I Am Officially Intimidated

[kfergos]

So far I've canceled a bike commute for two things: Sub-zero temperatures or heavy snow.

Today has neither, but here's the forecast for the afternoon, listed under SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH:

At 2 PM...mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds...large hail...heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Temperature around 71. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. At 4 PM...numerous showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds...large hail...heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Temperature around 69. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. At 6 PM...numerous showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds...large hail...heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Temperature around 65. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Between the "damaging winds," "large hail," and "frequent lightning," I may have to add this to my list of weather to cancel a commute for.

[Reesha]

When I was a teenager and lived in Belgium, my friends and I got stuck in the midst of riding home during a hail storm! I had welts on my thighs! But it's was a neat one-of-a-kind experience to look back on. I say go for it! (but really, be safe!)

[mudmucker]

Comin' your way...I'm probably 1.75 hours west of you. In the last 15 minutes it turned really dark and there's rumbling all around. Large swath of angry red blobs on the radar just about to hit my area...yeah, strong winds, lightening...bit of a detriment

[Reesha]

Still haven't had my fill of midwestern storms. Send them my way!

[jobob]

Well K, all I can say is, if it's enough to keep you off your bike it's probably going to be pretty darn epic !

[Biciclista]

yikes! anymore whenever thunderstorms are announced HERE (PacNW) I tend to ignore them. But what you are describing would intimidate me too.

[Selkie]

Well K, all I can say is, if it's enough to keep you off your bike it's probably going to be pretty darn epic !

I agree. She's our Iron Woman in terms of enduring the worst of conditions!

Can you wait it out? Those big storms usually pass by fairly quickly.

I've been caught in those types of storms and had to find shelter in underpasses or in park pavilions. A few times I was foolish enough to "ride it out" but there wasn't any hail (just lightning and torrential rain). My shoes were filled with water and I couldn't see. I don't recommend it.

[Blueberry]

Please be careful - lightning is nothing to mess with! I'd pass on that commute, I think.

Love reading all of your ride/commute reports

CA

[kfergos]

I agree. She's our Iron Woman in terms of enduring the worst of conditions!

Can you wait it out? Those big storms usually pass by fairly quickly.

I've been caught in those types of storms and had to find shelter in underpasses or in park pavilions. A few times I was foolish enough to "ride it out" but there wasn't any hail (just lightning and torrential rain). My shoes were filled with water and I couldn't see. I don't recommend it.

I'd normally wait it out as you suggest, but it's supposed to go on until 7:00 this evening! That's a little late for me to wait at work, unfortunately. I'll see how it goes. I've ridden through any number of thunderstorms even this year, but this is like nothing we've had before. After the last thunderstorm I Googled "is titanium conductive?" and sure enough, yes, I'm just as likely to get zapped on a ti bike as steel. Oh well, I guess ti can't be everything. :-D

Re: the water in the shoes - last Thursday I rode in rain so heavy I had to pour water out of my shoes when I too them off before I could put them in front of a fan to dry. I estimate it was a 1/2 gallon or so of water per shoe . I also had to wring out my pants, which created a huge puddle on the floor that remained wet all day, and my "waterproof" jacket had totally failed. It was the kind of soaked where I could've just as well ridden through a pond and ended up no wetter.

On the bright side, riding in the rain leaves me with this clean, thoroughly rinsed feeling that no shower can emulate. I'm sure it's the acid rain that makes me feel so clean, but whatever. I like it.

Edit to add:

Not your usual MA weather radar!

[Selkie]

Don't ride if you can't wait it out. I agree w/CA about the lightning.

I enjoy riding in gentle rain, but I hate having to clean up the bike afterward.

About the shoes, if you put newspaper in them, it makes them dry quicker. Crumple it up.

[Crankin]

Katy, I hope you get a ride!
It's been thundering, pouring, and lightning since about 1 PM. Hasn't let up one bit. I was leaving Arlington and driving west on Rt. 2 to go home and the lightning was unbelievable.
And, I saw a cyclist on RT. 2, just east of the Concord rotary, in the worst of it. This is not a road any normal person would ride on, even in perfect weather. I hope he had a short commute.

[Reesha]

jealous!!!!!!!

[kfergos]

I rode home -- in the SUN! I waited for an extra half hour after I usually leave, knowing that as we said these storms tend to pass by quickly, and by then the sky had started getting lighter. I took that as an encouraging sign and canceled the emergency pickup by my DH. Instead I rode, and by the time I got home I'd had to take off my arm warmers and unzip my vest; the road had dry patches.

Of course, I also forded a stream that had taken over the road at one point. The water went up over my pedals (on the downstroke) and may have gotten up to my axles, although it was hard to tell because of the way the tires cut through the water. It was impressive. My chain was submerged (it's very low on the Xtracycle). I don't usually have a wake when I'm riding my bike. Fortunately I knew that part of the road and remembered that it didn't have any potholes or anything invisible in the muddy murk flowing around my wheels. Falling right then would've been really unpleasant. The current didn't seem to shove me around at all and I got through it with nothing worse than soaked feet, which wasn't so bad since I had wool socks on.

The other crazy thing I encountered was when part of the road had just been completely covered over with dirt, gravel, sand, pebbles, and rocks that washed onto it. I literally rode through a small sand dune and had to navigate around two abandoned cars, which were presumably remnants from when the water had come through to dump all that sand and stuff. It was crazy and I was actually glad to have my Xtracycle with its wider, more forgiving tires as I rode over and around all the rocks, sticks, and debris. I also was glad for the snow biking skills I developed over the winter, since I unexpectedly had to use them riding through deep drifted sand and dirt on the road. Having the rear end of an Xtracycle fishtail a bit behind you is certainly a strange experience, but in all it wasn't problematic or anything.

I'd rate the call to ride home as a dazzling success: I stayed dry except for my feet, I was not struck by lightning or blown into a nearby tree by high winds, and I got to ride through a river.

[jobob]

Goodness!

[Veronica]

You're one crazy chick! I mean that in a good way.

Veronica