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Archive for May, 2008

Ok, it wasn’t hurricane, it was more of a tornado watch, but that doesn’t have quite the same zing as my title…

In keeping with my cycling, I headed out for a quick trip. Well, nature seemed to have different plans and a large storm was starting to come together. Undaunted, Donna and I headed out thinking we would stay close to the house and dart back if in the rain came. We were closing on a quick 3 miles when the tornado watch sirens starting going off, the wind really started to pick up and a few drops come barreling down.

We were right at the entrance of the neighborhood so we headed back in and we stayed right in front of the storm the whole time. You could really start to see the clouds getting black and hear the thunder off in the distance; that low grumble that starts to rattle everything like a train coming at you.

The sirens kept going off and people started to come out to see what kind of situation was brewing. Fingers pointed at the sky and the trees as we kept rolling. I did see a couple of “swirls” in the clouds, which of course took me back to my days in Colorado where I watched plenty of tornadoes form and drop down out of the sky. I also remember when I lived in Nebraska how my Dad and I watched a tornado form overhead and the funnel came down and cut a path in a cornfield off in the distance. The clouds were dark and they spun quickly overhead. It’s not something you see very often, and not something you stand under, but there I was with swirling clouds of the tornado right above me. Foolish, yes, but something I still remember.

Donna and I pulled into the driveway as the wind started to whip up and the cold rain was just starting to come down. There were all the signs of something dangerous about to happen, and the rain and thunder seemed to drive home the point. But within a couple of minutes it all subsided and disappeared.

I guess the tornado had somewhere else to be…

Not content with just being on land, I decided it was time to be on the water as well. I ended up doing something rather unexpected and went kayaking last night on Lake Wylie. There was a Moonlight kayak tour so Donna and I headed out with the small group to paddle around as the sun was setting.

As soon as I slipped away from the boat ramp a flood of memories came back to me. It’s been decades since I went kayaking, but the last time I did was in Australia when I was perhaps 12 or 13 years old on a 3 day camping trip for school. There were about 6 of us and we would paddle for several miles during the day and then camp for the night.

It was a huge kayak, or at least it seemed huge to me at the time, and it was stuffed with several days work of camping gear in the front and the back. It was a great time, paddling along, looking at the scenery, the wildlife, camping out “in the bush” so to speak and as I slipped a few feet from shore and took my first couple of strokes with the paddle I remembered that little adventure.

And while last night was only a few hours it compared very nicely. We paddled along at an easy pace watching the Heron’s, Osprey, and what I hope were the splashes of some large fish.

It was only a foot or so deep, but as it began to get dark it certainly felt like the open water. We headed down to the rookery where the Heron’s would nest and I noted at least three sitting in the high perches watching us go by. Several others circled overhead and the sight of them kept making me think Pterodactyls were going to swoop down on us.

I was pretty much getting the hang of everything and I kept remembering all the kangaroos, goannas and galahs I saw when I was down in Australia. And as the darkness blurred the landscape it looked pretty much the same to me.

For the final stretch we came around the shoreline and stared full on into a full moon. It was a brilliant moment, to sit there in the dark, on the water, with the soft sound of the water slapping the side of the kayak or the gentle paddling off distance as people moved to take in the full view. It was such a clear view and I sat there floating along thinking this was a pretty cool thing to do.

Well, it’s not like riding a bike, it is riding a bike. For the past month I have been making time to go bike riding in the evenings and on the weekends. So far I have done pretty well. I’m able to go 10 miles without too much trouble, 15 miles isn’t too bad with a break or two, and 20 miles can be done, but it takes a little while. The rides after work usually hit around 10 miles or less. On the weekends I go all out and try to go as far as possible.

I’ve had my mountain bike for years, so this isn’t a new purchase, but like so many others I’m sure, it’s been collecting dust for several years and has only recently seen the light of day again.

When I first got it I went riding after work with some friends. We went pretty frequently and for that year I put some good miles and some good scratches on it. Then the cold weather came and the bike hit storage with the idea it would be brought back out as soon as the weather was good again.

Well, the weather was good, but I wasn’t, and the bike stayed in storage.

Then I got a completely screwy schedule with work where I was putting in 60 hours a week and getting on the big was the last thing I wanted, even though I needed it.

But so far I have made amends. I have been diligent with my riding. It’s a goal of mine to actually start riding to work and leave the car at home. It’s about 12 miles to work, but it’s not the distance, but the condition of the roads that has me concerned. No sidewalk, no shoulder and rush hour traffic don’t mix, so there is some doubt this will actually happen. I haven’t given up on it, I just need the right route.

I have some cycling adventures coming up so we’ll see how many miles I can put behind me.

Peddle on!