#Wet

Stifling heat in Death Valley. Biting cold in Michigan winters. Hail and snow in the Mojave. Flattening winds in the Texas panhandle. You name it, we’ve ridden through it. Oh yes, include in the list a drenching cyclone in New Zealand. In that one, veritable buckets of rain per minute descended on our group like heaven’s own turbocharged water wastegate, driving us into the nearest general store, looking for new gear to wear. (All we found were wool mittens.)

Maybe I’m not your typical motorcyclist because I absolutely love riding in the rain. I find that it heightens all my senses and can turn a mundane ride into one that becomes an intensely-focused experience. Perhaps my love of rain riding comes from the fact that, the very first time I commuted on a motorcycle, it rained – and I was prepared. (I was also terrified, but I’d only been riding for a few days.)

We MOrons love gymkhana videos. Heck, we even love gymkhana from the saddle ( here and here), but we have to bow down to the riders in this video. Not only are they throwing down some impressive gymkhana skills, but also doing it in the rain! So, to you, anonymous Japanese motorcycle police riders, we salute you!

As I slide on my back, the wet Spanish dirt at the outside of Almeria’s Turn 6 rushing up to greet me, I take a moment to ponder the error of my ways. It’s funny how time appears to slow down once one fully accepts that control has been ceded to powers greater than ourselves. Rewinding my current situation to just a fraction of a second earlier, my sin is revealed, standing before me like an old friend, arms open. With my no longer pristine, custom Pilot leathers providing tactile proof through my back protector of why I shouldn’t be allowed to have nice things, I try to ignore the 2015 BMW S1000RR skidding to my left and slightly in front of me. (So much more can happen before it grinds to a halt.) I can’t help but think how this has all happened before. How, once again, a single thought has spelled disaster. In the past, the thoughts were as simple as “I love this track!” or “I’ve finally figured out this corner!” This time, I merely thought, “The Metzeler Sportec M7 RRs have so much grip in the rain. Soon, I’ll be dragging knee!” Instantaneously, I was – only not in the manner I was expecting.