Why it's a bad idea to ride in a hailstorm...

[desertrefugee]

Just completed an 880 mile tour with a friend, camping around Southern Arizona and working our way up eastern Arizona and into New Mexico. Rode the '97 Valkyrie. Six days, lots of stories, lots of fun. We ended up at 9000 feet at one point near Alpine/Hanagon Meadow before moving back down onto the Mogollon Rim and nearer to home.

Rained like heck overnight (Sunday night) with many storms promised for Monday. We decided to cut the tour short and head for the barn. After lunch at a great Mom and Pop diner and heading home, we were riding into a patch of bad weather - first time really getting wet the entire trip. I had no idea how bad the weather really was. Just past the summit of a large ridgeline, it began to rain - then to pour - then to hail pea-sized - then MARBLE-sized. Before I knew what was happening, I realized there was one to two inches accumulated on the highway! At this point, I couldn't see my buddy who was ahead (visibility was maybe 100 - 200 yards). Folks, it got bad quick. Anyway, I started easing over to the shoulder to stop, but the bike literally began moving crabwise (sideways) and I lost 95% of all control. Enough that when the bike wanted to keep going off onto the shoulder, all I could do was try and remain upright. I did until the last minute when I bailed and dumped the bike to the left. Hail was pounding on my helmet and rain was dumping. Holy moly. My foot was trapped under the bike. Guy stopped and helped me get out. Turns out, he was a AAA worker (off duty) with his wife in their Jeep.

My lucky day.

Long story short, with his help (and my buddy who hiked up several hundred yards from below) we got the bike back up onto the road. (Valkyrie's are heavy). Other than a couple of minor scratches on the crash bar and about an acre of grass hanging off the left side of the bike, both the bike and me were none the worse for wear. Amazing. The storm was brief and we made the last 60 miles without incident.

Moral? If weather looks bad, it probably is. I'd have been better off sitting at the top getting soaked than going through that crap. You never know about hail. The pic below was taken by the guy's wife. I'm on the left. You can still see some of the hail on the ground just before we pulled it out.

[flsix]

Glad there were no injuries. Lucky lucky.

[MarkT]

If you get the new Zumo 665LM you can add doppler radar via Sirius - not only does it indicate pretty accurately where the precip is in relation to your location, it also indicates WHAT TYPE of precip - snow, rain, hail. Only had it 6 weeks or so but love it already.  Expect it to come in handy on the Inzane trip.

[Valkorado]

Man, glad you are alright.  You may have some aches that reveal themselves later tonight and tomorrow.

I hate riding in hail, and have been caught too many times.  We've been getting lots of precip this spring, what they call "frozen mix", which can catch you on a mountain pass and paralyze you with all sorts of fear and loathing.  Around here this time of year the weather changes fast and can be downright deadly.

[BF]

Raindar is a great app if you have a smart phone. 

[RP#62]

Holy moly, glad you're ok.  Coulda been much worse.

-RP

[cookiedough]

never ridden in hail, even pea sized.  I can see even pea sized being super slippery enough to pull over and wait it out for sure.

worst was heavy, heavy downpours and even that hurts doing 55 mph.  Couldn't imagine riding anymore without a windshield, although in heavy rains or fog, etc.,  it is sometimes very hard to see thru or over the top of the windshield.  Then it is time to pull over.  That was the case last year after work around midnight driving home doing 25 mph top speed on the 55mph hwy. couldn't see 2 marks ahead in the middle of the road (guessing 20 feet is about it).  When I finally made it home, I was grateful I was still alive for anything much ahead in the middle of the road even doing 25 mph could be deadly.  What made me the most nervous was the car coming up from behind me doing about 40 mph was afraid he was going to rear end me so I kept tapping my rear brake lights every chance I got.  He passed me which was fine with me for I could barely see the right edge of the road vs. the gravel shoulder right in front of me. 

[Cracker Jack]

Raindar is a great app if you have a smart phone. 

Don't see "Raindar" in the app Store. ???

[saddlesore]

Big rain drops hurt bad enough.  I don't want to try hail.
Glad you're OK.

[art]

We lived in Prescott, Az. for 9 years before moving to Orygun. One year on a bike trip to Or. on the Valk pulling a small cargo trailer my wife and I got caught in Utah in a snow storm about 10000' up in the mountains trying to get to Nv. and highway 50, the long straight one across the state. I swear it was a blizzard it was so bad. Well we made it to Or. and a week later in Utah again we got into a hail storm. I kept riding as there was no place to stop and being on a highway was a bad place to stop with no shoulder. Some jerk cage driver passed us doing around 60. About two miles up the road there he was up side down 100' off the highway in a ditch, his car and camp trailer. We did make it home to Prescott that day non stop all the way. One heck of a trip. PS glad you are ok.

[Daniel Meyer]

Glad you fared well.

Yep, the hail pretty much sucks.

I've had stitches *inside my nose* because of hail.

[0leman]

Glad to hear you made it in one piece.

I lived on the Mogollon Rim for 5 years.  Got caught in a hail storm in May that left 6" of pea size hail on the roads.  Thankfully I was in a 3/4 ton 4X4 and the road was flat plus lots of room to ride off the road before hitting any trees.  The storm left only hail on a strip a half mile long.  But that was enough to get the blood moving.

[desertrefugee]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.  The trip was incredible.  It always amazes me just how many adventure you can cram into a 6 day tour.  A microcosm of life.

And nothing makes you feel more alive than to come through on the other side, wiser and more grateful than ever to be able to move forward and do it all again.

(Well...almost all).

Thanks again.   See you out there!

[Jeff K]

Been there done that, got the damage to prove it. In Denver. We swore we'd never go back to Denver. Laid both of our bikes down trying to get off the highway. People just honked and drove around us. A van full of Hispanic guys stopped, blocked traffic and helped us get the bikes upright. Joanne said she would NEVER go back there.