September 24
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Eric had some stuff to do today and would not be home till around 6PM, so I decided to leave around 11AM. I had a leisurely morning, took care of some last minute details, and watched the Weather Channel. It was bright and sunny outside, but Hurricane Rita had made landfall on the Texas/Louisiana line last night, and her outer rain bands extended all the way into our area. I knew that I might get a bit wet today. |
| I was airing up the tires at 10:50 when all hell broke loose. It rained and blew to make Noah proud. Weather radar showed this to be a small, but intense cell, so I decided to wait a few minutes to see what happened. I had also promised Lana that I would drop by her office to say goodbye (she was working this morning), and I didn’t want to go in there dripping wet. |
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Sure enough, the cell passed over in about 15 minutes, so I headed to Lana’s office for a goodbye kiss. She was on the phone, as usual. A good Realtor’s phone never stops. |
When I walked back out, the sun was shining, but there were some seriously dark clouds off to the east, which was where I had to go to pick up US 231 north. As I pulled up to the stoplight at 231, I could see the rain coming, and soon it engulfed me.
I was not the only rider out here in the rain. Today was Saturday, the first day of the fall Thunder Beach motorcycle rally. Our town sponsors this rally twice a year, and it brings in hordes of the loud-pipes-and-leather set, as well as a smattering of sportbikes and tourers. It’s a neat place to bike-and-people watch, but in the end, I am not much of a rally guy (too loud and crowded for me), so I usually don’t go. Anyway, as I zipped out of town in my full-faced helmet and high-tech textile gear, the skies opened up and poured down torrents of cold rain, complete with gusty winds and lighting. The temperature dropped from 91 to 76 in a matter of minuets. I was warm, dry, and comfortable. In the southbound lane I saw at least three-dozen riders, all on cruisers, headed into town. Nobody had any raingear, most were in t-shirts and shorts, bare-headed, and several didn’t have windshields. One guy on a chopper, whose only headgear was goggles and a doo-rag, was holding his left hand up to his face to shield his eyes from the stinging rain. I was reminded of one of my favorite sayings: “If you’re gonna be stupid, you gotta be tough”.
By the time I got to Highway 20, the rain had stopped, and I was able to ramp up the speed and make some time. I waited to cross into Alabama to buy gas, since their gas tax (and hence the total price) is about 10 cents a gallon lower than Florida’s.
As I continued north, I noticed that the skies to my left stayed dark and threatening the whole way. It was the edge of Hurricane Rita. Off of my right hand, to the east, the skies were brighter, cloudy but with sun poking through a fair amount. Approaching Montgomery, 231 angles west, and it looked as if it might pull me back under the rain, but it never did, and I stayed dry the rest of the day.
I had never been on 231 past Montgomery (I usually jump onto I-65), and I sure was glad I decided to stay on it this trip. Once clear of Montgomery, it becomes a beautiful little two lane. It is not very curvy, but has a lot of elevation change (for this part of the country, at least) and good rural scenery. Traffic was light, and the FJR settled in at about 80 MPH and purred along.
At Sylacauga my butt was getting numb, so I pulled over at a little walking park for a break. I ate some peanuts that I had stashed in the bags, and took a picture of the love-bug carnage on the nose of the FJR. They had gotten really thick after the rain had let up. For those of you who don’t know what love bugs are, they are little black insects that mate in mid-air during the spring and fall. They are attracted to car exhaust, so they swarm over the roadways and really make a mess. I have seen cars overheat because of the mass of love bugs smashed in their radiators.
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231 was my home most of this day. It runs all the way to Huntsville, although I did decide to jump onto 431 a little south of Huntsville, to avoid city traffic on the way to Eric’s house. It first appeared that this had been a mistake, because 431 was lined with strip malls and loaded with traffic lights. Not a place to make time! But the speed limit was 55, and traffic was moving at 70, and I didn’t catch ONE SINGLE traffic light the whole way!
I was hoping to make it all the way to Eric’s on the tank of gas that I had, but the reserve light started flashing about 30 miles out, so I stopped and topped off. Sunlight was fading fast as I pulled back on the 431, but within a minute a Dodge Caravan whizzed past me at 90. I fell in behind him and made good time the rest of the way in to my destination.
I rolled into the driveway at about 6:30. I mixed up a batch of Cosmos, then grabbed a shower and went to a local Mexican place with Eric, Linda, and the kids. A pitcher of Dos Equis dark for $3! Gotta love it! Back at the house, we had another batch of Cosmos and watched a movie, then hit the sack.
380 miles today.
