Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Faster, Faster, here it comes

So yesterday I skipped out of work a bit early to try to get home (on my bike) before the storms got here.  I almost made it.

As I headed east along Center Street, I had to fight to keep my bike going in a strait line as cars buzzed by me at 45mph with only a few feet to spare.  Actually, most people pass with a LOT of room to spare.  But I do get the occasional person that tries to pass without crossing the line into the left lane (passing lane).  

Once I got on the Keystone trail to go north, I was moving right along.  I was doing about 35mph with a 30mph tailwind.  That was fun.  Then the tornado sirens went off.  So I pulled into the Trek Store near Nebraska Furniture Mart.  After a quick weather check to see where the possible tornado was, I was on my way again.

Back up to 30mph or so for the rest of the trip home.  I could see some lightning and rain off to the west, so I was hustling to get home.  I got about 1.5 miles from home and it started to hail (OUCH!).  It was only pee sized hail, so I just parked near a house to let it pass.  Then I put on my rain jacket and started out again.

As I pulled into my neighborhood, the tornado sirens went off again and I could see the offending wall cloud to my left.  I pulled into my garage and then hunkered down with the family in the basement while the storm passed.

That was probably a new record for getting home.  I don't think I dropped under 20mph the whole trip home once I started heading north.  Doing 35mph on the keystone was a hoot though.

Anyways, I made it safe and sound and only got a little bit wet.

1 comment:

brady said...

I was wondering what you were going to do about your long commute home yesterday. Glad that you made it safely.

What I found amazing about that storm was how quickly it calmed down afterward. For the previous 48 hours, it seems as tho there were sustained 20mph+ winds. Then, the storm kicked it up to 30+ mph with 50mph gusts. Within 20 minutes of the nasty stuff passing, it was sunny and calm.