210335 Resource 106832 108325 108325 1217602624463 1217602624463 Controlled Riding in the Rain and Dark

The worst riding conditions make the best riders

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Recently got caught in the rain at the end of a long day.&nbsp; I rode from California to Spearfish, South Dakota, and arrived as the shadows were growing long,<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I could see thunderstorms ahead, and sweated out my gas situation until I finally had a chance to fill up.&nbsp; At the gas station, I heard that not only was there heavy rain, but hail as well.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Newly confident with a full tank, I headed into the storms.&nbsp; First the bugs were washed from the bike, then I got soaked, then that clammy feeling of wet, cold leather.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Soon I was concentrating on making time on the windy roads of Spearfish Canyon, with some mud thrown in where the road was being worked on.&nbsp; I don't like riding when it is dark, and the rain made it worse.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; However, I have to admit that I felt really good about the ride almost the second I finished that part of the trip.&nbsp; While I would never choose to ride in these conditions, it was the kind of thing that can't help but make you a better rider.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; From now on, when you find yourself weather challenged, go for it with gusto.&nbsp; Wet conditions force to to be smooth.<br /> 10 application/xml false motorcycle motorcycle riding Spearfish Canyon Spearfish South Dakota thunder storm Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.16) Gecko/20080702 Firefox/2.0.0.16 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 mpadway 63.205.182.177 false true false false true 201650 false false true false false false true 106832 blog blogsite/MichaelPadway/web