I am now a skilled rider....

Yesterday was the Riders Edge Skilled Riders Course. It was also the day the rains came.

I had to be at the dealership at 8 am so I woke up about 6:15 to get ready and head out. I woke up to a tremendous thunderstorm, including rain. Fortunatley it was a fast moving storm so by 7 am, the rain had tapered off somewhat. Radar showed that 380 was probably not a good idea so I took 121 and managed to get to the dealership on time as the rain was not so bad to impact my travel time. Only two crashes of lightening in the Colony area and one minor downpour.

We had 9 riders show up, with 3 no-shows. All 9 of us were from the club. Paul Martin didn't make it and Holly didn't know the other two. I don't think there was a moment the whole day that it didn't rain, although for the most part it was relatively light. We actually got caught indoors in what was probably the heaviest shower during the class, except for perhaps at the end when we quickly finished up due to a storm cell that had lots of lightening.

The rain made for interesting challenges, starting up with having to wear bulky clothes do deal with both the cool temperatures and the rain. Then of course most of the training was slow riding, so googles and shields were fogging up. Cold, wet hands. Finally of course were riding conditions. Rain makes for slippery conditions. The course is new, a back parking lot that has seen little traffic except for riders edge classes, and the lot has painted lines, so those lines were very slippery, both underfoot and under tire.

Everybody passed and no one had any signicant issues with the conditions, a few brake lockups (myself included) and a few slippy slides on the lines. Also myself included. But scarier was off the course.

When we went for lunch (also in the rain...) I accellerated out of a turn on a yellow line and got a tiny bit sideways. And on the way home, on Mayhill, there was a very slippery spot coming into a stop sign that I had no traction at all. Quickly recovered with no issues, but just highlights the dangers for motorcyclists in wet weather.

Total rainfall for Mckinney, 3.61 inches, total rainfall in Denton, where I was, only 2 inches. Oh the rains stopped around supper time....