Best derecho strategies?

[Jason B]

@PotomacCyclist 55016 wrote:

Should I connect a large sail to my bike? And water skis to the bottom of my tires? Maybe a lightning rod on the top of my helmet, with a ground wire trailing behind me? And lead weights to keep me grounded when I get hit by 50 mph wind gusts?”

And definitely an industrial strength mounted Go Pro.

[Dirt]

If you’re going to ride today, please be cautious. I have a reputation for riding through anything. It isn’t something that I do lightly, nor do I do it without preparation.

1) Be visible. Make sure you’ve got a good vest, leg straps and plenty of lights… both flashy and steady headlights.
b) Know some bail-out points that are safe. Know where you can find cover if things get a lot worse than anticipated. If it is a covered bridge that you’re hiding under, make sure it is NOT something like bluemont that is a low point that always floods. Hiding under a tree is always a very bad idea.
9) Avoid the squall lines. In this area storms usually roll in with a very dramatic, and much more severe part of the storm for the first 20-30 minutes. Once that’s through, things generally settle down a little. How much they settle down is still relative.
iv) Lightning is never your friend. You hear thunder or see lightning getting close, head for cover… a building or structure is best. I have knocked on peoples’ doors and asked if I could drip water in their garage to sit out a storm.

Be really careful! If the conditions are such that you can ride in some of the less severe parts of the storm, then enjoy it.

Have a good day.

Pete

[jrenaut]

My derecho strategy is to turn to the good people of WMATA. This is where I’m really glad for my short commute with multi-modal options.

Be safe out there.

[Greenbelt]

@Dirt 55020 wrote:

If you’re going to ride today, please be cautious. I have a reputation for riding through anything. It isn’t something that I do lightly, nor do I do it without preparation.

1) Be visible. Make sure you’ve got a good vest, leg straps and plenty of lights… both flashy and steady headlights.
b) Know some bail-out points that are safe. Know where you can find cover if things get a lot worse than anticipated. If it is a covered bridge that you’re hiding under, make sure it is NOT something like bluemont that is a low point that always floods. Hiding under a tree is always a very bad idea.
9) Avoid the squall lines. In this area storms usually roll in with a very dramatic, and much more severe part of the storm for the first 20-30 minutes. Once that’s through, things generally settle down a little. How much they settle down is still relative.
iv) Lightning is never your friend. You hear thunder or see lightning getting close, head for cover… a building or structure is best. I have knocked on peoples’ doors and asked if I could drip water in their garage to sit out a storm.

Be really careful! If the conditions are such that you can ride in some of the less severe parts of the storm, then enjoy it.

Have a good day.

Pete

It was a really nice ride in today, but we were watching the radar carefully. http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?ID=LWX

It looks like a line of storms will pass through DC around 9 and 10am, and another batch of severe storms could form this afternoon. Here’s a more local radar: http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?ID=DCA&type=TR0

This morning’s storms are currently severe warned out to our west, but it looks like they may be weakening a little on radar. I hope the rain from those storms helps mute the severity of any storms that redevelop this afternoon.

[creadinger]

@Greenbelt 55026 wrote:

I hope the rain from those storms helps mute the severity of any storms that redevelop this afternoon.

Boooooooooooo!

I can say that because I didn’t ride today, and I’m assuming all of you that did will be safe about it.

[Dickie]

I decided to get a nice spin in before the storms hit. I got about 3 miles west of my shop in Merrifield and did an abrupt “about face” and returned back to work…. colossal error in judgement. On the good side, that 30 mph tail wind was pretty awesome!

Be safe everyone!

[TwoWheelsDC]

It was kinda soupy, but calm when I left this morning, so I took the long way. It was actually pretty nice by the time I got to work; a bit steamy/hazy, but very pleasant, so I was amazed to see there is a severe storm warning for this morning, in addition to the one for this afternoon. Ignorance is bliss, I guess!

[dasgeh]

I didn’t know about the first wave of storms this morning (though we have NPR on all morning — they kept saying “Maryland” and so I tuned out). I faffed packing up, finding a clean pair of bike shorts, then noticed that the beautiful morning was quickly turning gray. So I threw everything in the bag, jump on the bike (stopped to actually strap on my helmet), and took off.

Fastest ride in. Strava, which usually doles out medals to me, gave me a trophy (had to look that one up). It started raining just as I hit the VA side of the TR Bridge. Big drops, but surprisingly no real down pour in the 5 minutes it took me to get from there to the office. I was barely wet.

[Dirt]

We’ve seen some great examples of what to do in this kind of situation today…. even from me.

Dickie’s “about-face!” and ride like heck home was a great decision.

I was in the same area at the same time and handled it differently, but still well. I got to Merrifield Post Office a little before 9 and could see the deluge brewing. I conducted my business there, saw that I had a few minutes to high-tail it somewhere… I chose Pastry Xpo in Mosaic as my refuge. I ordered a double latte and a croissant and sat down to ride out the squall. 25 minutes later there was no thunder or lightning and the rain was a steady pitter-patter. Hopped back on my bike for the 25 minute ride home. Blinky lights were flashing on my bike and my reflective vest was on and at full volume.

People who chose multi-modal transportation also kicked butt!

Keep in mind that if tonight’s storms are anything like what we had last June, the trails are going to be virtually impassable in the storm’s wake. Custis had large tangles of trees down every 5-15 yards for virtually its entire length last year. A bunch of us were riding to the Total200 start the next morning. We took to the roads almost immediately.

Have a good day!

Remember Hurricane Sandy? I do.

[consularrider]

I was sitting with ice on my ankle as we watched the sky blacken to the north and the tops of the tree whip around. There was no rain as I left the VHC parking garage, but that lasted only until I pulled out onto George Mason. One or two thunderclaps, but never any heavy rain, and it pretty much stopped by the time I got to Rosslyn and pulled into my building’s parking garage. Since I came straight to work instead of taking the longer loop, I got to work 45 minutes earlier than I had planned so I have some flexibility for an early departure today if needed. Of course, today ended up being an unscheduled telework or leave day for the feds.

[KLizotte]

Keep in mind that falling trees/branches are a real threat. A 15 year old rider died this week from a falling tree (or branches I don’t recall which) in Chevy Chase during a storm.

A couple of weeks ago, when we were having 35 mph gusts, I headed up the Rock Creek Parkway trail north of the beltway because it would be “sheltered” from the wind. Well, it was most definitely sheltered at my level but not at the top of the trees. I was almost decapitated by a six inch limb that came crashing down into the middle of the trail ten freet in front of me. I had heard the crack and stopped but didn’t know where it was gonna fall; I got lucky. Has made me think twice about heading out into densely forested areas during high winds.

[KelOnWheels]

Stay safe folks! I WMATAed today Bleh.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I’m finding that weather reporting is getting so sensationalist that I’m starting to have trouble focusing on it.

The wife: They say there are going to be tornadoes and floods and hail the size of canned hams tomorrow. Are you going to ride?

Me: What? Oh, it’s going to rain? I guess I’ll have to take the hybrid then.

[Vicegrip]

The wife as I am clickety-clacking across the great room on my way out this am. “You are going to ride in?!”

Me. “Yes but don’t worry I took the 80mm carbon wheels off”

Wife..”?”

[Dirt]

@ShawnoftheDread 55087 wrote:

I’m finding that weather reporting is getting so sensationalist that I’m starting to have trouble focusing on it.

WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!

I mean that in the nicest way.

[Author]

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