Once when I was riding, this lady pulled up in her minivan with kids inside and yelled out the window that there was a tornado on the way. The weather was stirring up, and I didn't know if I should feel scared or excited about seeing one. Never saw one before in person, and I am sure that anyone who has would tell me I better hope I never do.

Anyway, have you ever seen one off in the distance while riding?

Though I live in Tornado Alley, I've never seen one in person. Most of them are tiny that don't drop all the way to the ground or are rain wrapped wear the only way to tell if it's on the ground is to look for the flashes from the power lines being taken out.

I took this in Romeo, MI... about the closest to a tornado that I've ever seen.
I don't think this was one though. It wasn't rotating and there were no sirens going off but it sure looked like one

Not while commuting, but a small one apparently hopped over my friend Foster and I while mountain biking. The day went from bright and sunny to "Oh. Oh my" in about 15 minutes, and beat us back to the cars. We clearly saw cloud rotation right above us, but we were in trees and wanted to get out of the falling branch zone, so we kept hauling arse. It was exciting.

In 2005/2006 I was commuting to and from work on an Actionbent short wheel base recumbent, and part of my regular route was along the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) from Lock 7 to Taylor Creek. One afternoon as I headed home, I was watching a storm out on the lake maybe 10 miles away, when it spawned not one but two funnel clouds! The sky out there was black, and I stopped and watched two waterspouts moving to the SW towards the town of Lakeport way south of me. It was interesting to watch, and I wasn't in any danger, so I sat there and watched the show. Then rode home and told the wife about what I had seen.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

I was on a week long bike tour (GOBA) when they issued a tornado warning. The tour organizers swept the route and got most of the cyclists off the roads. My brother and I made it to the campground and set up our tent before the storm hit, but I don't think the tornado materialized or perhaps went back up or passed us by. However, it rained so hard that our tent got flooded and everything wet.

I was kayaking on a large lake near our house when a thunderstorm came up from behind me. I didn't notice the storm until I heard thunder and looked back over my shoulder. (If you have ever kayaked, it's hard to see behind you.) The squall line from the storm was really strong and the water went from calm to whitecaps within seconds. Since the wind was directly behind me, I just kept paddling and held onto to my paddle tight so it wouldn't get blown out of my hands. The winds were at least 40 mph and possibly higher, and I have never moved so fast in my kayak. Fortunately, I made it to a bridge before the heavy rain and hail started, and I waited out the storm there. That was a frightening experience that I hope never happens to me again. Altho it wasn't a tornado, straight-line winds from thunderstorms can produce velocities comparable to small tornados.

If the weather was expected to be that bad, I wouldn't be on my bike...but that's just me.

I haven't seen one, hope to not have that experience.

No

I've seen dust devils, huge ones in NM I think, some 30 yrs ago while crossing the states on my motorcycle. I saw a few huge water spouts in the pacific while serving on a destroyer. (DDG-7 if there any former squids in this forum).

I'm 32 years old and to this day have never seen a tornado with my own eyes, and our area gets a few of them throughout the year. If I knew it was far away I might like to see one, but normally I'm scared to death of them.

Closest I've ever been to one was in February 2008 when a tornado ripped through my town, very close to my office, and went on up into Memphis. If I had looked out my back door I probably would have seen it, but we were huddled up in the hallway instead with the news on. It passed probably a mile or less away from my house.

Aftermath:

I got to see one form in a field about 1/3 mile away, but I was on my motorcycle.

I was riding along a highway in rural Nebraska about 20 miles north of Norfolk. A big storm was brewing and I was trying to make it into town before things got bad. A car ahead of me suddenly slowed and the occupants all had their mouths open and were pointing. I looked to my right and saw the tornado forming.

Probably wasn't the proper safe response, but my reaction was to open the throttle all the way and get the heck out of there.

I was eight years old when I watched a tornado take the shingles off of the local grocery store. It was a small tornado and very short lived one. That's it.

I would NOT want to be anywhere near a tornado, even a small one. I've seen bad Florida thunderstorms and been caught in my convertible during hail. Also been through several hurricanes. At least with those you'd have some warning of severe weather. As I understand it, tornadoes are surprises.

If you care to look, here is a Powerpoint slideshow of the damage following a tornado that hit during Christmas Day 2007 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. For hurricanes, they evacuate all the airplanes to someplace else safe. In this case, they were all there to get tossed around like abused toys. Spruance Hall did end up becoming completely demolished due to damage (it didn't look that bad from the outside, either).

ERAUtornado11

Yes; and I've seen other models made by Ford, too.

I've never seen a tornado while on a bike, but I got caught in a severe thunderstorm (in flat rural farming area) with hail bouncing off my helmet. I made it to the next small town and took shelter at a restaurant. There was a tornado nearby, but I didn't know that until later.

I've seen one tornado, but it was a tiny, pathetic thing. I was driving when I saw it. I was glad to be about 1000 feet away though.