Nature's Fury ⛈️
I’m glad I dodged Nature’s fury today! A helmet cover would have been of no use at all against lightning and a torrential downpour. Rain gear wouldn’t have been much help, either; that’s how hard it rained!
When I went out this morning, at about 7:30, there were already clouds building up. The sight of them always makes me rather nervous; you never know how fast bad weather might develop; and Nature’s fury is not to be trifled with.
Once again, I was lucky. I got home around 9:30; and it wasn’t until around 1:00 pm that a T-storm moved in. It was a doozy, too: lots of close lightning; and after it had been pouring for an hour or so, a flash flood warning was issued. I hope we don’t get any more rain for a few days; we need to dry out after today’s deluge.
Caught Out 😱
What do you do when you’re caught out by nasty weather? I wish I were better at reading Nature; then I’d likely be better able to judge whether to go riding or not. Farmers of past times, who worked outside much of the time, were probably whizzes at this!
But as I’m not that sophisticated about weather prediction, I have to rely on online forecasts; and they change all the time. Naturally there are times when I take chances; and sometimes I lose the gamble and get caught out in the rain.
What’s the best thing to do if you’re out riding and the lightning starts to fire up? That’s a huge concern when I’m up there on the levee; and totally unprotected. Maybe I need to learn how to ride on a slanting surface; then I could pedal along on the side of the levee, if there’s no place along the way for me to take shelter.
Riding in the park when lightning breaks out isn’t much better. There are many huge oak trees there; and I figure that lightning is more likely to hit a tree, than strike me directly. Even so, that could be bad news if I were just riding under that tree!
So what am I to do? Just keep an eye on the forecasts; and hope for the best.