A Miss or Two

Everyone's entitled to screw up every now and again. And so on Tuesday it was my turn. During my lunchtime ride I made a series of "misses". I mistimed my ride, miscalculated how long it would take, and missed a turn, which resulted in me getting stuck in a torrential downpour and thunderstorm. I guess you could even call the whole ride a mistake but I actually did some of my best and fastest riding during it.

I was trying to squeeze a 17 mile ride in before a big storm. I knew it was coming but checked the radar and thought I was good for at least an hour. So out I went. My ride was relatively dry for the first 10 miles - a few light showers on and off but nothing to turn back over.

But by mile 11 it started coming down harder. I'm one of these people who actually likes being out in the rain. As long as it's not coming down in buckets, I like to walk in the rain, run in the rain and bike in the rain. In fact, one of my best live music experiences was during an outside performance of Gov't Mule in the pouring rain (you really had to be there).

Anyway, I was out, it was raining harder and then the thunder and lightning starts (image courtesy of thelensflare.com). I was doing okay on the fear scale because it was off in the distance. It was only after the horns suddenly went off at the golf course I was passing (which, incidentally, scared the crap out of me) that I started to get a little nervous.

So what did I do? I biked faster. But what happens when you bike faster and faster? You don't pay as much attention and you miss critical turns. And that's what I did.

Right as I realized this, predictably, the heavens opened (I'm talking buckets) and thunder clapped and lightning flashed. Nearby. In a totally HUGE way. And I was three miles off course when I should have been back at my office.

Thankfully, I did made it back safe and sound shortly, after a fast and furious ride. Traffic was light because what fool would be out driving in these conditions?? On the upside, even though I was soaked to the bone when I arrived back, I had successfully navigated a very challenging ride and had clocked one of my best speeds ever for a 20 mile loop. So even though I missed a few things on this ride, maybe it wasn't a total mistake.