First Ride of the year

Well, today was the first real ride of the year. We went around Lake Winnebago, and it was a day of firsts. First day with the new GPS, first day driving in the rain and first day driving in a wind where I was actually scared at some points to be on my bike.

So, we start out, and the GPS keep telling us to turn around and go back home. Omen, maybe, but no, we decide to plug on. After 3 times of pulling over, Ed figured out that somehow the route got corrupted, he got the GPS to recalculate the route and away we went. Ran into some road contruction but nothing major. Outside of my hands getting cold from the wind blowing off the lake, it was a nice ride - until we turned directly into the wind. Holy cow, I have never actually been scared on my bike before until that very moment. I was getting blown all over the place and any time I got over 50 MPH I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep control of my bike, but, I did. I hunkered down, sucked it up, and kept up the best I could.

We needed to make a detour to take Ed's rain gear back to the Harley store since it didn't fit, and it starts to rain. So we decided that since we were almost there we would just keep going. Ed said he wasn't sure if I wanted him to stop so I could put my rain gear on or not, but I said it wouldn't matter, because although I did such a fantastic job of packing my rain gear, I left it laying on the table at home. So, we rolled into H D Appleton slightly damp, wandered around for a bit while the storm rolled over, then headed out to finish off the ride and head home.

We were following the storm, so we decided to stop for lunch to give it a little more lead time. It was the first time I had to ride on wet roads and through puddles at highway speeds, it actually wasn't as freaky as I thought it would be. So, all in all, it was a good ride.

More miles under my belt, some new experiences, and I won't be forgetting to pack my rain gear - on my bike - after today.