it does help me deal with my natural tendencies and placate them somewhat.
I’d already changed my ‘plan’ before I’d even mounted ALI. Once aboard, I changed the ‘plan’ again within the first five miles. Within the next one hundred miles, I changed them yet again. This technique ain’t exactly perfect, but it does seem to compensate sufficiently for me to overcome inertia and become mobile.
One more significant change had to be made late in the afternoon, when it became obvious rain was closing in on us, and the most recent previous change if pursued would result in some undesirable level of sogginess… We stopped for the night just down the road, and we managed to beat the rain by several minutes! What a plan, huh!!!
I had allotted two days for the remainder of this leg to allow for weather variables, just to be on the safe side… See what planning using the weather forecast will do to ya? I actually made the ride in one long day, but I didn’t want to upset the schedule already in place… I just took the next day off and did some not really needed laundry, but what the hey, it made me feel productive.
Rain on radar and in the forecast had indicated I needed to make hay will the sun shone brightly, so that’s just what I had done… I reasoned it would be better to take lazy and award myself an unexpected day off than to stick to the ‘plan’ and… you know… I felt no guilt whatsoever…
In my postings just prior to departure, I’d mentioned I was thinking of swinging by Scooter Dogs… Tracy had indicated she would not be open on the Sunday I was ‘planning’ on riding through there, but she and Don had provided a welcome for me to drop by the farm… I took them up on it. A relatively short but most pleasant day’s ride to their place… but not completely without incident…
Don had given me precise directions to their farm, and they proved to be quite accurate… I realized that once I’d back-tracked and performed my second U-turn… As a precaution, Don had ridden his four-wheeler down to the road by then, so the final quarter mile I had an escort and leader… Probably a good thing even though it was a strait shot with no turn-offs…
A very nice place! And, two very hospitable hosts. These are two very fascinating characters, and the stories of their lives are a genuine treat to have revealed… Each time I’m around them, I learn a little more about their most circuitous routes along the journey of life; and, there is always a bonus of some special insight into life itself, and the mysteries with which we all grapple. I always leave them with the feeling I can’t wait for the next time I see them… and for the next installment of their fanciful experiences and deep wisdom…
Don rode into town with me the next morning to see me off. And, although he is too polite to admit it, I’m sure he wanted to make sure I could get on my way in the right direction… We stopped for a farewell handshake and a few parting words, then a final wave in our mirrors as we pulled out in opposite directions… Thanks, my friends, I’m really glad I made this stop after all!
Weather folks forecast about as accurately as I navigate… I mean, come on! A some % chance of rain? An entire state colored in green on the weather map? If it does rain, they say, “We told you it would.” If it doesn’t rain, they say, “We only predicted a chance of rain, we didn’t say for sure it would…”
A friend of mine in Florida once told me, “If I paid attention to that stuff, I’d never leave the house!” Sometimes you just have to roll the dice and take your chances… But then, motorcycling, even life itself, is like that too, isn’t it…?
I’ve found my best results come from looking at the radar myself, either on TV or on my phone, then making my own guesstimate. I’ve done a lot of that on this trip so far, and it’s working reasonably well… That, plus the fact destiny seems to still be on my side!
Still, you can’t afford to totally ignore the weather forecasters… sometimes they actually do get it right on the money! Accordingly, I’ve been watching them as I always do… but I’ve also made my own calls as I always do, based upon my own judgements and assessments… Apparently I’m a bit better at this than I am at navigating… An example…
I was in a motel just west of St. Cloud, Minnesota, the other day, and rain had been in the forecast for that location that evening… and for the following two days. Well, some percentage or other had been called for… but it didn’t actually rain that afternoon… That’s the reason I’d made it that far in the first place… I was thinking we’d need to hole-up sooner based upon the forecast, but the opportunity was there to ride some more, so we did…
I’d already ruled out a ride through the north woods of Minnesota northeast of Duluth along the shore of Lake Superior then westward through some scenic back country. TP and Nancy had told JP and me about that special excursion, so we’d planned to ride it a couple months ago on our way to Montana… The forecast had dissuaded us then, and it had done so to me again! I do want to ride that route one of these days, though…
The next morning rain was forecast for that morning, evening, and all the following day, and for the area west of us where we were going! Radar showed the significant wet mass to be just southwest of us and barreling down on I-94 all the way to Fargo! However, the rain was not one monolithic blob, and there ‘appeared’ to be a window where we were that would be opening up along our route… as we rode… then closing behind us. A daring gamble, I thought to myself, but if we’re going to go for it, it has to be right now… We went… This was about 6am.
We rode about fifty miles with wet roads the entire way plus a couple of almost unnoticeable sprinkles. Then, rain could clearly be seen well up ahead along our route… I pulled in for a break. A cup of coffee and a smoke, and a quick check of the radar on my phone… Rain had enveloped the town where we’d stayed the night before and it was dumping on Fargo… but up ahead an interlude was coming up soon… We darted forth and resumed the trek…
Another fifty miles or so and rain again appeared just up ahead and off in the distance to our southwest. ALI was on reserve by then because I hadn’t topped off the evening before, so we pulled off again… I topped her off, then pulled up to the Big Chief Restaurant at this truck stop, and I had myself a most satisfying breakfast!
WOW! I ate more than I should have, but… it was so doggone good, and I was feeling like rewarding myself… A mound of delicious hash brown taters (no grits available), a couple of fried eggs cooked just right, and several slices of fabulous, thick, apple-wood bacon… only half of a slice of uneaten sour dough toast remained when I paid the check… the coffee was good, too…
A check of the radar once again revealed our ‘window’ had reopened but haste would be necessary… We made haste in a hurry! More wet pavement, several dicey looking clouds, and some rain just off to our northeast and southwest all confirmed that our guesstimate plan was working to perfection… so far.
One more stop to let our ‘weather window’ adjust and to have a cup of hot chocolate this time, then we were back at it… Fifty miles or so west of Fargo, my thoughts abruptly shifted from dodging rain showers to the need for some 50 SPF for my face! We’d made it!!! We’d gambled and run the gauntlet, and we didn’t have a single boo-boo or misfire the entire way. Dang, I’d for sure rather be lucky than good!
About this time, I realized that I had re-found my groove… and that my rut days were again behind me. Yep, a big ol’ goober grin was plastered all over my face, and I was yodeling at the top of my lungs! I’ve been known to sing sometimes, but as near as I can recollect this is my first time yodeling… I’m not sure what that might mean, but… there it is. Any of y’all ever yodel?
No matter what may happen down the road, I’m a mighty happy rider just now! And, I’m sure happy to see destiny is still looking out for me…