Parachute CO to Wendover UT – Today was probably the most trying of all the days we rode. The weather seemed relentless with heavy rain for what seemed a like the whole days ride. We came across a town called Wellington UT and the rain started to dump so hard I could feel the bike go into hydroplane at only 40MPH. This is one of the few times I had to find cover quick, luckily an abandoned gas stations overhang was a couple of blocks away. We parked there for a half hour or so and moved on.
From I-70 Colorado we ended up taking Highway 6 through Price Canyon. This would normally be a super nice ride through the twist and turns but heavy rains made it difficult to see in the two way roads. I caught up to a couple of KTM touring guys and used them as reference for speed on the oncoming twisties.
After stopping to see Jerry (Lorraine’s nephew) and family in Salt Lake City we headed off towards Nevada. It was a nice break to visit Jerry and family as we had the pleasure of having a home cooked meal. Heading out of Utah towards Nevada we saw what was coming ahead. We checked out the satellite reports and it didn’t look good. A major storm was heading towards us and right into our path West. Being that I was short time to get home I decided we would ride a couple hundred more miles while we had some daylight.
I’ll have to say, out of all my riding miles this had to be in the top 3. I’ve intentionally ridden in storms locally to see if I could do it but I was familiar with the roads and surrounding areas (I rode one of the worse storms in Stockton history, Lorraine was pissed) Once we hit the Salt Lake Flats area I literally rode for miles at an angle to counter the crosswinds. Not only were there high winds but the rain and hail made visibility a bitch to maintain a line. At one point the sun was settling down to the West and rain turned into ice/hail. This caused a crazy condition where everything was shining like tiny mirrors. The reflections were so severe I had to ride behind a trailer rig so I could follow the outline and also hope the cars at my rear would see the same thing and not plow into us. There was no safe area to pull over and wait this one out so we had to move on. To top this off, large tumbleweeds are blowing across the roadway. Once I hit the Bonneville Salt Lake Flats area I was in for another new experience. The actual surface particles of the Salt Lake Flats were blowing across and creating this white fog! I hollered at Lorraine to cover her nose and mouth as we’re about to ride through it.
We finally made it to one of those casino hole in the wall towns called Wendover and stayed at this MOTEL not a Hotel called Kingmen. This was a real dump, probably more so then the one we stayed in Panama City FL. At this point we both were too tired to go hunting for another spot. We’re heading home tomorrow early in the morning. I think Lorraine is going to sleep in her biker gear so she could be ready to leave as soon as possible. I may leave my socks on. LOL!!