Question of Power

Holy Hail Storm

The story goes something like this.  Beautiful August day in New Mexico.  Blue sky, few clouds floating around, 78 degrees, no wind, current weather forecast...dry.  Perfect ridin' day.  Talk to one of my ridin' buddies.  Let's run some two lane about 35 miles, stop get a coffee, hang out a bit and catch up on local news.  Good plan.  

Nice ride to Madrid.  Park right in front of the coffee shop.  Order up some strong brew.  Find a table in the shade.  Doesn't get any better.  Thirty minutes into that laid back catch up conversation...BIG rumbling sounds.  Sun disappears.  Sky gets coal black.  First some light sprinkles.  Turns to hard rain, turns to BIG hail.  Oh...HOLY HAIL!  Grab the rain gear out of the bike bag (oh yes...always carry rain gear..always).  Use the rain jacket to cover the tank to soften the hail pounding down on the bike.  No place to run, no place to hide.  Wait it out.

Highway is running wild with 6" of water.  Arroyos creating new channels.  Need to find a new direction home.  Not hitting the back roads on this one.  Running slow and easy.  Wet ride home.  Temp drops to about 60.  Only in New Mexico.  You know what....doesn't get any better.

BTW: ALWAYS carry rain gear.

be strong, be safe, Carlan