Riding in the Rain

One of the scariest moments you have when you first start off riding motorcycles is getting caught in the rain. The first day I went riding on my own I got caught by a small rain shower. I was able to pull into a bank’s drive- thru and wait it out (luckily they were closed). The second time was on my first long ride to Key West. Actually we got caught in the rain on that one on our way from Key West to the campground I was staying at. Again I was lucky because we only had to travel a short distance and the rain was very scattered.

My worst “wet riding” experience came a few weeks ago when my wife and I decided to ride up to Hollywood Beach. I knew we were going to get wet sometime during the day because the forecast had called for scattered thunder storms. But since we had spent all morning and early afternoon riding without feeling as much as a drop of rain, I decided to keep rolling north up to Las Olas Blvd in Ft. Lauderdale. On our way back home we got hit hard by some serious rain!

We were riding south on US1 and while stopped at a red light I looked back over my shoulder and saw the most menacing black cloud coming straight for us. I don’t think we went more than 4 blocks before the wind seriously started to push the bike to one side. Even on a straight-away, I had to constantly pull my handle bar to the opposite direction to avoid going off the road.

Once we got to Commercial Blvd we began to head west trying to reach Interstate 95. As soon as we did I saw an even more menacing sky blowing down our way, except this storm was heavy with rain. At this time we were dead in the middle of two storms that had joined together. One coming from the north the other from the west.

The rain came down like if someone was throwing buckets of water at us. I couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of me and my wife was holding on to my ribs for dear life. Not to mention how hard rain hits you at even slow speeds. You would think that a major road like Commercial Blvd which connects major parts of east and west Ft. Lauderdale would have sufficient places a biker could crawl into, but that was not the case for us. We rode in that mess a good 5 to 7 blocks before I came across another bank drive-thru..

We were soaked to the bones as we waited for the little monsoon to roll by. Since I don’t yet have any saddlebags (would like to get them installed this month) we didn’t have any rain coats, so needless to say those wet clothes got cold really quick. I knew that this extensive wetness was not going to go well with my immune system and I’d be paying for it later in the week with a nasty cold (and I did).

After waiting for about a half hour the rain stopped and we climbed back on our bike and continue to head home. As mentioned in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, riding right after it rains is very dangerous because oil sweeps up on puddles where you can’t see it. So instead of getting on I-95, we carefully continued west until we reached University Drive which connects Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The ride had dried us up, but riding 30+ miles with wet clothes is just asking for trouble.

The problem here in South Florida (especially in the summer) is that you can start out your day with the sun shining and not even a cloud in the sky. A few hours later, swoosh! You’ll think you’re in Noah’s flood. A lot of bikers here either don’t venture out when the meteorologist predicts bad weather, or they carry rain gear that will get them to the next over-pass (or bank drive-thru). Last week was a good example of a lessen learned.

We were supposed to head out with a few other bikers to Naples for the day. We had just gone through Tropical storm Fay and most of the week only saw scattered showers. On Saturday morning I looked at the weather report and saw that there was a 70% chance of rain coming in from the West coast. Naples lies west of Miami, meaning we would be riding right into all that rain. So my wife and I decided to bail out of that plan and made new ones.

We spent the rest of the day riding our usual A1A route which consists of Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, Hollywood Beach, Las Olas and Lauderdale by the Sea. The further north we went the better the weather. Before heading back home we called our family to ask how the weather was by their neighborhood. When all was reported cleared, we started to head back keeping an eye out for rouge clouds.

So take it from a newbie who learned the following lesson early on.

1) Before heading out for long rides, check the weather.

2) If you get caught out in the rain while riding, try to find shelter quickly.

3) Wait at least 30 minutes ( or more) after it stops raining before taking off again.

4) Take your rain gear with you all the time. (especially if you ride in South FLA).