Redding, CA to Bakersfield, CA to Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Say it isn't so...cover your eyes- it's raining-it's pouring and we have to quit snoring and get going..in the rain.
John getting ready to uncover the bikes in Redding, CA.
If I had to rate the days of motorcycle riding as good or bad - then day 2 was BAD. The day started out with a deluge - cold - and windy....and it was over 60+ miles before the rain started to let up. i felt like the Charlie Brown character, Pigpen, where the dust cloud follows him..the Raindrops were falling on our heads..at least the lyrics to that old song were happy!
Our rain gear kept us dry; that was good. My heated gear kept me toasty...that is very good and our spirits stayed mjostly good until.....
TRAFFIC CAME TO A SCREECHING (HOW DO TIRES SCREECH IN THE RAIN?) HALT!
As quick as a wink, the tail lights on John's Wing flashed the very scary warning and every biker hates to see: IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY AND WE ARE ABOUT TO COME TO A DEAD STOP! Training and experience says to feather the brakes, check your mirrors and get ready to find a safe spot. Luckily, the traffic all obeyed the laws of survival and we stopped without incident. Phew! But, the rules of riding have changed for me since I now ride a Harley...my blue girl starts to overheat in the long idling and very slow creeping. We quickly moved onto the right shoulder and rode it to the end of the jam. Sadly, it was a very bad acciden. I had to remind myself that whoever was involved in the accident didn't get up in the morning with the intention of causing a traffic jam. As I rode by, I asked God to give His Tender Mercies on those involved.
300+ miles and my body started to feel the affects of tense riding conditions. When I saw the 10 miles to our Bakersfield exit..my heart leaped and I pumped my arm in the air....and then: THE WING LIGHTS FLASHED THE SIGNAL...WE ARE ONCE AGAIN GOING TO COME TO A DEAD STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY! My brain went into alert mode and my blue girl sat down on her brakes HARD. checking my mirrors, I saw traffic slowing down and I breathed one of those long sighs that was full of words unspoken: dodged a bullet! Once again, I found an opening provided by a trucker and lead the guys to the shoulder where we rode out the jam and took our exit!
We rolled into Bakersfield at *:48pm...a long riding day, indeed.
Lee and Palma met us while we ate and after good conversation and planning our departure in the morning, we crashed!
As we were getting ready to leave, a man approached us and said we were living his Bucket List dream and he took this photo of us.
Lee, Palma, Santa Ed, Me and John.
Thr route John and Lee chose was teriffic! I thought of the man who took our photo while I opened the throttle on the Blue and let her fly through the mountain sweeps. I thought about the blessings we have in our lives, that even though we aren't yet retired, that we are with His rich blessings, heatlhy, strong and able to share riding with good friends who enrich our lives when I see the joy of the road on their faces.
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