Well what a beauty! Left work at 4pm on Monday the 5th for home and there was some slight rain on the way into the Clemm Jones Tunnel. By the time I emerged at the other end it was just pelting down.
Despite wearing semi waterproof clothing I estimate I was completely drenched within 3 minutes, by the time I reached home - 25 minutes away normally, (45 minutes on Monday) my boots were filled to the top.
The traffic was as usual, in Queensland rain, moving at between 5 - 15 kms per hour with cars just propping in the middle of the road without warning. "My God!" Queenslanders have no idea how to drive in the rain. 15 minutes into the ride and it was pitch black except for the frequent flashs of lightening and the roar of ever approaching thunder. I passed cars and bikes huddled under overpasses and bridges and drivers who obviously couldn't see mounting traffic islands and medium strips. I was surprised that due to the chaos there weren't more accidents.
Driving along the freeway I needed to keep in front of the trucks bow waves in order to avoid unplanned lane changes. To add further insult to my dampness the wind was gusting so much that at times I was riding at 45 degrees to the road.
I know what you are thinking, why on earth didn't I just pull over and wait until it passed. I guess that is why I use the handle of TOTGAS - Too old to give a sh*t, and to be quite frank it was pretty dam exciting and unlikely to be harming anyone else in the process.
What did this teach me?
1) It can rain 2 1/2 inches in 30 minutes and go from a blue sky to night in 5 minutes.
2) Keep your wet weather gear with the bike - not to mention your reflective jacket and finally
3) The ST is not fazed by water at all - it never missed a beat even when the water was up to seat level.
See the following video to see what I mean;
Ride safe and dry,
Cheers,
A.
