Two Wheel Blogs

I checked the weather this morning and it reported 30% chance of T-storms. I am not sure why I did not look at the radar. I think it might have given me the info I needed to make the better choice.

Joe and I met up for a ride and usually he is pretty much in tune with the conditions. I figure if he says, "lets ride" he has checked all the pertinent sources and we can get in an uneventful ride.

This is what we were looking at as we climbed Buffalo Road (after finishing the gauntlet of hills on Tanner Bridge). At this point we were about 20 miles from home (15 miles if you take major highways). A few minutes later we experienced the red band in the next photo.

That is a screen capture from my phone after I got home, dry, and warmed up. At this point the hardest part of the storm had passed.

I really do not like the term, "epic" in the same way that I do not really like, "awesome". Those terms get thrown around a lot and have become synonymous with, "good" or "slightly more noteworthy than typical". In that regard, I will attempt to not assign such terms to this ride.

Suffice to say the ride went from really beautiful and fun, to black and taxing in moments as the storm rolled in. In minutes the ditches on both sides of the road were full (and at times over flowing). One ditch appeared to be over 4 foot deep. The wind was somewhat remarkable in that rain felt a bit like needles on the skin.

We finished the ride shivering and wet as it rained very hard on us for the entire return home.

If I had checked the Radar prior to the ride/route plan, I might have either selected a shorter route, or even ridden inside...but I would not have this experience to share I suppose.

In the end I really do not know how far we went (my "water proof" computer stopped working shortly after the rain and wind started). I might guess that it was a little over 50 miles, but I am not sure. The training stress was certainly a different sort. I am pretty sure I built on some handling skills, and I definitely was operating in that zone characterized as "not comfortable".

Oh, I almost forgot the lightening display! That was really something that I will utterly fail to put into words. We had lightening displays that were very close (almost simultaneous with the thunder crash). The way the arcs split and appeared to dance across the road in front of us is something I will not likely forget. The way the traces would decay slowly and seem to regenerate was interesting also. To say it was a brilliant display of nature seems to fall way short. Perhaps not the best way to experience this sort of thing, but I think the experience would be far less exciting from a drier/safer vantage point.