Thursday, February 20, 2014

Wind

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It rained.


It rained from start to finish of my ride Downtown. As always, there were comments of surprise I rode in the rain. Truthfully, I almost didn't ride today, but it had nothing to do with the rain in the morning. No, it had to do with the Wind Advisory for the afternoon. There was talk of wind gust up to and perhaps over 50mph.

The original forecast was for some Thunderstorms, but there was no mention of them being severe until 10AM this morning. By noon it looked like I just might have an adventure on my hands.

Around 3PM a ferocious band of storms sped through the area. It left Downtown completely untouched. Many other areas weren't so lucky. North City and County suffered power outages. Where Heather works had power surges. With this front came the winds.

When I came out at 5PM the rains had departed. The wind remained. I had great difficulty making progress into the wind as I walked to where Billie was parked. I knew or hoped a big part of this was the canyon effect. It always seems windier Downtown.

I'd parked Billie in the little nook area between the stairs and restraining wall. This would be the first big test of this new strategy. Billie has been blown over twice in the and I'm not eager for a three-peat. I found her upright.

It was a challenging ride out of Downtown. I was blown all over. The wind was swirling and slamming its way into me from unexpected directions. There was no leaning into it.


Once I made it out of Downtown things weren't quite so bad. Still I'm glad it wasn't flying lawn furniture season. I mentioned this to a friend who told me she'd found her recycling bin a half a block away from her house. I told her that was why I always tried to ride in "single stream" recycling neighborhoods.

When I got home I checked with the National Weather Service. The wind was 38mph sustained, with gust as high as 55mph. I don't like wind. It is my second least favorite riding weather hazard. Ice/snow is number one.

Tomorrow it is still going to be breezy, but the gusts will only be around 30mph. That's much more sane.

  • 50F/10C and rain with a thunder clap or two for the ride in.
  • 55F/13C and cloudy with a stiff breeze for the ride home.

5 comments:

  1. Pretty cool that you rode, at least it isn't snowing!

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  2. "Single Stream neighborhood".....I'm going to remember that one. Anxious for some rain riding up here!

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  3. I heard reports of severe weather your way. I don't like wind either unless it's a warm wind on a winter day or a cool wind on a hot day!

    Really, tho, there is a weather to suit everyone at one point or another. I imagine some even like the catastrophic stuff.

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  4. Good job getting home safe. High winds are never easy but especially difficult on lighter machines such as your scooter. Don't have to tell you that though, do I?

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  5. Glad you arrived safely. Wind gusts… not a friend of those. We had a hail storm today, also not funny...

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