Got a later start than I had hoped for, and caught a little rain just past Barstow. In the 100 degree heat, the cold desert rain felt kind of nice at first, but then it came blowing in at 50 mph, and perpendicular to my line of travel. So, my while my right side was soaked, my left side remained completely dry.
The rain itself wasn't too bad, but the wind made things a little dicey. Throw in the turbulence from passing, or being passed by an 18-wheeler and it felt like I was in an 80 mph wrestling match with my motorcycle for most of the day.
By the time I got to the east of Kingman, AZ, it was dark, and I could smell more rain coming. It cold and light for the first few miles, then opened up. Riding in the rain during the day is one thing, but at night, and at any kid of speed, well...... Let's assume that I've got a total of 12 square inches of tire tread in contact with the road - a 3-inch by 2-inch patch for each tire, and that the bike and I weigh in at about 1,000 lbs total weight. Even at just 50 mph, it doesn't take much of a puddle to make the bike hydroplane. And if you can't see the puddles, well, you just know that things are going to end badly.
I've gotten a lot of good motorcycle advice from my buddy San Diego Pete. One time, he told me "sometimes, you just have to stand on the side of the road next to your bike in the rain". And so I did. In the dark. The only up-side was that I had my rain-suit, and some bug spray.
It's 500 miles from Newport Beach to the Grand Canyon, and I got to the park at about 10:00 pm. Left at noon, so it took me 10 hours to get there. The south rim is at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and it's 50 degrees outside. So, at 55 mph on a motorcycle, it's pretty freeking cold. Once I got my tent set up, I was looking forward to warming up in my sweet, 3-season, goose-down mummy sack. But it's gone! I don't have that much stuff to look through, and it's just not here. I know it was there when I filled-up with gas in Williams 60 miles away, but now it's gone!
My only source of warmth is my leather riding gear, which is still wet. This is not the way I wanted to start this trip!!
