LongRider
09-26-2007, 03:17 PM
I know horrible-est isn't a word, but it will do.
On September 20, 13 of us (stupid bikers) rode off to the USA for a 2000 km, 4-day loop through Montana and Idaho. Day 1 was 6C and pouring rain for the 500 km to Whitefish Montana. Day 2 was 22C and a great ride through the backroad twisties to Idaho. Day 3 was the same as Day 2, but started to rain at 7:00 PM.
Day 4 started out at 6C and pouring rain. Sound familiar? Wait. We left Columbia Falls Montana at 8C and rain and headed over the Marias Pass (5300 ft) towards Browning Montana. At 4000 feet the temperature dropped to 3C and SNOW, but no accumulation. At 5000 feet, the temperature was ZERO and the road was covered with slush, as was my windshield and helmet visor. It also froze over. Nice. The snowplow driver coming the other way must have thought we were nutz. He'd be right!
We descended the pass safely, but nature provided us with a continuous zero temperature, crosswinds of 60-70 km and snow all the way to Browning which is on the Blackfeet Reservation. We took refuge in their Casino. The (Blackfeet) people in Browning were terrific and couldn't do enough for us. Believe it or not, 11 of the group continued on to Calgary (330 km), but 2 of us stayed for the night.
The next day was sunny (2C) and my bike was so ice covered, I couldn't get the key in the bag locks to open them for packing. Who carries de-icer on a bike??? The roads dried off around 9:00 am and my bike thawed out, so we had a good ride to Calgary, arriving in 14C temperatures.The rest of the group made it home safely the previous day, but in rough shape since everyone was wet.
The pics show the road conditions during the storm and the "residue" from the storm the next day.
Was it an adventure? Oh yeah......and the forecast was for "rain".
On September 20, 13 of us (stupid bikers) rode off to the USA for a 2000 km, 4-day loop through Montana and Idaho. Day 1 was 6C and pouring rain for the 500 km to Whitefish Montana. Day 2 was 22C and a great ride through the backroad twisties to Idaho. Day 3 was the same as Day 2, but started to rain at 7:00 PM.
Day 4 started out at 6C and pouring rain. Sound familiar? Wait. We left Columbia Falls Montana at 8C and rain and headed over the Marias Pass (5300 ft) towards Browning Montana. At 4000 feet the temperature dropped to 3C and SNOW, but no accumulation. At 5000 feet, the temperature was ZERO and the road was covered with slush, as was my windshield and helmet visor. It also froze over. Nice. The snowplow driver coming the other way must have thought we were nutz. He'd be right!
We descended the pass safely, but nature provided us with a continuous zero temperature, crosswinds of 60-70 km and snow all the way to Browning which is on the Blackfeet Reservation. We took refuge in their Casino. The (Blackfeet) people in Browning were terrific and couldn't do enough for us. Believe it or not, 11 of the group continued on to Calgary (330 km), but 2 of us stayed for the night.
The next day was sunny (2C) and my bike was so ice covered, I couldn't get the key in the bag locks to open them for packing. Who carries de-icer on a bike??? The roads dried off around 9:00 am and my bike thawed out, so we had a good ride to Calgary, arriving in 14C temperatures.The rest of the group made it home safely the previous day, but in rough shape since everyone was wet.
The pics show the road conditions during the storm and the "residue" from the storm the next day.
Was it an adventure? Oh yeah......and the forecast was for "rain".