Picture from my bike ride today at 4 miles into my planned 20 mile ride. At the point where I stopped and snapped this shot, I knew the rest of the ride was going to be a race because that storm had a bulls eye on me and my route home was parallel to its advance. So only went 1 mile further, saw the lightening and heard the thunder. Pulled up my radar app on my phone, and thought "uh oh!" at the display which had originally claimed I had plenty of time for my ride before the storm reached my area. Well that wasn't the case anymore. The storm had moved a lot faster then I anticipated. It was bad. Really bad. I had three choices - - find shelter right away, catch the 3 mile gravel road just a half mile away which meant slow riding but slightly closer to home, or the 5 miles of paved road back which was faster but longer. I chose faster, and turned around to book it home. Had to go 20-22 mph coming back in aero position to keep up my speed and close the miles as the storm was coming at me from the side and moving far faster than me. I could see the curtain of rain as it came over the mountains, obscuring everything in its path, north and south, for miles. I reached the garage, flying, just 30 seconds before the downpour hit. The rain came down in torrents with gale force winds as I got off my bike, gasping for breath and drenched in sweat. This was probably the fastest 5 mile sprint I've ever done.

It was awesome!

Got the rest of the 20 mile ride in just before sunset, arriving back home as dusk was settling into evening. Now relaxing with feet up on the sofa in the screened in porch, a fan overhead, glass of iced tea in hand, dogs on the sofa with me asleep at my feet, and the nightime peaceful with an abundance of nocturnal sounds all around me.