Just Got The Crap Beat Out of Me, For 45 Minutes...

My ride home, from work, is 9 miles. For 8 of those miles, today, I was getting pelted by hail. There are tornadoes to the east of us, and heavy rain all around. Of course, when I got home, the sun was shining.

I managed to miss the actual storms, yesterday, and rode home under sunny blue skies. But, there was plenty of evidence of weather, once I was home.

My yard and driveway were covered in chopped up leaves and twigs, which the hail knocked out of the trees.

And, there were piles of marble-sized hailstones lying around, in the shady areas of the yard.

As I rode home today (I left a little early in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the storms), the hail started falling about a quarter of a mile from my office, and pretty much continued all the way home, with small breaks of a hundred yards, or so, with just rain. I had a tailwind, for the most part, and that helped make it a little less grim.

I was glad to have my bike helmet on, when the occasional big hailstone hit the top of it with a loud clunk.

I lost my nice Gore-Tex helmet cover, last year. So I had to make myself one, the other day.

I put a grocery bag over my helmet, and covered it with with black duct tape (I'm big on the black duct tape...), then trimmed off the excess plastic bag.

It's a little bit of a struggle to take the cover off, or put it back on, but it works like a charm.

 You can see where hailstones pushed the tape into the vents of the helmet, as they hit. My head stayed nice and dry, though. It was about the only part of me that did.

My shoe covers filled with water, early on, so I eventually stopped even slowing for water in the low spots, and just plowed on through. Water in the gutters was deep enough, and swift enough, that I actually saw some of the big city-supplied trash cans sailing downstream, still standing upright, in one neighborhood. It was an oddly majestic sight.

All in all, it was a fun ride. I have to drive the truck to work, tomorrow, so I am glad I got the ride in, today!

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Snowy Ride To The Coffee Shop

I don't really dig on the snowy day thing, in May, to tell you the truth.

But, I jumped on the Funk and rode down to Kaladi Brothers Coffee, this morning.

The snow was icy, and blowing sideways as I rode. I felt like I had gotten a face peel by the time I got to the coffee shop.

I made a waterproof cover for the Brooks saddle, using a plastic bag and duct tape. I was glad I did, because there was about 1/2" of snow sitting on top of the seat, when I came out of the coffee shop.

Still, it was better than not riding, at all.

I am not looking to the forecasted lows in the 20s and 30s, for the next few nights, though...

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Hoping To Get Back On the Bike, In a Serious Way

I got good news, last week, from the orthopedic surgeon: I don't need knee surgery, after all. So, I am cleared to hit the trail in a serious way, and get back into fighting trim.

Now, to find the time...

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