Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today, I completed the first 1000 miles of the trip. Only about 3000 more to go!
Since leaving Salida, I haven't seen much of the sun. The weather has been gray, cold and rainy. Everyday, the thunderstorms build up in the afternoon. If you've seen the news lately, those thunderstorms turned into tornadoes and hail a few days ago in the suburbs north of Denver.
Every afternoon, my ride starts to feel like a race to see if I can get to my destination before the nasty weather starts. I've avoided the bad weather until today. But today, I didn't win the race. As I was leaving Parker, CO, with about 10 more miles to ride, it started raining. About a quarter mile in front of me I could see the line of the storm. Where I was, it was just starting to rain, but ahead of me it was pouring rain. So, I quickly got on my rain jacket, turned on my tail light and off I went into the storm.
The rain didn't last very long, but after that, I started to see big lightning strikes on both sides of me. Judging by the delay until I heard the rolling thunder clap, the lightning was still several miles away. But the sky was darkening I was getting nervous. I started looking for places along the route where I could get some cover if it got really bad. Just as I arrived at my hotel, the wind picked up and it really let loose with the rain. So I managed to miss the worst of it, but it still gave me a healthy dose of respect for Mother Nature.
I'm looking forward to the next few days. I'll be staying with friends in Boulder and Fort Collins. It will be very nice to stay somewhere other than a hotel for a few nights. Tonight will be my 25th night in a row in a hotel/motel/cabin. That part of the trip gets old after awhile.
- comments