Climate change affects everything and everyone, no matter who you are, what you do and wherever you are. Increasingly, it seems that of the four seasons of the year, we have lost two of them: Autumn and Spring.
We went from extreme cold to blazing heat, from floods to extreme drought, in short, it is increasingly difficult to predict what the weather will be like in the medium term: at least a week in advance.
For us motorcyclists, planning long trips outside our comfort zone is becoming an even greater challenge: when to go, where to go and what equipment to use?
We are facing a paradigm shift when it comes to planning summer or winter trips.
As I wrote in another text, on our travels, we have come across extreme phenomena on the road, in which we fortunately had the opportunity to stop and wait for the situation to pass, as these are generally very violent, even if short. But there were other situations where it was a mountain highway, with no rest or service areas, and we had to continue.
Of course, we adapt our attitude to road conditions, and experience plays a decisive role in minimizing risk, but for extreme phenomena, extreme measures! TO STOP!
Therefore, I understand that we will have to have greater flexibility in our planning, for the sake of our security.
Already this year, in this month of June in which I write, prudence ordered me to cancel a trip planned a few months ago. A few days before we left, the weather conditions became adverse throughout Europe, with orange alerts for thunderstorms and heavy rain in several places along the route, as well as strong wind and the possibility of hail.
The exponential increase in risk, associated with an obvious decrease in pleasure in enjoying the trip, meant that reason took precedence over the heart.
There are always those who say (Portuguese way of saying): I will always go, even if it “rains pocketknives”. One thing is to know that, despite the weather forecast being favorable, there is always a positive doubt associated with the current frequent instability of the weather, which could affect the course of the trip. Another thing is to know that a storm is expected to occur and go out on your motorcycle anyway.
From my personal experience, I always tend to consider the fact that, in itself, life already has so many challenges and risks that we have to take, that it doesn’t make sense to add a few more, simply for pleasure! It is almost antagonistic.
All this forces us to be open-minded to be as flexible as possible.
Both from a planning point of view and from the way we approach traveling by motorbike, we always have several options, result from the situation we are faced with:
– Cancel or postpone the trip;
– Adjust the route according to weather forecasts;
– Add another day or two of travel to our planning, in case the worst forecasts are confirmed, and we must stay longer in one place or stop more often.
It is flexibility and open-mindedness in the face of the current paradigm of (un)predictability of weather conditions, which will allow us to continue enjoying our passion, ALWAYS prioritizing safety.
Enjoy your ride,
