Sadly, I don’t have any pictures to go with this post. Because if I had my camera, it would have been ruined in 10 seconds flat.
This sunday, Caitlin Compton, Jennie Bender and I were doing a nice easy classic ski, when we got caught in the middle of a freak thunderstorm. Personally, I thought it was actually pretty awesome and exciting (though a little sketchy), but it so happens that thunderstorms are really high on Compton’s list of “gotta-get-out-of-there-situations”. The rain wasn’t so bad, and although the thunder claps were deafening they weren’t life-threatening,but when lightning hit an electrical box with a ZING we took off down the road looking for a house, garage, or ANYTHING available for shelter. Shame we were on a deserted road.
So while I stood out in the road waiting to flag down a car, Caitlin and Jennie crouched in the woods. To reduce the odds of getting stuck by lightning, they took off their skis, poles, and ski boots (because of the metal). I finally found a car with the nicest couple who let us get in soaking wet and wait till the overhead lightning and thunder stopped. Then, because we’re hard core, we finished our training.
On a happier note, we made a FRIEND on one of our epic rollerskis….a friend who happened to have a really big temper, a really big truck, a really loud horn and a really long middle finger. But it’s okay – we calmly explained that you DON’T MESS with the CXC women and it’s actually not possible for one cranky old man to OWN the whole road. And now I think we’re on better terms, although perhaps it’s better if we don’t see each other so often.
Our new buddy (not an actual photo of the dude – just a likeness)
Lesson learned? ALWAYS look up the weather forecast if there are large clouds in the sky, because you never know when Mother Nature’s going to throw a curve ball. Oh yeah, and smile too. It helps. 🙂
