Weathering the storm
No cool breezes when weather is hot, sticky
It is a common misconception that I have heard a number of times, especially during the very high temperatures and humidity of the last few weeks.
“You’re lucky! When it gets really hot, you can go for a ride on your bike and get a nice cool breeze.”
Wrong! When the temperature is a very hot 33 degrees, with a high humidity, there is no such thing as a “nice cool breeze.” What you do get on a motorcycle, or a bicycle, is a very hot breeze. However, there is an important difference between riding on a motorcycle or on a bicycle, even though neither vehicle has air-conditioning.
Motorcycles have engines, and the heavier your bike, the bigger the engine. My touring motorcycle is a 2014 Kawasaki 1700 cc Voyager. With five gallons of high-test gas, the bike weighs approximately 900 pounds. When I sit on it, my 185 pounds brings the total weight to 1085 pounds, which is more than a half-ton.
The bigger the engine, the more heat it produces, and my engine, although only two cylinders, produces a lot of heat. When you add that, along with an ambient temperature of say 33 degrees, it can make for a very hot ride.
And, let’s not forget, I would never get on my motorcycle without wearing my helmet, even to take it out of my barn and a proper riding jacket. I actually have two riding jackets: a three-season model, suitable for spring, summer and fall and a “hot-weather-model” for when the temperature gets really warm, like it has been for the past several weeks.
Hot humid “muggy” weather also has another downside: the possibility of a severe thunderstorm and the deadly lightning that always accompanies it. Long distance touring bikers are well aware that the threat of lightning is not something to be taken lightly. They also realize that an unexpected lightning strike can happen up to 10 miles in front of, or 10 miles behind, an actual thundercloud.
In an article for Rider motorcycle magazine, published in California back in 2012, Scott Williams had this to say: “When thunder roars, go indoors! In a pinch, an enclosed automobile
qualifies as “indoors,” because its steel frame can channel a lightning strike around the occupants. Motorcyclists aren’t so fortunate.
“We’re exposed in a thunderstorm. Our heads are unintended lightning rods sitting atop bodies covered in dreadfully conductive rainwater, and that metal object (motorcycle) we’re sitting on only makes matters worse. Think those rubber tires offer protection? Think again. When lightning threatens, getting to safe shelter is the preferred course of action.”
His wise words came back to me, on Friday afternoon of last week. I was on a solo motorcycle “run,” passing through Christmas Island, and approaching the road and rail bridges that pass over the Barra Strait between Grand Narrows
and Iona. Up until then I was riding in bright sunshine, with white, fluffy clouds.
However, as I crested the large hill that leads to the road bridge, the full extent of the larger portion of the Bras D’Or Lakes came into view and it was not something that I expected to see.
Although the Highland Village Museum, on the top of the hill in Iona was in brilliant sunshine, a massive, dark, weather front was spreading across the Bras D’Or Lakes, from Marble Mountain in the west to the coast of East Bay on the east. There were several bright flashes of lightning, followed just a few seconds later by loud claps of thunder. I knew the thunderstorm was approaching very rapidly, and I would have to find shelter rather
quickly.
At first I thought I would park my bike on the side of the bridge, and scramble down underneath the concrete and steel structure, where I knew I would be safe. Then I thought of the visitor centre at the Nova Scotia Highland Village Museum, which was only a mile or so distant.
Luck was with me, and within a few minutes of my arrival at the centre the heavy rain came, along with much thunder and flashes of lightning on both sides of the Big Lake. However, thanks to the warm welcome from Sadie MacDonald and Marlene MacDougall, I was invited to stay indoors, and out of the elements.
I had dodged a bullet, and I knew it, but at least I was safe, and with friends that I knew.
That unexpected storm continued, on and off, for more than one hour. Rannie Gillis is a retired teacher and guidance counsellor who lives in North Sydney. An avid writer, photographer and moto-journalist, he is the author of several books and has written travel stories for various Canadian and American magazines. He specializes in the Celtic World. He can be reached at ranniegillis@ns.sympatico.ca