Here's a story of a ride I took with my son Dan the first weekend in August, 2002.
When my kids were younger I had a motorcycle. I sold it for various reasons, but the kids weren't real pleased that I got rid of it. So I made them a promise - after they graduated from high school and took the motorcycle safety course I would buy a couple of bikes and we would go on a trip together. When my oldest son John graduated from high school a few years ago I took him, and this year my son Dan graduated so it was his turn.
Dan was riding a Honda Magna 750 and I was riding a Kawasaki Vulcan Classic. We left late on Friday and rode to our cottage near Traverse City. We took M-37 which was much slower and longer than our usual route up 131 when we need to get there quickly. Before I left I had told Dan to dress warmly but it was 85 degrees and he didn't take me very seriously. By the time we reached the cottage he was shivering. Once the sun went down it really cooled off.
On Saturday we left and headed through the back roads of Leelanau county for a while, then headed north to the bridge. It was a beautiful day and the riding was awesome. We decided to go up by way of US 131 and come back down by way of US 31. The drive was beautiful but uneventful. We crossed over the bridge, took a quick ride to the beach for a picture, then headed back home. This is where the trip became interesting.
Instead of picking up US 31 to Petoskey we decided to take M-119 which starts at Cross Village and goes south to Harbor Springs along the shore of Lake Michigan. What a treat! M-119 is a narrow, winding, tree-covered road, barely wide enough for 2 cars to get by. I'll bet there wasn't a 1/4 mile stretch of straight road for at least 15 miles. I had been up to the bridge and back many times but had never bothered to go out of the way and ride this stretch of road. It really was breathtaking. Between the nature, the glimpses of the lake, the beautiful homes, and the twisting ribbon of asphalt, it was the highlight of our trip.
That night I watched the weather report. On Sunday we were going to explore Leelanau county some more and then head for home down M-22 and the Lake Michigan shoreline. The weather report changed my mind. It showed 6am as cloudy but dry, 12 noon as thunderstorms, and 6pm as thunderstorms. Then it showed a graphic of the weather pattern which started in Traverse City and moved southeast through the state. I decided to cut the trip short and head for home in the morning to beat the storms. I woke up at 6am and looked outside. It was cloudy but dry. I went back to bed for 15 minutes until I heard some thunder. I wasn't expecting that so I quickly woke up Dan and we hastily got dressed. By 6:30 we were on our bikes headed home. There were a few sprinkles but not a lot. We had no rain gear so I picked up the shortcut to save time. It started raining harder. By the time we were a few miles from the cottage we were soaked. I stopped and asked Dan if he wanted to continue or head back. He said let's go! So off we went. Once we were soaked there was no reason to stop anymore. I kept thinking that this was an isolated storm and we would outrun it. About 10 miles from the cottage the clouds opened and it really poured. I slowed way down since it almost impossible to see. It was dark, the lightning was flashing around us, and the rain was coming down in buckets. We couldn't get any wetter so I didn't really care about that, but I did want to get home safely. I kept thinking of how my wife would be really ticked if I messed up since she is not a real motorcycle fan and it just happened to be our 25th wedding anniversary that day. The imagery in my mind of the consequences kept me focused on riding as safely as possible, given the circumstances.
I won't bore you with all the details of that ride home but suffice it to say it was memorable. In Mesick there was a fire in the woods - I think it was started by the intense lightning flashing around us. When we stopped for gas we sloshed into the gas station, paid our bill, and left a puddle of water where we were standing. The rain slowed considerably in Big Rapids, and in Grand Rapids we saw a bit of blue sky. One of the scariest moments was coming in to Grand Rapids. It had rained, but not enough to wash the oil off so the pavement was as slick as ice. I almost wiped out near the s-curve before I figured this out. When we stopped at a stop light on Burton we could see the oil and gas mixed with water and felt the slippery combination with our feet.
In the end we made it home safely and spent the afternoon cleaning up ourselves and the bikes. We were thankful to God for keeping us safe. My wife was glad to see us until we told her what we went through, then she was upset that we did such a foolish thing. Oh well, she'll get over it eventually. It certainly made my 25th wedding anniversary a memorable one!
Dave DeKorne (Cornball)
