I had a similar ride with a friend a couple years back, except it was at a local mtb trail. We wanted to get some riding in before predicted storms hit, but wound up getting caught out, menaced by lots of falling branches, then quarter sized hail with 1-3 second flash-to-bang-time lightning, then sheets and buckets of rain and shifting winds, before we made it back to his truck and the beer. The clouds overhead were clearly swirling at a couple of points, and I very nearly jumped into a ditch to hang onto a pipe railing that bounds the park we were in - the lightning convinced me to keep going.

Turns out that a small-medium sized tornado skipped right past us and tossed some roofs and fences around in nearby Flower Mound, TX. Driving home later, I had to get out and clear a 10 foot trampoline from the road that blew in from somewhere - there were no homes or yards within a 1/4 mile of it.

When I got home, I learned that I really should have turned my phone back on and called in. I had turned it off when the rain started. My Beloved Redhead knew about the storms had been calling for an hour and was freaked right out.