Well, had my first riding experience with the strong crosswinds you guys have around here.
Had to make a run up to Vegas today to talk with the folks at Camping World about some warranty work on my rig. Since I was in the area, I decided to head over to Boulder City and check out Hoover Dam before heading back south. That really isn't germane to the subject, except that it delayed my return by a couple of hours, so that I had to ride thru a few afternoon storm cells on the way back to Bullhead City.
Turning south out of Henderson, NV on US-95... I could see the dark clouds & rain showers ahead in the distance. It had been windy all day, but nothing compared to when I rode under that cell. IMMEDIATE strong headwinds, as the rain began to pour. About 2 miles into it, the wind suddenly shifted to an equally strong, but a 180-degree tailwind.
My first experience with what we in aviation call a microburst... Wow!
I rode in and out of a few more cells without event as I rode thru Seachlight and Cal-Nev-Ari, before turning east on NV-163 towards Laughlin.
Now is when I received my education on your crosswinds. Those of you who are familiar with the area should be able to picture it easily.
As I began climbing the ridge, up ahead I could see an almost complete brown-out of dust, dirt, and debris blowing from right to left across the road just past the raised terrain that was currently shielding me from the wind. Now I've ridden in pretty stiff crosswinds before, so I wasn't overly concerned... except for the constant stream of tumbleweeds & sticks I was seeing blown across the road.
As I passed by the hill, I readied myself for the onslaught to come... but not sure I was really ready for the assault I received. I leaned right, held the grips, and raised my right elbow to block a the blur of something I saw headed my way... and was still blown from the right lane midway into the left before I caught it. Knowing that stopping and waiting things out wasn't really an option at that point, I continued on... riding in a 20-to-30 degree right lean for the next 4 or 5 miles until I made the big left turn at the top of the ridge.
Once I got on the east side of the ridge, although the wind from the south was still pretty stiff... it was nothing like it had been on the west side, and the final 10 miles into Laughlin and across the river back into AZ were uneventful. But I now have a new appreciation for the winds I've read about you guys out here in the west experiencing over the past few years.
Had to make a run up to Vegas today to talk with the folks at Camping World about some warranty work on my rig. Since I was in the area, I decided to head over to Boulder City and check out Hoover Dam before heading back south. That really isn't germane to the subject, except that it delayed my return by a couple of hours, so that I had to ride thru a few afternoon storm cells on the way back to Bullhead City.
Turning south out of Henderson, NV on US-95... I could see the dark clouds & rain showers ahead in the distance. It had been windy all day, but nothing compared to when I rode under that cell. IMMEDIATE strong headwinds, as the rain began to pour. About 2 miles into it, the wind suddenly shifted to an equally strong, but a 180-degree tailwind.
My first experience with what we in aviation call a microburst... Wow!
I rode in and out of a few more cells without event as I rode thru Seachlight and Cal-Nev-Ari, before turning east on NV-163 towards Laughlin.
Now is when I received my education on your crosswinds. Those of you who are familiar with the area should be able to picture it easily.
As I began climbing the ridge, up ahead I could see an almost complete brown-out of dust, dirt, and debris blowing from right to left across the road just past the raised terrain that was currently shielding me from the wind. Now I've ridden in pretty stiff crosswinds before, so I wasn't overly concerned... except for the constant stream of tumbleweeds & sticks I was seeing blown across the road.
As I passed by the hill, I readied myself for the onslaught to come... but not sure I was really ready for the assault I received. I leaned right, held the grips, and raised my right elbow to block a the blur of something I saw headed my way... and was still blown from the right lane midway into the left before I caught it. Knowing that stopping and waiting things out wasn't really an option at that point, I continued on... riding in a 20-to-30 degree right lean for the next 4 or 5 miles until I made the big left turn at the top of the ridge.
Once I got on the east side of the ridge, although the wind from the south was still pretty stiff... it was nothing like it had been on the west side, and the final 10 miles into Laughlin and across the river back into AZ were uneventful. But I now have a new appreciation for the winds I've read about you guys out here in the west experiencing over the past few years.