My Motorcycle Blog: Memorable Rides
by Donald Ray Burger
Attorney at Law

* November, 2006 blog * * October, 2006 blog * * September, 2006 blog * * August, 2006 blog * * July, 2006 blog * * June, 2006 blog * * May, 2006 blog * * April, 2006 blog * * March, 2006 blog * * February, 2006 blog * * January, 2006 blog * * December, 2005 blog * * November, 2005 blog * * October, 2005 blog * * September, 2005 blog * * August, 2005 blog * * July, 2005 blog * * June, 2005 blog * * May, 2005 blog *

My Tropical Storm Erin Ride

August 16, 2007:
Sarah awoke around 4:00 a.m. this morning. She made it clear that she wanted out. I gave in. As she shot out the back door, I entered the library to check the weather. From the way she was acting, it seemed likely that a thunderstorm was on the way. There had been some lightning on the distant southern horizon when I let Sarah out, but no rain. The radar confirmed that no red cells were showing over or near the Heights. Just as I concluded that I had a shot at my morning ride, a torrent of hard rain hit, followed by intense lightning and loud thunder.

I went to the back door to let a relieved Sarah inside. We went back upstairs and I tried to settle her down. She does not like thunder, and she especially doesn't like the loud claps that happen when a thunderstorm is right overhead. Which was exactly our situation.

After about fifteen minutes, the rain let up, and I drifted back to sleep until Sarah let me know that the next round was about to hit. It was just after 5:00 a.m. by this point.

More rain bands came through around 5:30 and at 6:00. No walk for Sarah.

By 6:30 I decided I would go for a short ride on the bike. The streets were wet, but there was minimal flooding. I suited up and told Maria that I would do either a short ride or a longer one, depending on conditions. We were between rain bands at the time.

I checked the air in the tires and headed out. Lightning was everywhere--but a good distance away. As I did my normal warm-up ride, I knew I would be hitting the freeways. It was interesting weather for riding. The clouds from Tropical Storm Erin were magnificient in their wind-blown shapes. The distant lightning added an ominous cast to those dark clouds.

The only water was from spray kicked up from everyone's tires. I noted that the lightning was especially frequent out west on Highway 290, where Cynthia lives. Cynthia has been my paralegal for three years now, but she is moving on to other pastures at the end of the week. I hoped she would have no troubles getting in to work today, and that she would have clear sailing on her new job.

Traffic was light, and no one was pulling any quick stops. Still, I decided to content myself with a single circuit due to the wet conditions. I watched my odometer roll over to mile 1950, the year in which I was born. I was on the West Loop at the time. I continued down the road.

There were menancing clouds towards Galveston, and the downtown skyscrapers had their tops covered by low clouds. Although the clock was moving toward dawn, the skies were getting darker instead of lighter.

I took the exit for North Main off of I-45, and headed for the house. As I drove through my old neighborhood of Proctor Plaza, I was surprised that hardly any traffic was out. Which, given the water on the streets, was fine with me.

I drove by my old home on Cottage. Lights were on. The yard looked nice. I weaved my way toward my current abode.

When I was three blocks from the house, I watched the odometer register mile 1960, another nice year. Within seconds, rain started to hit my visor. I hoofed it on home, and managed to coast up to the driveway just as the skies let loose with the next band of rain.

I raised the garage door and duck-walked the bike inside. I got my camera and took a picture of the 1960 mileage reading. I had lucked out by getting in my ride between the storm bands. Seemed like a good start to the day.

See you on the road. And don't forget to think.

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For the November, 2006, blog entries, click here.

For the October, 2006, blog entries, click here.

For the September, 2006, blog entries, click here.

For the August, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the July, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the June, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the May, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the April, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the March, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the February, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the January, 2006, blog entries, click here.

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For the December, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the November, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the October, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the September, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the August, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the July, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the June, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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For the May, 2005, blog entries, click here.

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*Note to Law Enforcement:

All statements of speeds on various streets are simple estimates, and solely for novelity purposes. Actual speeds vary, but are always lower. I'm sure that legal speed limits are never exceeded, anything in this blog to the contrary nowithstanding.