Epic But Short Storm Riding

Thought I had a nice little window to get a ride in. I did not.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Atlanta, GA
5:48 pm EDT, Mon., Sep. 27, 2010

... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 PM EDT FOR NORTHEASTERN FULTON AND EASTERN COBB COUNTIES... IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL... FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY!

Whoops. I got one nice loop in at Columns and then the bottom fell out. Over the course of 30 seconds it went from sunny to a big storm. Climbing out of Columns there were sheets of rain, crashes of lightning and chunks of hail. All complemented by rush hour traffic. I've ridden in a lot of storms. This one was up there on the intensity scale. Attached is the radar... big red blob and I was smack dab in the middle of it.

In a way, selfishly, it was exactly where I wanted to be. In another way, considering the kiddos, it was exactly where I didn't want to be.

One kind gentleman offered me a ride. I was about 2.5 miles from home but stretched (or shrunk) the truth and told him I was only a mile away. Being in the storm is kinda cool. I think we score points for this sort of thing, don't we?

Ping. Ping. Ping. That's the sound of hail on spokes during 25 mph gusts.

Clunk. That's the sound of hail hitting my helmet.

So it was a short but memorable workout today. Love the epic stuff. Really enjoying getting back into the swing of it.

Yes, Heather chastised me, called me names and mocked me in Spanish.

Jeff Caplan was working out in the same area. Here's what he said about it:

Tonight was one of the more interesting runs I've ever had. 20 min into it I was face down under a bench by the Hooch trying to avoid getting hit by lightning and also avoid quarter-sized hail. It was pretty cool afterwards -- there was so much hail on the ground it was like running in snow!

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