I am going to pretend that this happened yesterday ( it actually happened LAST Monday, and since today is Monday that is close enough for government work) I wanted to write about it anyway because it makes me seem like kind of a bad ass and I love to share stuff that makes me seem like a bad ass.
Yeah, that is 'Professor Bad Ass' to you Monday after work bike ride
LA Run Buddy shows up promptly at 4:30 pm for our 4 pm ride (she is so fucking perfect-link to diatribe about her perfectness- that I feel the need to point out her one character flaw, unfailing lateness for EVERYTHING) it is cold and breezy and the sky is looking a little ominous. We mount our aluminum steeds and head out for a quick 20 miler. About 8 miles in I look to the mountains and see something that is very reminiscent of this (the last time I thought I could out run a storm)
Storm 'a brewing over the Palo Alto Baylands Dec 2008. Hail Storm 1 RBR 0I look back at LA Run Buddy and say "Ummmm...Maybe we should turn around to avoid the rain." About 10 minutes later we were cloaked in darkness and I revised that to "Ummm... we may not beat this home." About 2 minutes after that we were hit with a monster cross wind that shook our bikes and had us riding at a 45 degree angle. This was followed by some very hard, very cold rain. Then the hail started.
Sweet Christ.
Hail hurts when you are running.
Hail hurts like a MOTHER on the bike.
The poor coots and ducks were caught off guard as the small percolation pond along the bike trail turned into a white water thrill ride.
I did not take this picture. I submit it as evidence that you can find ANYTHING on Google images. "Coots on rough water" = 10,000 hits. Amazing!
We were still about 7 miles from home and had resorted to holding one hand up to block the sting of hail from our faces. We stopped under a bridge for refuge.
LA Run Buddy - literally quaking from the cold, her face pocked red from hail: Fuck this, call Eddy to come get us!
RBR - looking in my Bento box: Uh, do you have your phone?
LA Run Buddy: Fuck!
We headed back out and peddled like hell for home. We stumbled into the house half frozen, wet, and unhappy. My hubby was sitting at his desk with his feet up, drinking hot cocoa (no, I am not kidding!)
Hubby: Whoa. What happened to you guys? Were you riding in that?
That is my husband, Captain Obvious.
Still that is some old fashioned RBR bad assery, no? (ok, there is a fine line between dumbassness and bad assery, but I digress...)
Sweet Christ.
Hail hurts when you are running.
Hail hurts like a MOTHER on the bike.
The poor coots and ducks were caught off guard as the small percolation pond along the bike trail turned into a white water thrill ride.
I did not take this picture. I submit it as evidence that you can find ANYTHING on Google images. "Coots on rough water" = 10,000 hits. Amazing! We were still about 7 miles from home and had resorted to holding one hand up to block the sting of hail from our faces. We stopped under a bridge for refuge.
LA Run Buddy - literally quaking from the cold, her face pocked red from hail: Fuck this, call Eddy to come get us!
RBR - looking in my Bento box: Uh, do you have your phone?
LA Run Buddy: Fuck!
We headed back out and peddled like hell for home. We stumbled into the house half frozen, wet, and unhappy. My hubby was sitting at his desk with his feet up, drinking hot cocoa (no, I am not kidding!)
Hubby: Whoa. What happened to you guys? Were you riding in that?
That is my husband, Captain Obvious.
Still that is some old fashioned RBR bad assery, no? (ok, there is a fine line between dumbassness and bad assery, but I digress...)
20 comments:
I did a ride in hail one time and I had little bruises on my arms from it. That is some bad ass riding, great job!
i rode in a 'wet snow storm' a few months ago. jeezus. Wet slurry snow splattering my face and eyes. not fun. your ride sounds not- funner than that. But you truly are a bad ass for riding through that.
I already consider you a badass, now you are one BADASS mutha. A flat would have taken you over the top. Maybe next ride.
Woohoo, she's baaaaack!!
And that's the type of bad@ss attitude that'll get you to the finish line of whatever you decide you want to do. You have it in you, RBR!
I'm a post behind here, but I think the rule of thumb on skinny jeans is: if you stand with your ankles together and there's daylight all the way up, you're skinny enough to wear skinny jeans.
"Looking in your Bento box" sounds vaguely dirty to me!
that is definitely BA (not dumbass!) dumb woulda been if it were lightning, maybe... you didn't really have any other choice though but to high tail it home.
i'm just glad it was you and not me :) i'm a wimp about running in the rain as it is.
Ib love it when anyone writes, "Captain Obvious"
Hot cocoa sounds good now...
I am having an absolute shit day (week, month, whatever) and I LOVE you right now for making me smile and snort at my computer. Your hail-riding-bad-ass-ness beats my rain ride last weekend by a longshot. Riding in rain is one thing; hail is completely another.
((hugs))
I'm surprised you guys even have hot cocoa out there.
Seriously?!
My running buddy and I tried to outrun a thunderstorm once. We ended up crying like little girls after lightning struck RIGHT NEXT TO US and set the ground on fire.
Mother Nature is so much cooler from the couch. Yay you!
"coots on rough water"........frickin' hilarious!
Someday if I'm ever in CA, I definitely want to look you up and go for a ride, or a run, or whatever......
Typical RBR badassery indeed.
i got another marathon coming up this weekend.
You are the biggest (no, not "biggest") BAD ASS I know.
How is hubby doing?
Thanks for your sweet, supportive comment on my blog. I know how sincere you are and I really appreciate it. ;)
I love your stories and the knack you have for telling them! Thank you for keeping me grinning! And yes, total Bad Ass personified!
Hahahahahaha! Your husband deserves a promotion to Lt. Colonel Obvious, at least! And a medal of some sort! The Purple Duh, perhaps?
Women (well ... sorta, in your case) getting pelted with hail? This is teh BEST S&M blog on teh Intertubes!1! How did I not hear of it before?
So ... you make me go to SteveQ's blog to find out you miss me, you Tranny? That's way crueler than any hail to the head.
But at least it's not obvious!
Sweet jeezus! Are you trying to kill yourself or run buddy? Because you got pretty close to both!
hmmm...hot chocolate sounds awesome!
Seriously hard core BTW!
Ha! Gotta love a story like that. That is bad ass and dumbass all rolled into one tidy package. Glad you made it back in one piece.
I sit in wonder about the 10,000 hits for 'coots on rough water' and think there must have been some photos of the other kinds of coots, ie. old coots on rough water, now that I would like to see.
LOL, it's a very fine line, like 0.25pt line-weight...I hate getting stuck out in hail!
never rode in hail, but i've run in it. ouch.ouch.OUCH.OUCH!!!
WOW-I got knocked off my bike once by the cross wind. Glad you guys were OK.
Post a Comment