Ever Ridden in Hail?

[JustTakeItEasy]

This was a first for me. Anyone else experience a heavy duty hail storm on the bike? 

Ouch!

 

Weather was in the 70s when we dropped trailer, so all I had was my Thor impact rig, which is basically mesh anywhere that isn't armor. Temp dropped 25º in 10 minutes, it was relentless, loud as hell under helmet, painful, low visibility, mad distracting...a f'n grind.  

 

Needless to say, that was some intense riding. 

 

We were in high desert when it hit, and had no trees to hunker under. Powered up 1800ft of switchbacks – up to some pines and took cover. 

 

If anyone knows the trick to riding in that sh*t, do tell!

[07KTM250]

This was a first for me. Anyone else experience a heavy duty hail storm on the bike? 

Ouch!

 

Weather was in the 70s when we dropped trailer, so all I had was my Thor impact rig, which is basically mesh anywhere that isn't armor. Temp dropped 25º in 10 minutes, it was relentless, loud as hell under helmet, painful, low visibility, mad distracting...a f'n grind.  

 

Needless to say, that was some intense riding. 

 

We were in high desert when it hit, and had no trees to hunker under. Powered up 1800ft of switchbacks – up to some pines and took cover. 

 

If anyone knows the trick to riding in that sh*t, do tell!

it absolutely sucks and in the desert there's no place to hide.. last time i got caught in hail was about the same.. it was a nice day then in a couple minutes the sky got dark and hail came down.. i live in southern NM and there's hardly any trees anywhere.. there's some that are few and far between but they're normally right on arroyo's so you don't want to take cover under them in a hail storm.. we were able to make it back to the trucks while the hail was under 1/2" but as soon as we got in the truck it looked like golf balls hitting..

[Betarocker]

I have been caught out in hail storms, on the dirt bike and mountainbiking. At least with the dirt bike I had covered arms and legs and protective gear. 

[William1]

Had a partial load of gravel dump on a highway as I came up on a dump truck riding a sport bike. Shattered all the plastics, face shield, bruised me pretty bad through my leathers, I was just about as beat up as I had been from any road racing crash.

 

Rain, at 130 while wearing a T-Shirt hurts a crap load too. Like a thousand bee stings.

 

Dust storms are sneaky. Once you stop riding and relax, you realize the dust penetrated your skin and you become one giant scab the next day. Fortunately, it is not deep, a week goes by and you are all better.

[BOAB]

Yes.  On a street bike in full leathers and a full face helmet.  Not a real problem other than slippery.

[AXAxiom]

No, and I don't plan on going there

[The Inquisitor]

Ya at least your wearing a helmet ?

 

And looks like it was not some little dime size hail but some golf ball size hail.

[CR250_182]

I was in Pitkin Co. and we stopped for lunch. Right as we were headed back out it started coming down on us. By the time it was over it looked like snow there was so much on the ground.

[trailmeisterjoe]

Maybe lay the bike over and crawl under it for a bit next time?  Sheesh....that bruise was from hail hitting you??

 

Joe

[Dirtrider 88]

One. Time. Middle of a sandpit. Hauled 5th pinned to the trees. So painful.

[spvanov]

Yes many times in mountains of Colorado

[JustTakeItEasy]

I know CO gets a lot of hail, but we don't see it as much AZ, especially Phx and its outskirts. Granted, we were up north during monsoon season (4000ft ---> 7500ft ride).

 

Got shelled. 45 min storm. It did accumulate like CR250-182 said he saw. Couldn't access phone to capture it all. We had to book it to elevation for cover, and all tech was in waterproof bag in packs. 

 

Those bruises were actually from dime-to-nickel size hail. It felt like napalm of paint balls – about the same size/weight. Got to Flagstaff, grabbed some bbq and pints, and discussed the maths. We argued about and googled how fast hail falls (still being debated, although we all agreed less than terminal velocity, lol). Let's just say the hail was falling at good speed, add in the 25mph wind, plus us riding at 25 – 40mph during that stretch, and you're looking into a 100 mph bombardment (minimum). The faster we tried to ride, the worse it got. 

 

Tried to keep my head down a bit to not expose my neck. At least half the time during the switchbacks we were riding with the wind. That bit of relief reminded us of coasting downhill on a pedal bike or rests between sets when working out. It also helped that my entire backside is covered in gear and packs.  

 

I can't imagine golf ball or baseball-sized hail.

No thank you. 

[spvanov]

Man I have hit switchbacks that u could not believe they where actually goat trails sign said danger no dirt bikes but who pays attention to those lol

[The Inquisitor]

Maybe lay the bike over and crawl under it for a bit next time?  Sheesh....that bruise was from hail hitting you??

 

Joe

Looked to me like he was paint balling and lost ?

[SnowMule]

Yup.  Sucks.... Rain and snow I can deal with (I like snow...).  Wind gets rough on a dualsport.  Hail is terrible.

 

[shrubitup]

Maybe lay the bike over and crawl under it for a bit next time?  Sheesh....that bruise was from hail hitting you??

 

Joe

Ah! One of the few moments to enjoy having your bike on top of you! 

[malignity]

Just once, but not like that. Mine was pretty tiny, dime size or smaller. Geez. 

[JustTakeItEasy]

Ah! One of the few moments to enjoy having your bike on top of you! 

 

That's not a bad idea. Makeshift yourself a lean-to with the kickstand downhill or in the softer ground. Hell, on longer rides I carry a space blanket – I could build a fort lol.

 

Next time I won't try to ride out of it.  

SnowMule said it perfectly.

It's terrible.