Greetings from the middle-of-nowhere, Arizona. Day 4 of our “Crazy-Awesome Motorcycle Adventure III” is complete.

We picked up our rental bikes on Tuesday September 12. Unfortunately, they did not have the Harley model I reserved (a Street Glide) and gave me a similar model — a Road Glide. I don’t like it; it does not fit me well. But I will manage.

Our first day out found us riding on poorly-maintained roads, but not terrible. We made it to our destination safely.

However, the next two days of this ride have not been so awesome.

There is this weather phenomenon called “monsoon.” Funny, the TV news weather weasels whine about the “monsoon being a dud.” But not this week. It has poured rain.

The rain delayed our departure on Wednesday. Not really a problem, but despite excellent rain gear keeping me dry, riding in the rain is no fun. You have to focus on where you are driving and can’t relax to view the passing scenery.

The worst was Thursday when we rode what is claimed to be the “most awesome” motorcycle riding road in the USA — US-191, the Coronado Trail.

The weather forecast was for sun. Not 10 minutes into our journey, it began to sprinkle. We found a safe place to pull over and don our rain gear again.

The rain persisted, sometimes quite heavily. Add to that frightening strokes of lightning. Then worse — hail. We endured being hit with pea-sized hail not once, but two different times for about 15 minutes each. It felt like getting hit with buckshot. (I didn’t know my Rev’IT rain jacket could serve as a substitute bullet-proof vest.)

Oh, did I mention this road has 460 major curves, including tight 180-degree switchbacks? The road surface varied between somewhat gravely to “freshly-oiled?” Can you spell s-l-i-c-k?

What would have taken about 3.5 hours took us six hours (not including an hour stop for lunch) to get to our destination safely. We made it, and I am grateful that my riding partner is so skilled and safe.

Today and going forward, the weather is supposed to remain dry for the remainder of our journey. Let’s friggin’ hope so.

Life is short: ride while you can, and do it safely. (This is a hint… follow-up in the future.)