Saturday was a great day! Only two days away from the start of the trip and I had all day to prepare the bike. 3 hours of checking every detail, washing and polishing left the motorcycle looking like it had just come off the showroom. This bike was ready to make the trip and look good doing it.
Monday morning, we awoke with the anticipation of beginning this long journey together. We also awoke to the sound of rain. A quick check of NexRad radar showed that if we waited about 45 minutes we'd miss the heavy stuff but we would probably be riding in some liquid sunshine. The worst part was that I was waiting till we got to a large city to get Tammy a rainsuit for the trip. We improvised with a raincoat and some wind pants that we inserted garbage bags in the front. 
For me, the first 50 miles of the trip are the ones where I worry the most about the trip. Is it safe to continue on? should we wait? are we going to be soaked all day? Needless to say the day was pretty tense, until we saw sunshine at the Alabama/Tennessee state line.
Lessons learned:
1. Polishing and shining are important but the gas, oil and tires will get you there. Before I could get on the main highway, all that shiny chrome had turned into an ugly mixture of road film and scorched water. Those hours of work of polishing and cleaning were negated by a couple of minutes of rain. The changing of the oil, the filling of the tank and keeping the right air pressure, however, kept the bike in good running condition and allowed us to make the trip safely and without problems. The key point is not to spend all your time polishing your ministry without taking time to do the essentials.
2. Be prepared and if you aren't prepared, improvise! Circumstances may not always allow us to have the latest and greatest rain suit. The main idea is, though, not to get wet. So find a way to not get wet. Tammy's rainsuit wasn't the most "chic" outfit on the market but it kept her dry. She even considered using it again after she did have a rainsuit. Many times we lament our lack of resources instead of using what we have.
3. To get to your final destination, you are probably going to have to go through some bad weather. One of our first motorcycle trips involved bad weather and it was not a pleasant experience. While I had been on motorcycles since the second grade, I had never been more than a 100 miles away from home and in a storm on one. My lack of experience added to the frustration of that trip. After countless soakings on a bike, riding in the rain is just like riding on a sunny day, only wetter. If we have a destination to reach, we just need to remember the journeys of the past, put on our rain suits and head out. One of the funniest experiences of the trip was when we were coming out of Cincinnati and it was threatening rain. We felt a few drops and kept on. About 5 minutes later it started coming down harder. We stopped and did the rain suit dance (hopping around on one foot while trying to get them on) and took off. We hadn't gone a mile and topped a hill and had sunshine all the way home! It might be raining when you start out but who knows what's around the corner!
Monday, September 14, 2009 at 12:11PM 
I once read that many motorcycle accidents are caused because the riders are trying to steer them like a car. When they want to avoid an object in the road they veer away from it as they would in a car but this actually steers them directly into the object. The trick is to learn how to consciously counter-steer to the point that it becomes second nature. For instance, if I am entering a curve that bends to the left, I need to turn my handlebars to the right and the motorcycle naturally follows through into the curve. It doesn't seem logical until you do it. 
