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This passed friday morning, melody & I, packed up the bike & trailer, and headed south, on chrome aveune to 41 west. We crossed the everglades, trying to miss, the rain bands, that were, stream lining across I-75, at mid-morning. we caught a few rain drops at Chrome & 41, but most of our ride, was just over case., tempetures below the rain line, were like in the 70's, but once we got closer to the storms the temps dropped, quickly to the low 50's.. the ride across 41, was an easy cruise, at about 55-60. and most of the time, there were no cars behind us.. Upon entering the area of Marco Island, and turning to the north on 41, the winds started to pick up,, but still able to cruise at 60 mph. with in a few minutes of getting into Naples, the skys opened up, and the wind gusted from 45 to 60 mph, dropped us to a speed of just 20 mph. the vis was less then 10 feet at times. (melody comes over the intercom) Mike are we riding sideways?, No babe that the wind pushing us across the road, I reply......, every cage moved out of our way. we rode straight throw all the rain. I think this was the hardest rain we had ever seen, ( Like a fire hose, wide open on our heads) stopping only once, to let traffic pass us., we made our way out of Naples, the rains let up alittle, but we still rode the right lane, with the flashers on, and could only reach a speed of 40 mph. the winds beat the day lights out of us. (Melody knowing the area better then I) Informs me we have 40 miles to go. I'm thinking "Oh Joy".. Now about 1:30 pm, we stop for gas. inspect the bike & trailer, as we always do., top off, and into the rains and wind again., the roads, became more so bare, as we got closer to Ft. Myers, and we could see way. Trees down, water up and over most of the roads. the winds were hammering the area. we slowly made our way to the outter roads of Sanibel, (Thinking to myself how wonderful its going to be) the crossing of the bridges, this is going tobe horrorfying. ( I told Melody to hang on for her life) the bridge is covered with oil, from the cars, we may drop the bike, if i can't control it. what ever you do, hand onto the bike. and if I lean, to the right, lean with me. even if it scares you. so we prepare ourselfs going up the bridge, as the wind hammered the front of the bike, and slowed our accent to 3 mph, the oils from the car, made it fell just like ice. and the wind, pushed us, into the on comming line, briefly. as we crested the top.. I could see the trailer, sliding to the left, as we start our decent, into the wind, down the other side. the clutch out and in 2nd gear, we slowly made our way, down the 1st bridge. ( I felt like I was stairing the grime reeper dead in his face) the only thing keeping me going, was shear fear......., I pulled over, to regain my wits, and for a few seconds, (for me time, to relax, from the extreme stress). My arms, and back felt like I just got beat to a pulp. Melody comes over the intercom, Mike lets just get there. i cant feel my arms or hands I'm so cold. I'm freezing. We pull out into traffic, and head for the second bridge, this one alot lower, But just as windy, we crawled across this one, and the little flat bridge, the same way. when we hit the Island, most of the people were trying to leave. all the roads were flooded. and tree branches, all over the roads., they had just been hit hard, buy this storm. now, protected, from the winds, the cold creep up on me, and I finally felt the weather. I was soaked straight throw. as we made our way to the cottage on Captiva Island. my body was completely Numb. Melody, jumped off the bike, and headed for the room to jump in the shower, to get her body tempeture back up. she was shaking, un-controllable. while she was warming up in the shower. I un-loaded the trailer. & Bike, and turned the heater on in the room.. then followed suit. it rained all night. winds slowly dead downed after mid-night. The weather reports said, by 7 am Sanibel Island would have no clouds, with bright sunshine, and be about 70. as we returned in, I remeber thinking, "never again" will we ride in something like this. and made a packed with my wife. the following morning. That I will never to put her in danger, like that again. The next morning: To our surprise, it was 71 degrees, and the brightest blue skys, you've ever seen. It hert to look up. about 9 am we went to breakfast, then layed on the beach, conoe'd, bird watched, and did alittle shopping, and ate at fantasic eatery's. Sunday morning we, had a small breakfast., then had a fantasic lunch with some friends. and we headed home. we found the winds had picked up, as we rode I-75 south into Naple, But was grateful, we turned away from the winds, heading east, across the alley. It made it a pleasent trip home. (Melody) you ever notice, that when people get on the Alley, the seem to drive faster, like there afraid, their car is going to break down, while crossing here". and you know, its so true. the fear of being stranded...... I don't know, I like ridiing it all the time, but I enjoy my ride, 65-70, I don't see it as a barren waste land. our ride over on Friday 4.5 solid hours. our ride home 2.75 hours. Star Touring & Riding (Broward FL) Freemasons Riding Club (FL) Venture Riders (National) Hollywood Riding group (Broward) Patriot Guard Riders (PGR)
