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I need to back fill a bit to add a bit of flair to this next part, which begins with a gas fill up near Lebanon, TN. I had been noticing many government vehicles that looked like small motor homes with antennas all over them. I am a Amateur Radio operator, so anytime I see an antenna, I am curious. I will say that these guys were wired, or rather wireless! I estimate about 10 miscellaneous government vans, one of which was at the gas station when I stopped for gas. Apparently, they needed a snack, and the site of a full dress Valkyrie is too much for even a Fed to ignore. As I came back out to where I had parked the bike, one the gentlemen came up to me. He asked if I was heading west, or east, (my suspicious nature barely allowed me to say Nashville). He then told me they had one of their “colleagues” pull up the radar to check the storms in front of them. His weather update was not good, “at least 200 miles of rain, heavy embedded storms, between me and Arkansas.” I then had to ask, “do you work for the weather service?” “No, have a nice day,” he responded. Hmmm, I wonder what they do?
At least he was nice enough to fill me in on the weather, so I pulled the rain suit out and stashed the rain liner for the Joe Rocket and my leathers. I also stashed my handheld CB, mp3 player, cell phone, and wallet in the trunk. Sure enough, the rain hit, and even with the rain suit, I was beginning to feel clammy. As I drove thru Nashville at rush hour, in the storm, the radio was reporting power outages and trees down. Hmm, I guess that big wind I felt on the bike wasn’t just another truck passing me.
Fortunately, my wait in traffic was limited only to the onramp from the Nashville parkway back onto 40 west. With light rain falling I scooted on.
I must say that the I/S handles the rain and wind better than some cars I have driven. I looked at the speedometer several times to discover that I was moving much faster than I should with bad weather. With a better helmet, I would probably not have had the discomfort I had, which really wasn’t unbearable considering the magnitude of the storms.
I made my initial goal of Jackson, TN about 7:00 Eastern Time. Much too early to quit riding, but I needed gas again, so I filled up and made a couple of calls. “I am heading to Memphis, TN, will call you in a bit.” I enjoy letting everybody know how fast I can travel by myself. Our last trip on the same road put us into Jackson about 10:00, of course I was driving a motor home with the family and much slower speeds, but it still works for comparison. (read more...)
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