Monday, May 23, 2011

Shasta Lake: When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!


















Last week Tommy complained that the last few days in Zion were kinda boring. Canoeing down the Colorado river or rappelling off waterfalls is really hard to top, but I guess there's all the little unexpected adventures that keep you on your toes. Like yesterday, when the RV got a flat tire or today when we went mountain biking and got stuck in a thunderstorm.

After working most of the day, we decided to go on a little afternoon bike ride around Lake Shasta. It was warm and sunny outside when we started our ride. The trail was gorgeous, winding around the lake with beautiful views. Since it has been raining unusually much this year, there was lots of high grass and wild flowers, and the water level of the lake was really high as well. Tommy said I was lucky I got to see it that way. We even saw some deer, ducks, an eagle and a big garter snake that was crossing the trail. And there was nobody else on the trail! We were so amazed and had so much fun, that we completely missed the big heavy clouds that rolled in. About half way in the ride, it started raining slightly and when we looked up to the sky we saw a big storm front right above us. We decided to hurry up and try to get back to the car as soon as possible, but we were about 4 miles away. Soon after, we heard loud thunder almost exactly above us. I got really scared. Being on a bike is certainly not the safest place to be in a thunderstorm. Is it unsafe because you're basically on a piece of metal or is it ok because you're insulated by tires and you're moving? I decided that it was unsafe and dropped my bike to the ground when I heard loud thunder right above me. I ducked next to some bushes on the ground. Tommy looked half scared, half amused and then sat down next to me. At that point rain started coming down really hard and then even turned into hail. After a few minutes, we were completely soaked and Tommy suggested to move on, saying the storm was already moving on. I think he thought I was overreacting, but that's exactly the reason why guys are 4 times more likely to get hit by lightening than women are. They just think they're invincible. Not really convince that this was safe, I hesitantly got back on my bike and started pedaling. 2 minutes later there was loud thunder again, really close to us. I started yelling at Tommy, how crazy this was, dropped my bike to the ground again, and crouched away from it on the ground. I think he got a little annoyed at this point, but I really didn't feel safe to ride. We waited about 10 minutes and then decided to move on again. The storm had somewhat past, or at least the thunder sounded a little farther away. There was still thunder through the rest of the ride and we were still getting rained and hailed on, but we made it back to the car safely. I don't think I've ever been that scared, soaked or muddy during a bike ride. Quite the adventure! 

3 comments:

  1. Wow! I'm not sure what I'd have done. If out in the open, I think it's not safe on or off the bike - head for the trees! My bike story isn't quite as exciting: I jumped over a small berm and landed directly on top of a rattlesnake. It was pretty pissed off, but just wanted to get away from me and hide in its hole.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holy crap! I think your story wins. Did you see it before you hit it or was it as big of surprise to you as you to him?? If you guys come up here you should check out the Clikapudi trail.. or you can pronounce it like I do, the Click-a-booty trail. It's pretty easy, fast and fun. Goes along the coast of Lake Shasta the whole time. Lot's of wildflowers and wildlife. Where are you guys at now? We decided recently to head down to Yosemite for the weekend to see the waterfalls, we might do a backpack trip. Then we'll be heading to the coast for some redwoods mountain biking goodness.

    - Tommy

    ReplyDelete
  3. We had lightning strike about 3 feet from us while camping in Utah once. We were under the canopy, with Kuma laying under the picnic table, and we were playing a game. Holy crap, it was LOUD! The tree 3 feet away looked like a zipper had opened it up, and the bark came flying down on us (thank God for the canopy) still smoldering. Someone had pounded nails into the tree...I think that's why it got it. It was pretty scary!! We decided to get back in the RV!!

    ReplyDelete