Day 24: Dodging Raindrops

A motorcycle ride on the interstate can go one of two ways: It can be a white-knuckled ordeal, or it can be a very zen-like experience. In other words, don't think, feel. Today was the latter. Despite the wind. 

We watched The Weather Channel as we packed this morning, and knew that the possibility existed that we would run into some rain at some point during the day. The morning part of the ride was windy as heck. And of course it was a head wind -- for the most part. Once in a while a gust would try to knock us around as the road or the wind shifted, but mostly it was tough to keep our speed up. 

After midday, we rode through a fairly calm stretch. The only wind was that made by the passing traffic. Even though we are riding the interstate, neither of us has a desire to go that fast. Besides, why rush back to reality? It'll be here soon enough.

We set our sights on Wells, NV, for tonight's destination, a distance (according to Google Maps) of 339 miles. An ambitious day considering the last two weeks. We were checked out of our hotel, had breakfast, and the bikes were loaded by around 9:30-ish. 

The temperatures were pleasant in the early part of the day. As we approached Winnemucca, NV, the rain clouds that had been on the horizon began to let us know they were present. We caught a few raindrops on our way into town, but nothing serious. By the time we had gassed up the bikes and took a few minutes to stretch and change gloves, the rain had stopped. 

The sun didn't really come back out the rest of the day, and we saw evidence of showers that had passed before we arrived at a particular stretch of highway. The day stayed cool after we left Winnemucca, and the wind picked back up -- this time it pushed us along with just a slight nudge once in a while. 

About 3 miles from our destination, the rain started again. We slowed down and took a few extra minutes to reach the motel. While I checked in, the rain slowed, but didn't really stop. I got the room key and we moved the bikes. By the time we got the bikes moved, the rain had all but stopped. We quickly unloaded the bikes while the rain held off a few minutes. 

After we got the bikes unpacked, we looked back the way we had come. Like they say, timing is everything, and we timed this one just right -- again. 



Mileage today: 358.9
Jae's trip total: 4005.4
Donna's trip total: 3998.1