Encircling Lightening

It is pretty common to hear someone say "luckily, I got home just in time to miss the storm".

Last night, I was lucky to get caught in it.

I almost didn't. I was riding home and decided, for no apparent reason, to continue going north on Lamar. As I approached I35, I got a call asking me if I was coming to the Wednesday Urban Exploration ride. Typically, I don't get out of the 'burbs in time, but it was running late and they hadn't left. I met the guys on Southwest Boulevard and a great ride ensued.

We made a loop through some cool areas in Argentine and Armourdale in KCK as the sky grew ominous. On my way down Lamar, I had heard that Leavenworth County was experiencing some pretty gnarly weather and we could see the looming darkness approach as we made our way through the interesting areas of these neighborhoods.

On State Ave, we stopped at El Taconazo, a tasty joint that is run by Mexicans for Mexicans. Walking in is like a throwback to the days of segregation. You are very welcome there, but you get strange looks from the patrons surprised to see a pack of gringos come in.

The place rules. The food is great and the environment real. The TV was showing the Mexico vs. Trinidad soccer match and the place was full with people enjoying it. We ordered our food just as the rain started to fall. Not long after, a man (presumably the owner) offered to unlock his outdoor covered patio area so we could shelter our bikes from the rain.

The rain intensified. The collective let out a gasp as the power blinked on and off a few times. The hail started. This was fun! We were strange when we walked in but we are now another group riding out the storm together, all of us suspended there while the hail pelted the ground outside. The weather gave people something to talk about and everyone relaxed. Any awkwardness or racial tension that might have existed disappeared and we were all one happy family in there.

If only it was hailing all the time.

The most violent part of the storm passed, so we ventured out in the rain to finish our ride home. The lightening was majestic, wrapping around the sky dramatically. Each flash would spread its light across the wet pavement as if the pavement itself was a backlit sheet. Deep streams of runoff carried their debris across the roads and swirled into potholes as we splashed through them. The pavement stretched the alternating colors of the stoplights for blocks and blocks, with red streaks in the pavement in front of my wheel warning me of the required stop far off in the distance. In the residential neighborhoods, the single streetlights on the corners cast a stripe of reflecting light down the block -- a ribbon I could follow to see the road.

Every bit of the city is different in the rain. It is nature's way of giving the city a natural high -- enhancing its contours, lights and colors -- and, as always, riding is the best way to experience it.

Nothing beats how storms enhance a ride and nothing beats how hail enhances society.