och this stuff hurts

[tanis34]

well i could see the storm in the distance it looked bad so i went a bit faster :smt079 to try to beat it , 2 miles to go before i reach home the wind picked up and battered me then heavy rain drops ,just ahead i saw what looked like a solid wall across the road :confused:,started slowing down as i entered the worst hailstorm i have ever ridden in :shock:,they were the size of large marbles and boy did they sting :(, i quickly pulled over jumped off the bike and ran for cover till it passed
so i was wondering whats the worst conditions you've ridden in ??

[Daimo]

Snow, -5, 2000ft up, 1st gear, on my Nelli, with panniers fully loaded. Even the BMW RG boys avoided it by coming back down.

I've ridden in snow, hail, torrential rain where I couldn't see 20ft in front of me. But this was the worst as i was on my pride and joy.

Also, riding out of london, torrential rain, coming inside my visor, steaming up the inside, but couldn't open visor to clear it due to the excessive rain.

thinking about it, i've ridden in some nasty nasty weather. But thats what you get when your a hardcore all year round rider.

Snow was more fun than scary tbh.

[Bluepete]

Worst for me was a few weeks ago on my course.

It was the evening and night ride across Wales. We were battered by severe winds the whole way until we went up through Capel Curig, heading on the A5 towards the coast.

Look at the pics of the R1200. See that huge screen and flat, slab sides? Well, they catch the wind like a well designed sail!

We were being pushed all over the place whilst maintaining a fast pace.

Very hard work.

Pete ;)

[punyXpress]

. . . despite all that weight to anchor you down, pete ? ;)
( I mean the bike weight )

[dizzyblonde]

Had several worst weather times.

Nowt can beat the 600 mile trek up France to Calais. Nearly every bridge we rode under had some biker hiding from the sideways torrential rain. Peages are lethal in that stuff. Couldn't see a damn thing, and your only comfort was when you overtook a lorry for a second of shelter.
It was what made me buy the Halvarrsons gear I have now. Whenever we pulled in for petrol I had to wring my old jacket in the toilets, the only thing dry on me was my Alpinestars boots.
Took us ten hrs to ride to Peuplingue to the B&B we were staying at over night. We arrived at something like 10pm and the lady who owned the place felt so sorry for us she came with lots of hot soup and rolls for us.

After that, rain just doesn't bother me much. It feels just slightly unpleasant. As Daimo, an all weather, all year rider.

The oddest experience was coming home from Hovis's funeral last year. It had gotten particularly cold the further up North we got, and the M62 is extremely eerie in the dark at the best of times. A blanket of fog had wrapped itself between the carriageway lights, but stops just there, almost like a giant curtain, and beyond that is the pitch black of Saddleworth Moor.

[metalangel]

Done snow and hail, worst was a heavy yet very fine rain... thousands of tiny droplets that wouldn't bead and run off my visor, I couldn't see an effing thing plus it was 10pm so it was dark with lots of head and tail lights. Crawled home, hating every second of it.

[Cymraeg_Atodeg]

The worst I have done so far is when I was riding to Koln this summer with a friend of mine. We thought the weather looked alright when we set off, me in full leather and him in a jacket and jeans (my friend is one of those "old school - I don't need full kit" kind of guys.)

Anyway, after about 5 miles riding the heavens opened and I mean opened! The rain was so hard and the drops so big I could see the car in front and that was about it. All this and doing about 80mph on the Autobahn. The rain didn't stop the whole ride to Koln (about 20 miles) and it was still raining when we stopped and went into a restaurant for lunch. I took my leather jacket off and gloves when I sat down, but, after about 5 minutes there was such a puddle from the collecting water we asked the waitress for a mop so we could clean up after ourselves, lol

[Bri w]

Riding from Ambleside to Kendal one Saturday morning in what was later reported to be MINUS 17. God knows what it was with the windchill! Both me and the then gf went into a coffee shop for a warm brew. Neither of us could speak properly, brain turned to ice cubes, it was seriously frightening. Decided to leave the bike their and get the bus back.

When we got back home I sat in front of the fire with my boots off. One of my socks caught fire and I couldn't feel it.