Hurricane? What Hurricane?

Full sheepish disclosure: I've only ridden in the rain once.

Back during my MSF trike class, my *first day* on the Spyder was in a rainstorm. Fun times.

But, that was just in a parking lot, going 10-20 mph. Since then, I've been meaning to find a nice day to go riding in the rain. Figured I'd like to get it out of the way close to home before I take any big cross-country trips on it-- better to be learn how the Spyder (and me!) reacts in the rain near home than first find out in a downpour halfway across the country.

Only trouble is, rain in the summer around D.C. = afternoon rush-hour thunderstorms with plenty of lightning. Not exactly safe riding weather.

But a hurricane, on a sleepy Saturday morning? Pshaw, whatever!

Grabbed my Frogg Toggs this morning and went riding down to Coleman Powersports in Woodbridge VA. Nothing fancy, just a straight shot down I-395/95. On the way down, before the weather got rough I even tested out my new Throttlemeister cruise control (very nice, albeit pricey for what they are; installation yesterday was straightforward, worst part was having to make a trip to Sears last night along with the rest of hurricane-panicked Northern Virginia in order to get the right size socket adapter for my torque wrench :gaah:).

Verdicts:
-- Frogg Toggs are nice for the price. Wouldn't want to use them for a long haul, but around town, they work great. Plus they let enough air in that they were nowhere near as hot as I thought they'd be when I first put them on. I only wore the pants on the way down, wore my standard mesh jacket up top. That got soaked, which at first felt good, but after 20+ miles started getting a little chilly in the arms at speed. On the way back, I wore the full suit, and was just peachy keen!
-- The Spyder is ROCK SOLID in the rain and gusty winds. I can confidently say, whoever has an RS setup that doesn't want to keep a straight line either needs to tweak their bike (I'm set 18/28, suspension at max 5, and have the Evo anti-swaybar) or tweak their riding style. Seriously-- go talk to your dealer or visit another Spyder owner, mine held the road like there were rails even in 30 mph gusts. My *car* doesn't even want to do that in that kind of weather. In fact, the hardest part was keeping *me* from moving atop the bike in the gusts-- the Spyder stayed straight and true. :thumbup:

I now have total confidence in the Spyder in a moderate rainstorm (the hurricane's now passing us, so the weather is getting worse, so I wouldn't be on the road when it's THIS bad-- but I think that's in large part out of fear of other drivers being unable to handle the weather and/or see me, NOT a verdict on the capability of our three-wheeled friend to ride through weather that makes two-wheelers pucker).

Anyway, I don't know how many here at Spyderlovers can say it, but I now can: I've ridden the Spyder through a hurricane and lived to tell the tale! :doorag:

Was up in Vermont which is about a 2 hour ride from me in New Hampshire. Rode back this afternoon, Hurricane Irene bit me in the ass 10 minutes from home with her wind and rain.

We played it safe here and just hunkered down. A hundred miles inland; we were more concerned with power loss from falling trees and streams flooding. It's been pretty quiet, so now we just have to wait out the rain.

Glad to hear that some of you have not been affected to adversely. :2thumbs:

Spent the day clearing debris from downed trees, tree branches, some the size of small trees, leaves etc. Tomorrow I get to do my own property. Major damage in downtown Goldsboro NC. Huge old oaks, maples and pines down taking power poles and lines with them. Some on houses. I saw one guy raking debris and there was a large flash and sparks. His metal rake head hit a still live downed line. I think he had to go change his underwear. NEVER ASSUME LINES ARE DEAD BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN DOWN FOR AWHILE!!!! The temps here were in the low 90's today and there were folks out on their porches trying to get cool because there was no power. The local mall lost a large area of roof. Going to be cleaning up for a long time.

I feel bad for you guys, Bruiser! We ended up with about a six hour power outtage and that was about it... We just fired up the oil lamps, broke out the emergancy radio and listened to lousy music and weather reports.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bob Denman

I feel bad for you guys, Bruiser! We ended up with about a six hour power outtage and that was about it... We just fired up the oil lamps, broke out the emergancy radio and listened to lousy music and weather reports.

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We have friends in Windom NY, they really got hit hard. They can't get out, seems there is an 8ft. drop at the end of their driveway now. We didn't loose power ourselves but lots of folks around us did. Had the generator ready though. Just finished cleaning up most our property a few miutes ago. Not gonna worry too much about what's down in the wooded area right now but will have to get my friend in for the two large widow makers hanging down. My brother in Maryland said they were without power from 0200 yesterday morning to 2200 last night.

[QUOTE=bruiser;367439]We have friends in Windom NY, they really got hit hard. They can't get out, seems there is an 8ft. drop at the end of their driveway now. QUOTE]
Those big hills up there really channeled the water to where it could do the most damage... :shocked: Runoff made a big mess in the Catskills... :gaah:

Where I live in Northern vermont we had some minor damage, but Southern Vermont really took a hard hit from this storm. There was a lot of destruction from flood waters and many communities are land locked with roads and bridges severly damaged. This is a link to a video that kind of tells the Vermont story of the aftermath of Irene. I feel very sad for all the people who suffered losses from this devastation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1tCdtoMzsU

[QUOTE=Bob Denman;367669]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bruiser

We have friends in Windom NY, they really got hit hard. They can't get out, seems there is an 8ft. drop at the end of their driveway now. QUOTE]
Those big hills up there really channeled the water to where it could do the most damage... :shocked: Runoff made a big mess in the Catskills... :gaah:

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Bob, that's an understatement. My power just got back on a few hours ago. One mile up my road they have 15 poles to replace. Ulster county is devistated This was equal to the 1955 flood, bridges wash away, many roads are still not passable, some won't be for months. Just incredible. I was lucky not to have any property damage other than a few trees down in the back. I rode out the hurricane in the RV Campgrounds. Toy Hauler is still there, but Ok, can't say that about the campgrounds though. A new river through the middle of it. On a good note, rode the 2 wheeler today only to decide it was unsafe to ride, to much junk on the road.

Glad to hear that you're okay Ron! :thumbup: Out along 28 I guess it looks about like some bombers used it for a targeting pass...:shocked: A buddy of mine in Shokan checked in and was without power as long as you... :gaah:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Glad to hear that you're okay Ron! :thumbup: Out along 28 I guess it looks about like some bombers used it for a targeting pass...:shocked: A buddy of mine in Shokan checked in and was without power as long as you... :gaah:

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Ya, it's a real mess up there as well. There are some nice vids on utube

Has anyone heard from Florida Girl she lives on the Jersey Shore. I haven't seen any posts from her since the storm. I hope she's okay.

Irene hit 5 days ago. There are _STILL_ thousands (25,295) of home owners without any power in many south-coastal Massachusetts towns.
oh, and get this...
Gillete Stadium in Foxboro was lit up like a christmas tree, but all the rest of Foxboro was out. No street light, etc. But they still played foorball lastnight.