Day 14
♫ Rain drops keep falling on my head ♪

DAILY REPORT:  Just don't know where to start today...to say today was a tough day would be like saying Mount Everest is pretty high.  I hope I can stay awake long enough to type this up...and hope I can do it justice.  I'll start from last night.

We were evacuated to the storm shelter at the motel twice last night around 8:00 due to a tornado threat.  If you've been watching the national weather you know we've been in a severe weather pattern for a couple days.  I've never seen anything like this pattern as the storms seem to be just following our path and coming at us one after another.  All evening severe storms kept coming right at us and that lasted all night and into the morning.  As we gathered for the second time in about an hour, the riders who were in other locations around town were telling us their stories of where they were when the first sirens went off.  Seems Kasper and a group of others were in Applebys when they were directed to the kitchen during the storm.  They all looked around and noticed knives and pans hanging from the overhead...could this be safe Kasper thought?  Luckily they didn't have to dodge any flying knives while they were there.  Seems another group with Pappy were in Wal Mart and they were directed to the "pillow isle."  Surrounded by Sponge Bob pillows seems to be more appropriate than surrounded by carving knives.

We woke to thunder and rain so we had to delay departure for a bit.  I evaluated the radar and while the riders ate breakfast, I drove the first part of the route to see if it was ridable.  Tornadoes had passed through over night and we had torrential rains so I wanted to make sure the roads were passable if we got a break in the weather.  There were downed power lines, signs of flooding, and debris in the road...nothing that would stop a bike ride.  The road in the first town I got to about 13 miles down track was under water so I had to find a way around...the local police gave me an alternate route.  I returned to the group who were itching to get on the road, but the delay allowed the nasty storm in front of us to get far enough out of range for us to catch.  We might just skate through behind it.

All was well...the skies were getting lighter in front of us and we were moving along well...the winds weren't as strong as forecast in our face so all was well...for a while.  Just before the first SAG, another storm cloud practically formed over our heads in a split second.  I scrambled around directing folks to farm houses and other shelters.  I was approaching the last riders on the road when I spotted a large farm storage shed to the right...zooming to the door, I tried it...it opened.  I directed Bob, Shane, Dave, and AJ to take shelter...they scrambled to the confines of the building just ahead of some lightning fireworks.  This could be a long day.

I drove ahead checking on another group using a farm house porch for shelter and called ahead to find everyone else had gotten to the SAG safely and were taking shelter at a closed drive in fast food joint.  Finally, we got everyone to the lunch stop and evaluated the weather situation again.  Karen and I went to nearby motels and checked out the weather radar...it seemed we might have a hole for a bit so we let them go again...another tippy toe effort to get a little farther down the road.  With storm clouds to our left seemingly moving away from us and another one to our right that looked like it might cut us off we pressed on toward the lightened sky before us.  That didn't last long.

Again, I went into a public building to see the weather radar and it appeared that our road would be under water.  With that info, we changed the route a bit to a road that paralleled our planned route a bit farther to the east.  Before we got there, it was obvious that the clear sky in front of us disappearing fast and we saw lightening on the horizon.  Barb got ahead of the riders and directed them to a store at our original turn point...we waited.

Everyone was at the store when again I went to check the weather radar at a local public meeting house.  Barb drove down route to check it out and it was getting hammered...which way do we go?  I was watching a storm to our south...if it comes at us, we go east...if it passes in front of us, we go north.  But we had to sit a bit to determine which way it was going.  It appeared we could go east and stay behind the storm that Barb was in...but a couple more minutes would tell the tale.  Finally, the storm moved to our east choice...the north route appeared clear...let's go! 

Everyone piled out of the store and blasted north.  The entire time we were heading north, we could see the parallel route being hammered by lightning...whew...I love it when a plan comes together.  As we neared Abilene we could see a storm over the town but our timing was impeccable...we rode in just behind it and the rear riders entered town just ahead of another black cloud that opened up just after everyone got in.  Whew...did we pull a magic act.  Problem is, we'll get another chance tomorrow to practice our flexibility again...whew, we're ready for a break in the weather pattern.

As it worked out, everyone got wet a time or two, but all worked well to insure they stayed out of the dangerous stuff. My hat goes off to everyone today...tough bunch.  The only problem we had on the road today was everyone seemed to be getting lots of flats...the rain always brings more than normal, but several people seemed to have lots and lots...made for a long day with all the delays.  The front riders didn't get in until about 6...the tail end got in about 7.  I'm tired...it's late...I'm...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 

PS:  We dodged lots of bullets today with the weather and will have to deal with lots of flooding tomorrow.  But we also dodged another bullet just as we came into town.  Dave D. was riding with Ken, Phil, and AJ when a German Shepard darted across the yard and into Dave's path.  After another trip to the ER and some xrays, he was deemed fit for another day.  But he's going to be a sore puppy tomorrow.  We're happy to report he's OK and so is his bike, but scratch another helmet...I think Fido is OK too.

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