The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Tag Riding in heavy rain

Expressway No. 61, 5:59 pm

It's not a proper thunder shower yet, but the rain is still pretty heavy, big drops pelting me as I go along. Speed always amplifies the force of the drops, normally it starts to feel painful when you go above 60 kph and now I'm already doing a little over 90; every single drop hitting my chest or legs stings like a bullet from a BB gun - it's like riding through a barrage of machine gun fire. As if the pain wasn't enough, the thin rain jacket is woefully inadequate, I can feel myself becoming wetter with every second. For whatever reason - maybe it's because I've recently been reading a Finnish World War 2 novel -  I react to the deep feeling of misery by repeatedly swearing in Finnish: Saatana Perkele, Saatana Perkele

Zhonghua road, 8:12 am

I’m armoured against the weather, warm jacket, rain jacket, rain pants with little built in shoe covers, helmet, and mountaineering gloves. Despite all that I know this is going to be hell, it is cold like it can only be in tropical weather, when normally comfortable temperatures chill you to the bone; and the rain is coming down hard. There is a kind of duality to this; the reports about low water levels in the nation’s reservoirs that I saw in the paper a few days ago had me worried so this is a good thing, but did the government … Read the rest

Zhonghua road, 8:14 am

It’s just pouring down, heavy drops patter incessantly on the visor of my helmet and although I’m dressed for battle with elements, rain jacket, rain pants, and big floppy shoe covers that are impossible to walk in, there is till considerable discomfort. The drops sting my lips every time I accelerate, my gloves are already wet through and through, and there is a coldness in my crotch which I sincerely hope isn’t water soaking through my pants. Sometimes, on a good road in good weather, riding a motorcycle can be thoroughly enjoyable; swooping smoothly from turn to turn as you carve your way through a … Read the rest

Road in Hualien ca 6:20pm

The night is dark, the road is straight and I keep my hand firmly locked at the 50 kilometers an hour mark. The wind is ripping at my rain cloak and the rain drops pelt my body like little stones. The helmet’s visor is covered in droplets that cloud my view, I have to concentrate on the white lines to see where I’m going. Lifting the visor to see better is not an option as the drops hitting my face will sting my eyes and my soft exposed skin. The rain is so heavy I can even feel it drumming … Read the rest

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