Mototrip: Thursday

"Yes, you absolutely can." is an answer I hoped I will not get when asked by an AI, if I can get struck by lightning when riding a motorbike. I'm taking a shelter at a gas station (autobahn has very few of them, I went through a pool of water just dropping down the sky before I found this one) about 50 km from Dresden, my today’s destination. I did go a day early, because it’s supposed to be raining buckets at Rovensko tomorrow and it is supposed to be dry in Dresden. I haven’t checked today’s forecast though… Well, you can’t escape your fate, I guess.

Standing next to my bike alternating looking at heavy rain with large droplets falling on asphalt and at a meteo radar, which says this should be the last of this cloud and then there will be a wee window, before I run into one even larger and worse in about 20 mins. At least I had a chance to try riding mode RAIN, and oh boy it glues the bike to the road so good! I also am a better rider than I was 2 years ago and I can go into turns without even tilting tires. It is pretty annoying that I can’t see much from my helmet because of the amount of water that runs down the plexi glass and even more water spraying straight in my face. What concerns me more is the thunderstorm though. I saw a few very nice lightnings crossing the sky like a beautiful thread of pure energy. It was amazing for a second, before I realized, it could very possibly hurt me.

A couple walked by me, their expressions of pity and a little bit of guilt, when they sat in their dry interior of a car. I don’t envy them. I would never go on this journey in a car, no way, where’s all the fun? I could just fly. The journey is equally as important as getting my bike to the Scottish Highlands and doing some nice rides there. It’s not just about the place I see, people I meet, food I eat and coffee I drink on the way. It is also about stuffing all that I need for survival into two side cases, one bag and a front compartment (Don’t forget about the compartment! It doesn’t fit my helmet, but it does fit a lot of other useful things!). It is about the troubles on the way as well as the joys. This is life. This is freedom. This is riding a bike. It's the 10th season for me now, the best decision ever.