One hundred and ninety miles. Some might say that’s a long commute to work, but not me. I looked forward to a nice ride to start the day, figuring it would make the rest of the day that much better.

How could it be? Another sunny day? If this continues, I might have to change Stormbringer’s name!

Yeah right!

About eighty miles into my commute, the skies predictably darkened. I tried to convince myself it was just fog rolling off Lake Erie, but deep inside I knew what was about to happen.

And soon enough, it did. I felt the first few stinging drops on my face and hands as the rain started to fall. I pulled to the shoulder, and bundled up as much as possible. Of course my rain jacket was conveniently in the bus, which was conveniently already in Youngstown. Tying my bandanna over my face, I took off into the approaching rain. The Masked Frenchy and Stormbringer strike again.

The thing about riding in the rain is… It’s fun! I don’t mind riding in it at all. Seriously, I kinda feel bad for the people driving by enclosed in their steel boxes. I like to experience the elements instead of being safely protected from them. Once you realize it’s JUST WATER, it’s really not that bad. This rain storm felt like someone was throwing handfuls of marbles at me, but once the stinging numbed my skin, I was fine.

Sixty miles later, I realized I needed gas. The skies actually relented as I pulled off, and the rain dwindled to drizzle, then stopped altogether! Soaking wet and shivering, I filled the tank. An old man shuffled over to me, observed my soaking wet gear, shook his head and said, “Boy, you picked a bad day to ride. You gonna get WET!”

Uhh, thanks, but I already AM wet! And the rain has stopped, so it’s all gonna be OK now.

And I seriously tried to believe it. Even when the raindrops started falling again. This time they were falling with more purpose. Maybe that old man knew something I didn’t?

Fifteen miles from the ChevyCenter Zeus unleashed the first HUGE bolt of lightning. Thunder boomed and more lightning lit up the darkened sky. Man, and I was SOO close. The road ahead disappeared into blackness, the monsoon was almost on me.

I steeled myself for the deluge, and when it hit it literally felt like I had driven into a lake. The raindrops were so fat and thick, instead of marbles it felt like someone was throwing baseballs. The water got behind my glasses and blinded me. For a few minutes, I really thought I was going to drown, it was coming down that hard.

I had two choices. Pull over and get crushed by a trailer truck driving as blind as I was, or continue on to the next exit, risking death by drowning. I chose to try and make it to the next off-ramp.

Fortunately there was a Speedway gas station at the end of the ramp, and even better it had a little awning over the pumps. I stopped and waited until the worst of it was over.

This lousy cell phone picture doesn’t even come close to showing how bad the weather was.

As I sat there, shivering my balls off, rivers of rainwater pouring off my jacket, some random dude came up to me and started telling me that he just got the book from the DMV and was going to get a motorcycle soon. He wanted to know if riding was as hard as it seemed. As the thunder boomed, I offered him Stormbringer right there and then if only he’d give me his truck.

He shook his head and walked away, wishing me luck.

I saw another motorcycle pull in, and a soggy couple got off. I walked over to commiserate with them. The woman was not very happy, but the man and I looked at each other and burst into huge fits of laughter between claps of thunder.

BOOOOOOOooooMMMMMmmmm!!!
HEEhoooHEEE HA HA HE HOO HE hahaHEHEHOO!
BoooOOOoooMMMmmm!
HEEhoooHEEE HA HA HE HOO HE hahaHEHEHOO!

What the FUCK are we doing this for anyway?!?

He said when it started raining, they decided to try and ‘weather it’ as far as they could. As far as they could was as far as I could too. There was no way to continue in rain this heavy. His wife said that being on the back through that storm was the most brutal thing she’d ever done. Ah c’mon, it wasn’t that bad, it couldn’t be. You’ve obviously never had to listen to Dick Blueballs and the Asshats at Tail o’ the Pup!

Sensing a slowdown in the downpour, I told them I was going to take my chances, since I only had three miles left to the arena. Then, mercifully I’d be able to get off Stormbringer, and change into less soaked clothes.

The streets of downtown Youngstown, OH were flooded beyond belief. Manhole covers were loosened by the torrents of water streaming down the roadways. Every intersection was a river crossing, sometimes the water came over my floorboards. It was simply incredible, and incredibly dangerous.

And of course, an hour after I parked Stormbringer at the arena, the rain stopped and THE SUN CAME OUT!

Tomorrow starts the long journey home, hopefully the worst of it is over……

Stormbringer rides again!

Part Four can be found by clicking HERE!

Author: frenchy

One Response to “Weeklong Fun – Day Three”

1. Anonymous says:

   August 8, 2007 at 1:47 PM

   wow where did you get those awesome graphics for that map?

   Reply