90 Miles in the Rain

[Badbob]

Sunshine and blue sky in Tallahassee FL and my wife had not got to ride in several weeks. We were going to ride some where today. I prepped the bikes and off we went. I have wanted to check out some of the roads that connect to CR12 for several weeks now so thats where we headed. CR157A (179) "Cairo Concord Road" was our first turn. I missed the turn because the sign was close to the turn and I learned the hard way not to even think about braking hard and trying to make the turn. The smart thing to do was find a safe place to turn around and go back.

CR157 is a nice road long sweeping turns and lots of farm land. No surprises here just some new stuff to look at and new road to ride. We turned right on to "Lower Hawthorn Trail" a very narrow road but a real nice ride. Its part of some sort of historical trail that I have not been able to find out much about. We will go back and ride this one again and follow the brown signs. We were in Georgia now and the rain is starting. We got chased by a couple of dogs and used the slow down until they get close and then accelerate technique to avoid them. It works. I had wanted to turn on and cut over to CR154 but didn't see the the road. It may not have a sign.

The rain is getting harder and we stopped put on out rain gear. This is a neat trick on the side of the road with all your riding gear on. The ammo can panniers I have on my bike came in real handy keeping things we didn't want to get wet out of the rain while we dressed. In and out in seconds.

We rode in to Cairo GA. No need for maps and instructions I know the way from here. We ride out of town on SR93 headed for Midway. We turned right on Midway Road and headed south. It's still raining. Neither of us have water proof boots or gloves so our hands and feet are getting wet. Midway road runs into CR154 (Hadley Ferry Road). I've seen several Fox Squirrels along this road. We ride past the historical marker at Jackie Robinson's birth place. They still haven fixed the drive. There is big hole with lots of mud out on the road. It looked like someone had got stuck and slung mud all over the road getting out. Hang on and ride through. The rain is stopping.

We get to Meridian Road and turn toward Tallahassee. Just before we get to the state line the rain quits and a bit further we are back in the sun again. We turn west on CR12 again retracing our earlier path past where we turned before and turn south on Coonbottom Road riding past the gun club and on to Old Bainbridge Road. By now we are getting stared at a lot. The sun is out and the pavement is dry except under the trees and here we are riding along in our bright orange rain suits. Oh, well they can see us. Old Bainbridge Road is a canopied road with lots of live oaks and Spanish moss hsnging over the road. The trees are right up against the road in some places. You have to watch for bicyclist as well as impatient drivers.

We ride down Lakeshore Drive to get around the Mall traffic and enjoy one of the few curvy roads we have here. Unfortunately today we get to ride behind a couple of old ladies who are terrified of curves. They go as slow as 10 mph around curves. There is no passing allowed so we just put along behind them hoping they don't get so slow we need to worry about the bikes falling over. Lakeshore is only about five miles long end to end but I'll bet I've rode 2000 miles down this road.

We are home with some dirty bikes from the rain.

Our rain gear is from Frogg Toggs and I have to tell you its not good rain gear for riding motorcycles. Water doesn't go through it but it is designed to keep rain out that is coming down not side ways at 50mph. You can keep most of it out if you are very careful putting it on but the next time I get new rain gear it will not be Frogg Toggs. As far as I can tell its only advantage is that it is very light weight.

[Water Warrior 2]

Thanks for sharing the road. We haven't turned a wheel since late October and cabin fever is setting in quite nicely. Could do without winter entirely. Oh well, the West Coast is far better than the Canadian prairies where I spent 60 years trying to survive the winters. Ride On.

[Badbob]

I lived in North Dakota for several years. I even did some motorcycle riding there on a friends bike. Snowmobiles were more useful to me and cash was limited so that was where my money went. They cured cabin fever and got me to work when the snow covered the roads.

[rbert16000]

Hey, did you ever find a good replacement for the Toggs? BMW makes a couple of good rain suits, but as usual, I like to use others as my guinea pigs and see what they have found that works for long triops on the bikes.

[afflo]

Heh... Grew up in Tallahassee (Lincoln class of '00). I really miss the canopy roads; they're hard to describe to people who've never seen them. I usually just say "Imagine a tunnel made of arched tree branches." Haven't lived there in over six years though. Married w/ kids, living on the west coast now though.

But, knowing how Tallahassee weather is... You couldn't wait a half hour for the rain to stop? :cool:

[Badbob]

Originally Posted by afflo

But, knowing how Tallahassee weather is... You couldn't wait a half hour for the rain to stop? :cool:

I usually don't use rain gear for commuting. It doesn't rain much in the winter and in the summer it is so hot in rain gear that its just not worth the effort. You get wet either way. Sweat or rain pick one.

The canopied roads start 1/2 mile form my home. I have been down every inch of them including the dirt sections on my GZ250 many times.

[davtnn]

Since i bought my Frog Togs it has not rained on a ride ... good to know they are not all that good .. do you have a recomendation ? (and since they stil have the tags on them; i do believe my son in law will be getting a new set of Frog Togs for his birthday,, he rides to work and does not have a rain suit yet)