Fair Weather Only Riders Rant

[TwoLaneBlackTop]

You set dates. Make plans. Take off from work. Plan a good long ride with several friends who were very enthused about the whole thing and then one says he'll be there if theres's no rain in the forecast! I've road 3 days solid in the rain. I ain't retired. When I take off work to ride...I RIDE. May change routes or even destinations but I still ride. Snow, Ice, Hurricanes,...I can forgive...but RAIN. Come on!  >:(

[Brian A]

You need new riding friends.

[Chuck & Susan]

Well I'm glad my buddies VWCarlos, Guidedawg, And mojo hung in there with me on the Alexander City/ Mt. Cheaha Ride. They are champs. We did get a bit wet. Thanks Guys!!

[Chuck & Susan]

Oh and I think I heard the Arctic Bound Bama Bums ran into rain one time.....LOL

[Chitza]

[ironblood45]

I'd be ashamed to tell someone I couldn't show up because it was going to rain haha. I was just a mile or two down the road from this the other day on my bike.


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[springer]

You set dates. Make plans. Take off from work. Plan a good long ride with several friends who were very enthused about the whole thing and then one says he'll be there if theres's no rain in the forecast! I've road 3 days solid in the rain. I ain't retired. When I take off work to ride...I RIDE. May change routes or even destinations but I still ride. Snow, Ice, Hurricanes,...I can forgive...but RAIN. Come on!  >:(

Meh, I give this rant a 2 out of 10.


This is more of a look at me than a rant. Study up and come back.  :)

[VWCarlos]

Well I'm glad my buddies VWCarlos, Guidedawg, And mojo hung in there with me on the Alexander City/ Mt. Cheaha Ride. They are champs. We did get a bit wet. Thanks Guys!!

It was kind of nice and cooled things off a bit for us. I am just glad it stopped while we waited on the construction guys to let us through the construction area. Riding in the rain is one thing but just sitting there in the roadway getting rained on is not fun in my book.

[DachshundUberAlles]

Nailed it. Imposing "standards of worthiness" does more harm than good to the sport/hobby. People can give themselves "points" for riding in lousy weather if they want and if that gets them through the day, people like me will get our laughs over it.

[kdtrull]

Nailed it. Imposing "standards of worthiness" does more harm than good to the sport/hobby. People can give themselves "points" for riding in lousy weather if they want and if that gets them through the day, people like me will get our laughs over it.

Yeah...sounds great and cool and bad-ass until your buddy goes 50 ft. off the side of a mountain.  I hope to never seek to get a buddy to do something he's not comfortable with, ever again.  It did not even seem questionable to me.  But it was to him.  And, three years of PT and recovery is not worth a half-hour of making a point...if that is even what we're doing???

I almost never found him.  I still have bad nighttime recollections of it....20 minuets seemed like 6 hours....I have practically no memory of the helicopter and extraction crews.  It is a poison to my soul.

I can't imagine what he must have felt during the event.

My best recommendation is to be glad for every buddy you can still ride with...and do whatever you can to keep them riding safely....rain or shine.  Keep on keeping on....and let those who cannot, live to ride another day.

No disrespect intended.  I have several more pals that balk at the weather.  Just let them do what they know they can do....and do not resent what they feel they cannot.  We all will live to see better days...hopefully.

[Brian A]

Good, valid points /\

But I still stand by my initial comment "You need new riding friends."  Or perhaps more accurately "You need some new, additional riding friends."

If I scheduled time off work for a 3 or 4 day ride, planned with a few of my riding buddies, and then 1 or 2 of them said they wouldn't be going if it rained, well, I'd probably be a little miffed.

FWIW (which ain't much) I didn't read the IP as being a "Hey! Look at me!" kind of thing. Maybe it was and I just don't read between the lines very well. I took it as venting a little frustration. "I scheduled a trip with some riding friends and after all was arranged, one (or more?) of them said they wouldn't be going if it looked like it would rain."

And another FWIW.... I reckon, in my mind, I have pretty much always considered that folks who didn't like to ride in the rain, literally didn't enjoy it. They did not "like" riding in the rain. I never give much thought to the possibility they might not feel up to the task from a skills/technical standpoint.
Which is maybe a little unfortunate ??  Riding in the rain can be a very enjoyable experience. Mostly a mindset kind of thing - for me at least.

Today's motorcycle tires and the generally good roads we have (in comparison) can provide for a safe and enjoyable ride experience.
If that particular experience is what one seeks.

Side note - interestingly, some of the top individual "snap shot" memories I have from the countless days spent riding with buddies, involve riding in the rain.

[DachshundUberAlles]

I don't know why the "quote" feature didn't work for that. My post was in response to springer'. Personally, I ride for enjoyment, and rain (as well as very cold) are not enjoyable. Disparagement of other riders is a bad trait this site seems to carry, and that is exactly what I read in the original post. My apologies if it seemed I was agreeing with the original post.

[kdtrull]

Yeah....I didn't mean to overstate my point.  I don't mean to be an ass but a day after posting, I can see a little ass may have leaked out.  I too would not plan an important ride with buddies I knew would not ride in rain.

[KevinB]

I don't know why the "quote" feature didn't work for that. My post was in response to springer'. Personally, I ride for enjoyment, and rain (as well as very cold) are not enjoyable. Disparagement of other riders is a bad trait this site seems to carry, and that is exactly what I read in the original post. My apologies if it seemed I was agreeing with the original post.

I think the OP was remarking about his friends, not riders in general. And if you cancel a multi-day ride because it might rain, you're not actually a rider but more of a "look at me, I have a motorcycle" owner.

Meh, I give this rant a 2 out of 10.

This is more of a look at me than a rant. Study up and come back

Disparagement of other members is a bad trait that was prevalent on the old BR site...good to see we're getting back to normal.

[VWCarlos]

I always look at every ride as a "ride your own ride" ride. (Does that sentence even make sense?) basically I ride when and where I feel safe riding. I never base my safety and well being or that of others on a group mentality. I can still hear my mother saying "If all your friends jump off the side of a building are you going to jump too?". Same goes for riding for me. If I don't feel like it is safe for me to ride... I don't ride. I would never hold it against anyone for backing out if they didn't feel right riding that day. I have backed out of riding due to pure exhaustion. I didn't feel like I could ride safely that day so I didn't. If I am in a group and don't want to do what the rest is doing then I peel off and ride my own ride. I guess all I am saying is let everyone ride their own ride. If they can't keep up then that is no reason to dump them because the next ride it might be you that can't keep up.