DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER…

…or more accurately a sky by its clouds. Yesterday helped remind me of the old saying, “if you don’t like this weather, wait 15 minutes.” The “Big J” and I had planned our typical Tuesday post work ride yesterday and had extended the invitation to a few other cycling souls we know including the “Wood-man” and “Dr. J.” For one reason or another, the ride list was shortly paired down to just the two of us. Lunch time had sunny skies, temps in the upper 80’s (maybe low 90’s) and high humidity. It was destined to be one of those hot muggy “why are we doing this to ourselves?” rides.

About 3:30 p.m., the skies darkened rapidly and low nasty looking clouds started slipping through the gaps between mountains. The heavy clouds were following the contours of the mountain surface as they fell toward the Richland Creek basin here in town. They were coming out of the north, which is somewhat rare for our prevailing weather systems. Next, came heavy thunder followed by strong winds accompanying heavy, heavy rain. I started checking out the local radar and emailing friends that live in different parts of the county. They all reported the same weather – ugly, ugly, ugly and oh yeah, ugly! There appeared to be no let up in sight and the local radar was showing a line of strong thunderstorms in eastern Tennessee moving in a southeasterly direction, i.e., toward us!

“Big J” and I consulted and decided that perhaps this wasn’t the day to set new land records and agreed that we’d live to ride another day. Having given up on the idea of getting in some miles, I went about my regular work until the appointed quitting time. I looked out and noticed the edges of the sky were clearing. In 10 more minutes, blue skies were making their way in from the southwest. I called the “Big J” and said “hey, Big J. (I just like the sound of that) how’s the weather? Wanna ride?” He informed me it was still ugly at his house. I advised him of the clearing weather and he suggested we throw caution and perhaps a towel or two to the wind. He said he could be here in 15 minutes so I called my “better half” and informed her that “I was sorry but, plans had changed and I really could not accompany her to the grocery store… Sorry Dear!” It was o.k. with her since she tells me I’m no fun shopping.

So, to make a short story longer… The “Big J” and I headed out from my office for a very nice 77 minute (note explicitness of measured time) cruise around eastern and northern Haywood County. Our delay got us behind most of the “going home from work” traffic. We cruised along the Pigeon, clipped along the lake shore, and completed our little ride along the greenway back to my office. All in all, a fine afternoon’s ride under formerly “judged to be ugly” skies!

IN OTHER NEWS…

My bro David has received his new handlebars for his CF bike. His hope is that by going with the new cruiser style bars, he will be able to get more leverage for climbing. Here’s the bar upon delivery and post installation.

Now, if we can just get a picture of Bro David actually on the bike…

LOCAL BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL WEBSITE LAUNCHES…

We finished the initial work on our first ever local Bicycle Advisory Council website this past week. The URL is www.bicyclehaywoodnc.org. We’re hopeful that the site will serve to help educate the public around cycling issues and will serve as a place to get information on local cycling related activities and rides. Please check it out!

I am now going into my shut down cycle. This was my almost last duty before going dark for several days. My wife and I are going to commune with nature sans cell phones and computers until next Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it!

Until later,

- Zeke