I had planned to ride down from Indianapolis to Madison, IN to ride along the Ohio River Saturday. The forecast called for a 30% chance of rain, but I wanted to make this 250-mile ride, so I took off with rain gear packed. Fortunately, I changed my mind 10 minutes into the ride, stopped at a gas station and put on the rain gear. About 30 minutes later I was hit by a strong shower. I was not so lucky on the return trip. I again started without wearing the gear. As the sky darkened, I decided to stop at the first gas station on my right. I was dumped on before I finally hit that gas station. Lesson 1: should have started with the gear on–I was being lazy and wanted to get going as quickly as possible.
The ride was all I had hoped it would be: the windy road along the Ohio was fun to ride with very little traffic. I loved touring through the little river towns. One town had a sign cautioning trucks against proceeding further because of the hills and hairpin turns. It practically begged for motorcycles to take her! A later sign also beckoned motorcycles: “Runaway Truck Ramp at Bottom of Hill.” As I came around the bend to this steep descent to the Ohio River, the panoramic view took my breath away. Wow! If you are in the area SR-56 from Madison, IN to Cincinnati is excellent.
Lesson 2 came between the towns of Vevay and Rising Sun. I came into a 30 mph left-hand turn too fast. As I drifted to the edge of the road and looked at the possibility of going off the road, instinctively I pushed my countersteering harder and saved it. Whew! On the one hand, I was mad at myself for not being more careful; on the other, I was happy that my instincts were right and worked.
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