Not chasing a storm but being chased by it
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:21 pm
I Took a vacation day today because the kids had off school. They all pretty much went their own ways so I decided to go for a bike ride. I checked TWC local radar before I left and saw some green blobs to the northwest heading generally this way. I figured that they'd be in this vicinity in about an hour and a half if they held together.
The worst thing that can happen on a 21-year-old racing bike is to get caught in the rain. The bearings are not the modern sealed type and if you get rained on hard you have to tear them apart and re-grease them which is about a 3 hour job. If you don't, you'll be scouring ebay for replacement parts. So if I was going to go, I better get going.
Anyway, I decided to head out towards the northwest. Heading towads the weather, you can see it coming, and turn around in time to try to stay ahead of it coming home. (If you go out in another direction, you can get caught in the rain miles from home and have to wait it out)
I got out 9 miles and while the sky above me was blue, but there were clouds moving in from the northwest and there were dark clouds to the north. I thought that maybe the rain would go past to the north. Suddenly I was getting hit by a few scattered big raindrops. I wondered where they came from! When I got to the top of a hill, I scanned the sky and decided it was time to turn back. I took a road in a southerly direction, thinking that I'd go a while and then turn east. That worked for a while, but then I noticed another cell bearing down on me from the west. I stopped and studied the formations. There was a central area where it looked like streamers coming down from the cloud. That's rain. By then a westerly wind had kicked up. I turned east and rode that tailwind just ahead of the storm the whole way home. That storm was nipping at my heels the whole way. As soon as I got onto my street, I looked back. Holy Crap! lightning and a black sky was right almost on top of me. I came inside and it wasn't a few minutes until that storm was overhead. I got back dry though! It was only a 19 mile ride but it looks like the weather will be ok on saturday.
The worst thing that can happen on a 21-year-old racing bike is to get caught in the rain. The bearings are not the modern sealed type and if you get rained on hard you have to tear them apart and re-grease them which is about a 3 hour job. If you don't, you'll be scouring ebay for replacement parts. So if I was going to go, I better get going.
Anyway, I decided to head out towards the northwest. Heading towads the weather, you can see it coming, and turn around in time to try to stay ahead of it coming home. (If you go out in another direction, you can get caught in the rain miles from home and have to wait it out)
I got out 9 miles and while the sky above me was blue, but there were clouds moving in from the northwest and there were dark clouds to the north. I thought that maybe the rain would go past to the north. Suddenly I was getting hit by a few scattered big raindrops. I wondered where they came from! When I got to the top of a hill, I scanned the sky and decided it was time to turn back. I took a road in a southerly direction, thinking that I'd go a while and then turn east. That worked for a while, but then I noticed another cell bearing down on me from the west. I stopped and studied the formations. There was a central area where it looked like streamers coming down from the cloud. That's rain. By then a westerly wind had kicked up. I turned east and rode that tailwind just ahead of the storm the whole way home. That storm was nipping at my heels the whole way. As soon as I got onto my street, I looked back. Holy Crap! lightning and a black sky was right almost on top of me. I came inside and it wasn't a few minutes until that storm was overhead. I got back dry though! It was only a 19 mile ride but it looks like the weather will be ok on saturday.
