Chiropractic care for a lower back problem is no substitute for steroid shots, muscle relaxers and prescription pain meds.

Was finally able to ride to work today: first time in about 4 months.

Had a wild ride home. Around 11:30 I ran into a bad thunderstorm I had to pass through for about 10 miles. When I got home and looked at it on the radar, it fell into the "Severe" category.

Didn't need no stinking radar to tell me that at the time. The riding itself wasn't too dangerous aside from the fierce wind gusts and the rain was a deluge. The thunder sounded like 105mm Howitzer shells going off and I was seriously afraid I was going to get hit by lightning as it was non-stop and so bright at times I had trouble seeing the road after being blinded by flashes of it.

Was once again impressed with the headlights on the '09.

Got the old heart rate up there.

Riding a motorcycle through a Severe Thunderstorm at night: Nature's Methamphetamine.

Mr. Planalp Sir,

You have balls. Interested in mentoring the youth of America?

Snakeboy66

Better living through pharmaceuticals, eh? Glad you are back in the saddle my friend.

Eh, more like I have stupidity. I wouldn't recommend anyone do that by choice: it's probably not the smartest move, but I didn't really have much choice in the matter. Some moderate-sized hail or 60mph+ winds would have been really bad. I have a new respect for hail after our house was hit a couple of years ago by hailstones bigger than baseballs and resulted in us getting a new roof, new shed and new car port. That stuff is wicked and easily capable of killing somebody when they're just standing in the yard, much less riding down the road.

How would you like to get hit with one of these?

[IMG][/IMG]

I actually usually avoid riding to work when thunderstorms are likely. The forecast yesterday called for them to remain South of this area so I decided to take the risk.

I also keep a mental list of "shelter" I can get to along the route, like a car wash, a gas station with a canopy, etc. where I can either seek refuge or stop and gear up if conditions change along the way. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of them. Last night I could see the lightning to the Northwest so put all my stuff on before I even left work.

Still, quite an experience and the most extreme weather I've ever ridden in.

It was an exceptional test of my hillbilly rain gear, though. I just wear one of those yellow PVC two-piece rain suits. I bought a pair of those black rubber farmer's type overshoes and was concerned they would be too bulky on the shift and brake levers, but no problems whatsoever. They worked great.

The only "biker-specific" piece of rain gear I have is my lobster-claw type Rain-Off gloves and they're a good product.

http://www.rain-off.com/Buy_Products.php

I was dry as a bone when I got home and I was impressed with the foul-weather test of my new Bell Revolver helmet: no leaks, no fogging.

I did rip the crotch out of my rain pants while fumbling around trying to get my overshoes on so will have to replace them. It's hard to find rain gear that will fit over the top of already-bulky 3x jackets and pants.

Me mentor the youth of America? Thanks, but probably not a good idea.

Thanks. I was starting to get pissed pulling in to work in the Tacoma every day and seeing the "motorcycles only" section packed with bikes.

Ordered some of these today. Hopefully they'll be okay for casual use. I like the zip-open bottoms and also the stirrup things. I still like my PVC jacket, but think these will be far superior to the PVC paints that came with it. More room to move and much easier to get on and off quickly over my boots.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370581409112...84.m1439.l2649

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Welcome back to two wheels. Would be interesting to see what sort of fix a 6 month lay-off would require. Save your cash Planalp, don't think Chiropractors can cure schpincter pucker. Good luck with the back problem.

Thanks. I have been doing some riding, but this was the first time I got to ride to work.

I really love the ride home at night. It's usually (and understandably, I think) the highlight of my day. It's about a 40-minute ride.

To me, riding at night is completely different and even more enjoyable than riding in the daylight.

At night, riding is refined down to its essence. Most of my ride home is along pitch-black country roads. There's nothing to really look at but the illuminated patch of road ahead of you and you're more in tune with the machine you're riding.

I love the drone of the engine at night and riding home at night is the only time I don't wear earplugs because I want to hear it. You're much more in touch with the feel of the bike because it's really all you have to concentrate on besides making sure you stay on the road and don't hit any animals that might cross your path.

You're more in tune to different smells of the landscape you're passing and even subtle changes in temperature as you travel through high points and "hollers." There's nothing like the smell of a freshly-cut hayfield at night and when I pass over creeks and rivers, I swear I can smell the fish.

It's just kind of a hypnotic experience I'll never get tired of. I work 3-11pm and could switch to days any time I wanted to, but I'll keep this shift just so I can experience that ride home at least part of the year.

Kind of sucks when I'm driving the Tacoma home at night in January in the middle of a blizzard, wondering if I'll even make it home, but the nights I get to ride the KLR home make up for nights like those.

Plus, never know when you'll see a Sasquatch run across the road. What's life without believing in aliens, ghosts and bigfoot? Kinda boring.......