Accord64
Write well, edit often.
- Oct 8, 2012
- 2,939
- 1,727
So I had a close call with severe weather today.
I set out on a bike ride after lunch, which is something I regularly do. We have a very nice paved rail-trail in town that extends into several surrounding towns. I take it about 13 miles out and then turn around.
Today was warm and humid with showers expected later in the day. I checked the radar before I left and everything was clear. The outbound ride was fine and I reached my typical turnaround point. Things were going well, and I considered extending my ride another 3-4 miles to the end of the trail. But something told me not to push my luck, as I was mostly concerned about exerting myself too much on a hot day.
As I started back, I noticed some dark clouds flanking me on my left. It looked like the start of some rain so I picked up the pace a bit. For a while everything was fine. At points I could see darker clouds mixed with bright skies. Most of the trail cuts through wooded areas.
As I closed in on my town-line, it stared sprinkling. No big deal, so I continued to pick up the pace. I figured the weathermen were wrong again and showers were starting to pop up earlier than predicted. It was hard to judge where things were heading, but it was light precipitation. I've been caught in showers before. No big deal, but it's not really that much fun to bike in the rain.
The rain continued to pick up as I closed in on my town center. I started to hear distant rumbles of thunder. Not a great sign. I emerged from a tree-covered portion of the trail to see that everything was wet around the center of town. The rain had let up and I only had a short ride home. That's when I looked back to where I had come from and noticed the entire horizon was nearly black with storm clouds. It looked like the end of the world was closing in.
I arrived home a short time later and looked at the radar. This is what I was unknowingly racing the whole time:
Five minutes later the wind started howling, a wind-driven tropical downpour erupted, and vivid lighting danced all around. We here rocked by numerous close lighting strikes and the wind nearly blew the trees sideways. I'm still checking, but we might have experienced a microburst. There have been reports of several down trees across roads. The lighting detection system showed numerous strikes around (and over) the rail-trail that I had just traveled. It was one of the most intense storms we've had in a while, and it all just popped up.
I know that if I had taken the trail a little further, I would have been in some serious trouble on my return trip. That little voice from God nudged me enough to make a very wise decision. I've been riding this trail for years and nothing like this has happened to me before.
I think I also set a personal speed record on the return leg.
Thinking of a way to work this into a future story...
I set out on a bike ride after lunch, which is something I regularly do. We have a very nice paved rail-trail in town that extends into several surrounding towns. I take it about 13 miles out and then turn around.
Today was warm and humid with showers expected later in the day. I checked the radar before I left and everything was clear. The outbound ride was fine and I reached my typical turnaround point. Things were going well, and I considered extending my ride another 3-4 miles to the end of the trail. But something told me not to push my luck, as I was mostly concerned about exerting myself too much on a hot day.
As I started back, I noticed some dark clouds flanking me on my left. It looked like the start of some rain so I picked up the pace a bit. For a while everything was fine. At points I could see darker clouds mixed with bright skies. Most of the trail cuts through wooded areas.
As I closed in on my town-line, it stared sprinkling. No big deal, so I continued to pick up the pace. I figured the weathermen were wrong again and showers were starting to pop up earlier than predicted. It was hard to judge where things were heading, but it was light precipitation. I've been caught in showers before. No big deal, but it's not really that much fun to bike in the rain.
The rain continued to pick up as I closed in on my town center. I started to hear distant rumbles of thunder. Not a great sign. I emerged from a tree-covered portion of the trail to see that everything was wet around the center of town. The rain had let up and I only had a short ride home. That's when I looked back to where I had come from and noticed the entire horizon was nearly black with storm clouds. It looked like the end of the world was closing in.
I arrived home a short time later and looked at the radar. This is what I was unknowingly racing the whole time:
Five minutes later the wind started howling, a wind-driven tropical downpour erupted, and vivid lighting danced all around. We here rocked by numerous close lighting strikes and the wind nearly blew the trees sideways. I'm still checking, but we might have experienced a microburst. There have been reports of several down trees across roads. The lighting detection system showed numerous strikes around (and over) the rail-trail that I had just traveled. It was one of the most intense storms we've had in a while, and it all just popped up.
I know that if I had taken the trail a little further, I would have been in some serious trouble on my return trip. That little voice from God nudged me enough to make a very wise decision. I've been riding this trail for years and nothing like this has happened to me before.
I think I also set a personal speed record on the return leg.
Thinking of a way to work this into a future story...
