Day 6 - Cold Waves 'n Heat Strokes

Well, the pic to the left kinda says it all...the weather guessers were right for once. It WAS cold...so much so that it was kinda hard to believe we were still on the same ride we started five days ago. Fortunately, the motel's heater did its job well, and our gear was bone dry this mornin...but UNfortunately, we didn't really prepare for this kinda drop in the temps. We threw on 'bout everything we could layer...includin our rain gear 'cause it was a bit drizzly out...and hit the road. Normally, we avoid the superslabs like the plague, but the previous day's extreme rain storm cut our progress much shorter than we wanted and still had well over 400 miles to go today. So, we hit I-40 west, and hauled ass.

By the time we hit Hickory, NC we were pretty much freezin our asses off...so, we stopped at the H-D shop there and picked up a few things...like winter gloves, glove liners, lid liners, etc...ya know, all the shit we already have back at the house. Oh well, always good to have spares, aye. Anyways, we head back out on the interstate, and make it over the mountains in good time. By the time we rode down the west side and outta the gorge into Tennessee, the sun came out and the temps jumped straight up...so much that I felt like I was gonna heat stroke any moment. We pull into the rest area just short of the French Broad River to come outta a bit of gear, and the damned zipper on my rain jacket was plum stuck. This is the moment I went totally postal on it...grabbed both sides...and just ripped the thing wide open...much to the amusement of the missus. Guess I'll have to shell out some bucks for new gear...but 'least I'm ridin on to the house in comfort.

Til next time...spend the extra bucks on good gear.

TJ