Sports & Recreation

Motorcycle Mama
Cycling in the Rain
By Christine Weaver

Mission:To unite Women who ride or want to learn how to ride motorcycles for recreation, education, mutual support, recognition, and to promote a positive image of motorcycling.

It’s finally Saturday morning and you look out your window. Dark grey clouds are all you can see. As you drink your first cup of coffee, you sit and wonder if you really want to chance getting a wet butt on your bike even though you have been looking forward to this day all week to have fun with your crazy biker buds. "Do I really want to get my shiny bike all dirty?" you ask yourself. If you’re anything like me, you would have answered "Hell Yeah!".

I have ridden on the motorcycle for hours during the rain, high winds, lightning, and even tornado warnings to get to my destination. When we are ready to ride mother nature can sometimes not hold us back. The days are getting warmer and you may think "whats a lil rain going to hurt?" Well just in case luck isn’t on your side, here are a few tips and reminders to help you rebel bikers prepare to ride in the rain and keep yourself as dry as possible...but most importantly, safe. After all, we are in New Jersey...home of the rainy days and crazy automoble owners on the roadways!

Most of you riders may have already purchased waterproof boots or waterproof boot spray. At the very least you should have also bought gloves which securely fasten around your wrist to help keep your hands dry and warm during the rain. Some of you may even have went as far as purchasing a rain suit. We’ve all seen those bikers who pull over under an overpass to put their gear on as the unwanted rain comes down upon us while we were enjoying our bike ride.You may have also seen those frugal bikers who wear a couple of large trash bags over their clothing or grocery bags inside thier boots. Hey, don’t you dare laugh...they may not look cool, but at least they are dry! Riding in the rain is not fun, especially if you are soaked. 

Make sure your tires have good tread on them to help grip the slippery road. Whether it is a drizzle or a downpour, even with good tires you should not continue to ride in the rain with your bike. You may hydroplane or worse yet, lay your bike down in front of oncoming traffic. Pull over under the overpass and take cover. I’ve met some of the coolest people that way. Sit back and enjoy listening to the peaceful rain until the storm passes. Oil and grease tends to loosen up and sit on the surface of the roadways just as the rain begins, especially at tolls booths. If you have to continue to ride to your destination wait for about 15 minutes after the storm begins. The cars will splash the grease and oil to the side of the street. Be sure to stay away from the painted lines and ride in the paths of the tire trails from the vehicles in front of you. If at all possible, avoid the slick manholes and railroad tracks. Make sure to keep a steady throttle while doing so. I know, just me mentioning the word "throttle" has got you all excited and you want to run out to your garage and rev her up!

If you are riding with a full face helmet, Rain-X works great to help the water roll and bounce off your visor. It really sucks when your visor or glasses become foggy when on the road. If your not fortunate enough to have a beautiful backseat Motorcyle Mama to help you wipe them down every 5 minutes, you can crack your visor and hopefully eliminate the problem. Obviously we all want to avoid riding in the rain with our precious manicured bikes that take forever to clean, but there is still that posibility that those nasty clouds may open up and suddenly ruin your trip so please, just be prepared and stay alert so that I will be able to continue to see all of you out there riding those beautiful backroads on the anticipated warm and sunny days with our hair flowing wildly in the wind.

Do you know a lady rider who would like to be featured monthly in my article as biker babe of the month? If so, submit a photo and a brief description about yourself and your bike. Each month someone will randomly be selected to go in the article and be on the biker babe wall of fame! Email submissions to mrschrisweaver@yahoo.com. Make sure to include name and city and year/ make/model of bike if including bike in photo.