Why does it always rain near Red Deer?

By Serena Beck

My husband and I took today off for an adventurous motorcycling day trip to Sylvan Lake. It was cloudy and slightly cool with +14 C weather (which is cold for a few days after the first day of summer, but not unusual for June).

With newly installed saddlebags, a tanks bag, a cooler on the back rack and my comfy sissy bar to lean against (I’m the passenger along for the ride), we were set to cruise.





We headed onto the QE2 and it was almost tornado windy (which is normal for Highway 2) and enjoyed the long non-stop ride. We arrived in time to see the sun for 5 minutes before it clouded over and became quite cold. Instead of using our beach towels to dry ourselves from a nice swim, we used them for warmth even though we were already dressed in our warm motorcycle clothes. We took shelter from the cold inside “The Big Moo” (Sylvan
Lake’s ice cream, fast food eatery and store). Outside the restaurant there is a porcelain cow decked out in Canada day décor.

It started to sprinkle and we left for our long ride home. We just got out of Sylvan Lake and were heading back onto the highway when we saw a huge flash of lightning. Great, we’re riding in the open and holding onto medal- nope we’re not a target for lightning.

Okay, I think, just don’t rain and we’ll be fine. Next, thing you know we’re doing a 100 and rain is streaming down my helmet. My knees poke out past the driver and the windshield so the rain impales my kneecaps like shards of glass. It also feels like my helmet, with my head in it, is going to be sucked from my body to bounce down the highway like a dodge ball.

I can feel snot dripping down my face, but I don’t dare pull my arm away from Colin’s waist to wipe it because I could fall off the bike; and then I might end up like the deer I saw crows eating on our ride down.

However, this is just my passenger perspective. Colin is using every single one of his arm muscles to keep our 900 pounds on the road. His Suzuki Boulevard M50 weighs 600 pounds alone. Colin slows to 70 Km/h as a semi passes us and showers us like an aircraft carrier speeding past a two-person canoe.

I wish an empty truck would pass us so we could ride in the back and stay dry. Next thing I know, an empty cattle semi passes us. We could ride the bike up the ramp and herd ourselves back to Edmonton. However, I don’t think there is a hand symbol for asking if we can ride in the back of a truck like cattle.

We stopped at Fay’s diner for burgers and fries and to seek shelter from the rain. After we left, there was no rain the rest of the way to Edmonton. It was just in that usual rainy/snowy spot of precipitation that everyone hits on the way to or from Calgary. So, why does it always rain near Red Deer?

P.S. We’re doing a 3 week B.C. to the U.S. and back motorcycle trip this August and we will be passing this spot again.