Rainy Day Memories...

I looked out the window this morning to find another rainy day upon me. Ugh. I really wanted to ride, today, too.

I spent a little time reminiscing of younger days in the mid-west. A friend and I went to see an Iron Maiden concert. It was August, hot as hell, and the concert was about a 45 minute ride away. We decided to Ride our bikes (I had a ’99 Sportster at the time, He had a ’71 Shovelhead Custom). We met up with a couple of his friends & headed out. The ride there was a blast, as it was late afternoon on a hot sunny day. Upon arriving at the venue (Sandstone Amphitheater) we were directed to the motorcycle parking area, right up front by the gate.

The Bands were wonderful, I had seen Iron Maiden before & loved seeing them both times. The other bands, I think were Fight (With Rob Halford from Judas Priest) and Queensryche... I could be wrong, but what the hell, this isn’t sworn testimony, any way, the other bands were awesome, too. But the reason this particular memory was sparked is that within seconds of Maiden ending their final encore, The sky broke open and dumped a torrential downpour on us. Massive rainfall, high winds, lightning, thunder, the whole works... We were soaked before we even reached our bikes. To make matters even worse, it was around midnight and all I had for eyewear was my sunglasses. I learned real quick that I needed clear lenses if I was going to ride at night... too bad that wasn’t an option that night.

Unfortunately when the situation is upon you, you either Man-up or Shut-up, so we jumped on & hit the highway. Being hindered by the tinted lenses, I rode in the middle so I could follow one bike’s lights and have another block for me from behind. The 45 minute ride home took a little over an hour in the rain and when I finally got back to my apartment I decided that my Sporty could spend one night in the rain without being covered. Hell, I already was in for a chore in cleaning her up.

That was a younger careless version of my current self. It wasn’t until I got my current bike last year that I bought a pair of clear riding glasses. And I now profess quite loudly, I don’t mind riding at night, and I don’t mind riding in the rain, but I don’t ride at night in the rain!

Boy I hope this clears up tomorrow...