Yesterday was my first experience of a tornado. We were safely indoors when it passed through, and were on its periphery so didn’t see much more than wild winds and horizontal rain. But when we went out later we saw trees on cars, across roads, through fences and on top of power lines. There were also branches and debris scattered everywhere.
We were without power all evening but by this morning the electricity was back and an impressive number of government and private contractors were out chopping and chipping the fallen trees and clearing all the debris. We went out for a ride.
We took Route 28 – a beautifully smooth road with a designated bike lane and perfect for just putting your head down and riding fast. At the turnaround point we headed off for a short, hilly loop on country lanes. It quickly became evident that the tornado clear-up effort was concentrated on the main roads and we were faced with several trees across the road.
Faced with a fallen tree
Road cycling becomes cyclo-cross
A more tricky obstacle (note the squashed power line to add an extra danger factor!)
After our short detour we headed back to Route 28 for a clear run back home. We had intended to ride further but the obstacles had slowed our progress and so we decided not to complete the full route and potentially test the patience of wives at home waiting to go for a walk.
A great day for a walk
A well earned beer at the end of it all
You could have bunny hopped that 😉
An interesting cyclocross course, perhaps.