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Re: Bill's ride - (was Re: How to deal with tolls?)



At 06:51 PM 6/25/00 -0400, The Flowers wrote:
>I was finally able to leave the office at 6:20PM Friday.  From just outside
>Tampa (not even to Plant City) the skies opened up on me, complete with
>strobe lightning!  I did the typical biker routine of stopping under an
>overpass to change from my BroshTex jacket to leather plus rain gear.
>Neither my gloves nor my boots are water resistant.  :-(

Bummer - I left Lakeland around 7:30, so we were probably pretty close. I 
followed a new Tiger and Valkyrie on I-4 - they did not look like they were 
enjoying it much......

>For 2.5 hours I rode through rain, rain, rain.  It didn't help that at a
>couple of critical interchanges I couldn't see well enough despite frequent
>swipes with a V-wipe (rubber squeegee thingie on my thumb, like a manual
>windshield wiper) that I took the wrong turn and had to go miles out of my
>way!

Been there - done that. Were you wearing glasses ? I've found that use an 
amber lens really helps in the rain.

>I did take the toll road, carrying the $$$ in my glove.  Not knowing the
>price of the tolls or having much change anyway, I had five $1's in my
>glove.  They and my hands became dyed black!  The rain was cold and the
>heated grips were really appreciated.

Sorry about that - I didn't get your request on the amount until I got back 
to the office Friday night. I've gotten rid of several pairs of gloves 
because they never seem to stop bleeding. I don't mind it one or two times, 
but after they have been wet 5 or 6 times, I don't feel that you should 
still be getting black hands.

>By the time I finally arrived at the hotel (safely) my feet squished in my
>boots when I walked.  In fact, when I first stepped off the bike water
>squished up and over the tops of my boots!

Time for new boots.

>It appears that all the rain did something nasty to the ChatterBox that was
>on my helmet -- it'll neither transmit nor receive.  Not sure about intercom
>functionality either, except I can hear myself talk.

That's one thing I really like about the collett - fully weather sealed. 
I've come through monsoon downpours without a drop. Steve Mate, who has my 
old Sprint, just went on a trip and had a cb installed. Worked great until 
it got wet - it stayed on all night and drained his battery....

>I'm thinking of this as a shakedown cruise, getting ready for the Rallye.

Hopefully there will be a lot less rain at the rallye.

>and then.  Maybe that's the subject of the next thread I start.  :-)

I really like my BMW boots - I think Steve "Dirty Dawg" uses the same ones. 
Gortex lined - nice strong velcro over the zipper. I've done many wet miles 
and have only been damp a few times. Of course, if you don't ride in 
leathers of leave your pants tucked in your boots, all bets are off...

- - Eric


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