Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Its not to often you get to cross a bridge as impressive as the chesapeake bay bridge. I was lucky enough to get the oppportunity earlier this year and must say that it is every bit as impressive as everything you've ever heard about it. At nearly 4.5 miles end to end with a tunnel in the middle, yeah a tunnel, you truly get the feeling of being in the middle of the ocean. On a motorcycle, in the elements, this can give you a rather uneasy feeling. As I approached the bridge the weather was cold, grey and windy...not optimum crossing conditions. As I rolled through the toll booth and approached the first leg of the crossing my concerns washed away and were replaced with excitement. There I was, crossing an absolute engineering marvel with a cold and aggressive crosswind to guide me.  Everything was going smooth, just rolling along enjoying the view. Ocean as far as you could see, shipping boats in the distance carrying cargo to far away lands, and sea gulls spiraling overhead when BAM! my jeans got sucked into my open belt primary giving my leg a good twist and destroying my jeans!  Now, Ive been running this open belt for years without any problems so this surprised the hell out of me. So, here I was, on a bridge in the middle of the ocean with my jeans slapping around all over the place threatening to get sucked back in and leaving me cold and pantless on the side of the road. Im sure this would have a presented an amazing instagram opppurtunity for passing motorists but I was more interested in reaching the parking area on the south end of the tunnel and avoiding an indecent exposure ticket.  So, I raised my left leg in the air to keep my jeans safe and hurled myself down the road as quickly as I could to the parking area on the south end of the tunnel. As I approached the parking area I then had get to a stop, which meant having to use that pesky left leg to use my clutch without wrecking, falling off the side and becoming shark food. I managed this ok, not great, just ok. Now, It was time to dig out my back up pair of worn out jeans, strip down to my underwear and change without being arrested. Luckily, traffic was light and this part went pretty smooth. Ok, back on the road. The other cool part about this bridge is that part of it is actually a tunnel!  Pretty cool!  There you are just cruising along staring out at the water when suddenly you are descending into a well lit tunnel, now you are under the ocean surface...I was kinda hoping it would have been a glass tunnel so I could check out giant squid, mermaids and other awesomeness but I suppose that was asking a lot. You are not really in the tunnel long, a mile or so I think, before you are taken back to the surface. The second span is essentially the same as the first, minus the attempted depantsing. As I approached the end of the bridge I saw a visitor center and thought it might be wise to stop and plan my stay for the night. I pulled in, checked my map and decided that Ocean City, Maryland would make for a good stopping point. I pressed on, not far really, found a cheap hotel in order to get out of the cold rain for a night, and hit sack.