Bokerfork
Well-known member
I've always hated the idea of "If it saves one life". Not because life isn't precious, but because nobody ever counters with a cost/benefit concern. That being said, this won't cost a thing, so it might possibly be worth it. BTW, Ride Reports may or may not be the best place for this but here goes.
Wife and I decided to take a little Memorial Day ride. Weather reports were for scattered showers but not much else. We left home late morning headed for Cedar City and beyond. As expected, we hit a couple of showers. No biggie. Stopped in Cedar City for lunch and then proceeded up Hiway 14 toward Cedar Breaks. A beautiful day and beautiful scenery. For those unfamiliar with the area, Hiway 14 is a reasonably twisty road that quickly climbs out of Cedar City on the way to a myriad of delightful Utah National Parks. On our way up, it started to rain, lightly at first, getting to be steady as we went on. It should be noted that rain is nothing new to me so I was not alarmed or concerned.
Somewhere around mile 16 I got peppered with a dozen or so hail stones for a few seconds and then back to rain. Then, about a half mile later, as I straighten up from a soft right hander, doing about 30 MPH, the bike slowly, almost imperceptibly, starts rotating clockwise. I won't go into all the things my mind was working on while this was happening. Suffice it to say, we lowsided and went sliding down the pavement for the next "eternity".
When all was said and done, we gathered ouselves together, got up and off the pavement and started the post accident freak out. We were both ambulatory. The bike, not so much. Aside from a gash in my shin just above the top of my boots, which I attribute to the broken windshield, we both sustained nearly no other lasting injuries. Our gear is completely damage free,even though we slid for approximately 50-100 feet on blacktop. I remember feeling/hearing my helmet smack the ground and it wears a small scar as proof.
So. Here is where the title of the thread comes in. Upon examination of the scene and discussions with the good samaritans who gave us a ride home, it appears that just prior to us arriving at this point in the road, a cloudburst had dumped a couple of inches of the aforementioned hail on about a 100 yard long section of the road. The road, already wet from the rain, moistened the hail to the point of making it virtually invisible. We rode across it completely unaware and were instantly treated to the same effect as driving on ice. The reason, we believe, our gear and ourselves showed no sign of damage was that we slid on a layer of hail as opposed to the blacktop itself.
All this being said, be careful out there. There are surprises around every corner.
JSNS
P.S. Apropos of very little, during a conversation a few hours later, both the wife and I admitted to each other that we were both thinking to ourselves, and unbeknownst to each other, of calling it a day and turning around and heading home. If only there had been a turnout a few feet sooner. Damn the bad luck.
Wife and I decided to take a little Memorial Day ride. Weather reports were for scattered showers but not much else. We left home late morning headed for Cedar City and beyond. As expected, we hit a couple of showers. No biggie. Stopped in Cedar City for lunch and then proceeded up Hiway 14 toward Cedar Breaks. A beautiful day and beautiful scenery. For those unfamiliar with the area, Hiway 14 is a reasonably twisty road that quickly climbs out of Cedar City on the way to a myriad of delightful Utah National Parks. On our way up, it started to rain, lightly at first, getting to be steady as we went on. It should be noted that rain is nothing new to me so I was not alarmed or concerned.
Somewhere around mile 16 I got peppered with a dozen or so hail stones for a few seconds and then back to rain. Then, about a half mile later, as I straighten up from a soft right hander, doing about 30 MPH, the bike slowly, almost imperceptibly, starts rotating clockwise. I won't go into all the things my mind was working on while this was happening. Suffice it to say, we lowsided and went sliding down the pavement for the next "eternity".
When all was said and done, we gathered ouselves together, got up and off the pavement and started the post accident freak out. We were both ambulatory. The bike, not so much. Aside from a gash in my shin just above the top of my boots, which I attribute to the broken windshield, we both sustained nearly no other lasting injuries. Our gear is completely damage free,even though we slid for approximately 50-100 feet on blacktop. I remember feeling/hearing my helmet smack the ground and it wears a small scar as proof.
So. Here is where the title of the thread comes in. Upon examination of the scene and discussions with the good samaritans who gave us a ride home, it appears that just prior to us arriving at this point in the road, a cloudburst had dumped a couple of inches of the aforementioned hail on about a 100 yard long section of the road. The road, already wet from the rain, moistened the hail to the point of making it virtually invisible. We rode across it completely unaware and were instantly treated to the same effect as driving on ice. The reason, we believe, our gear and ourselves showed no sign of damage was that we slid on a layer of hail as opposed to the blacktop itself.
All this being said, be careful out there. There are surprises around every corner.
JSNS
P.S. Apropos of very little, during a conversation a few hours later, both the wife and I admitted to each other that we were both thinking to ourselves, and unbeknownst to each other, of calling it a day and turning around and heading home. If only there had been a turnout a few feet sooner. Damn the bad luck.
