Opening the 2016 Cycling Season: Pine Forest, Hailstorm, and a Rainbow
In 2016, my cycling season did not kick off until late May. In earlier years I used to roll out as soon as the weather warmed up and the pavement dried, yet that spring either spare time ran short or the weather kept scrambling plans – pouring in the morning and bone dry by evening, or the other way around.
Bike prepped for the first ride of late May 2016
The evening before, I washed the bike, charged the front light, and pumped up the tires – after spending winter indoors in the apartment, last year’s tune-up was still holding up nicely. I picked a couple of Resistance goals in Ingress :-) and set off.
Pine Forest Trail and a Sudden Hailstorm
Everything started smoothly enough: crisp evening air, low sunset light, and the road leading into the pine woods (Vashchenkov Bor near Kharkiv). Along the dirt trail I took it easy – weaving around puddles so the tires would not cake up with wet sand.
Then light rain started ticking down. Big drops fell slowly at first and soon picked up, so I ducked under the pines for five minutes to size things up. The shower seemed mild enough that riding slowly felt doable without getting soaked in mud.
Barely 400 meters down the trail, however, the sky opened wide – rain came down in a solid wall, mixed with hail. I pulled off to the edge of the forest track under thicker trees, yet water kept streaming down in sheets, and within five minutes my clothes were soaked straight through. Most of all I worried about my Meizu M2 Note: even though the phone’s body is tightly built, it has no official water resistance. Standing there holding a drenched smartphone, I kicked myself for not tossing a simple plastic bag into my pocket to keep the phone and cash dry.
The Ride Back, Mosquitoes, and a Rainbow
After roughly ten minutes the downpour eased, clouds parted, and late May sunshine broke through just as fast as the storm had arrived. Soaked and mud-splattered, I turned around toward home – there were still puddles to cross and a phone to get back to a dry room.
On the return leg I pushed hard: wet disc brakes squealed loudly, and post-rain twilight filled the air with clouds of mosquitoes clinging to my jersey and hitting my face. Still, the sky handed out a vivid reward right over the open field.
Rainbow emerging right after the May downpour and hail near Bezliudivka
Streams cut along the roadside after the squall, and the grass lit up with a fresh post-storm green.
Roadside runoff streams and lush green grass once the storm cleared
I never made it to those target portals that evening, though I did not mind at all – it just left a good excuse to ride back out in warm, dry weather.
P.S. Back home I had to wash the bike all over again and throw every stitch of clothes and shoes straight into the laundry, yet the rush of being caught in a real storm and watching the sky clear right after stays with you :-) For some reason it even reminded me of the 2016 movie The Finest Hours.