The weather, especially in Montana, also changes quickly.\u00a0 Last night at dinner the forecast was for hot and dry conditions during this morning.\u00a0 Then with a 20 to 40 percent chance the forecast predicted that sometime from 3 PM till 5 PM a new cooler weather front would arrive.\u00a0 Where the two fronts collide, the forecast was predicting large hail, heavy rain and lightning.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThis forecast concerned me for two reasons.\u00a0 First, pedaling a bike on the plains means that in a lightening storm I am the tall object on a metal bicycle.\u00a0 While it is normally gratifying to attract attention, lightning is not something to entice.<\/p>\n
Second, on the last cross-country bicycling trip, I was hit by hail and heavy rain in Kansas.\u00a0 We made it to the edge of a city just as a storm hit.\u00a0 One minute I could see.\u00a0 The next moment everything beyond two feet away disappeared in the deluge.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mind getting wet.\u00a0 But getting wet while being hit by sharp ice is quite painful.\u00a0 In Kansas we were able to get onto the porch of a kind person\u2019s home, so we had some protection.\u00a0 I was unsure in Eastern Montana a similar kind of porch would be available again.<\/p>\n
Since the forecast stated the chance of the storm was only 20 to 40 percent, I decided to try pedaling and not spend another night in Great Falls.\u00a0 As a precaution I would start pedaling very early in an attempt to finish before the storm.\u00a0 I also checked out all the places I could stop and seek shelter.<\/p>\n
I was on the road at just after sunrise and did 25 miles before 9 AM.\u00a0 I stopped for a bathroom break at a rest stop.\u00a0 The bathroom had a loudspeaker system that was playing Montana\u2019s weather.\u00a0 The forecast had not changed.\u00a0 By 11:30 I had done half the day\u2019s mileage but was famished.\u00a0 I stopped in the small town of Geyser for a hamburger, which was quite good!<\/p>\n
After Geyser my speed dropped.\u00a0 Part of it was a strong headwind.\u00a0 Part of it was pedaling on a full stomach.\u00a0 Part of it was that by noon I had already been on the bike for about five hours without a long break, except for wolfing down a hamburger and pulling over to swap water bottles.<\/p>\n
I made it to Stanford, MT around 2 pm.\u00a0 One hour to go before the storm was supped to hit and I still had 45 miles left to pedal through rural areas.\u00a0 In Stanford the wind started to change direction and the sky began to darken.\u00a0 I stopped at the last gas station in town.\u00a0 They said it was 28 miles to the next gas station\/shelter.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what to do with the storm coming closer.\u00a0 I decided to hitch another ride.\u00a0 If the storm showed up before I got a ride, I could at least stand under the roof that protected the gas station\u2019s pumps.\u00a0 If the storm hit while I was in a pickup truck, I was protected.<\/p>\n
A very nice man named Dale, stopped and offered to give me a ride to the next gas station.\u00a0 Dale ran his own repair shop and did a lot of work on combines and tractors.\u00a0 He was going to fix the air conditioning unit on a combine just beyond the next gas station.\u00a0 We had a nice chat and I learned all about the economics of repairing farm equipment and contract harvesting.\u00a0 Dale\u2019s ride was great because the storm was coming from the west and he drove me due east, which increased the distance between me and the storm.<\/p>\n
He let me off at Eddie\u2019s Corner, which was 17 miles from my destination of Lewistown, Montana.\u00a0 I looked at the sky.\u00a0 I looked at Eddie\u2019s Corner, which offered less protection than I hoped.\u00a0 The storm seemed to have slowed a bit.\u00a0 The wind was now a gusting 20 mph tailwind.\u00a0 My conclusion was there was enough time to pedal to Lewistown safely.<\/p>\n
Did you ever make up your mind and then have that sickening feeling that the choice was wrong?\u00a0 About 4 miles down the road from Eddie\u2019s, the whole left side of the sky looked dark and angry.\u00a0 Then I heard thunder.\u00a0 It was far off, but it was clear this storm was going to happen.\u00a0 I started pedaling faster.\u00a0 To make the story short, I sprinted for 1 hour.\u00a0 Normally, with a loaded pack I pedal about 12 mph.\u00a0 The program that monitors my speed and distance showed I did the sprint to Lewistown at about 18 mph, with the help of a tailwind.<\/p>\n
I made it to the \u201cWelcome to Lewistown\u201d sign just as the first rain drops fell.\u00a0 I made it to a nice hotel, called the Calvert, as the sky overhead became dark and angry.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think hail hit Lewistown, so the forecast was off on that part.\u00a0 But the forecast was right that the storm would pass quickly.\u00a0 By the time I checked-in, took a shower and was ready to leave the hotel for dinner, the sky was clear again.<\/p>\n
An afternoon of outrunning a storm was exciting, but also exhausting.\u00a0 My original plan for tomorrow was to do 130 miles.\u00a0 That plan is totally unrealistic.\u00a0 Caleb, who checked me into the hotel suggested a shorter ride of 55 miles instead.\u00a0 Caleb is a clearly a smart man.\u00a0 I will sleep in tomorrow morning and take it relatively easy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometimes life and the weather change suddenly.\u00a0 First, the life change story and then the weather. I have worked at Ohio State University as a researcher for the past 23 years.\u00a0 My sudden life change is that I am retiring from OSU at the end of August.\u00a0 I have enjoyed working at OSU very much.\u00a0 … Continue reading Day 12: Great Falls, to Lewistown Montana<\/span>