Severe thunderstorm

[dentheman]

Here in west Texas, severe thunderstorms can pop up with little warning this time of the year. A severe thunderstorm is one with winds 60 mph or more, and/or hail 1 inch in diameter. Even the weather service has trouble forecasting when and where they will strike.
So yesterday evening I decided to ride my favorite twisty country road in the dark. I wanted to get a different view of the mesas along the route, and maybe see some critters.
I checked the weather radar and the 6 hour forecast and saw thunderstorms north of where I would be going, but not expected to effect my route. So off I went.
As I am riding about 30 miles from home as the crow flies, I notice a little lightning in the direction of home. I will have to ride quite a ways before I get to the road that takes me towards home; once I get to that point the lightning appears to be closer to home, so I decide to continue south to Post, TX. about 25 miles away. As I pull into a covered gas station my phone rings, it is my daughter telling me to hurry home because we have a severe thunderstorm warning. Her phone tracker shows me at 15th street, but not that I am at 15th street IN A DIFFERENT TOWN! She describes what the radar is showing, and I decide to try to make a run for home and beat the storm. BIG MISTAKE!
About halfway home I hit the storm. It is the first time I have ridden in the rain, and this was no ordinary gentle rain. So what did I learn from this?
1. When a storm threatens, find a safe haven and stay there until it lets up.
2. Cages don't slow down even when heavy rain is being blown in horizontal sheets. I tapped my brake light several times as vehicles came up behind me.
3. Rain feels like hail when it is hitting me at speed.
4. I can't see crap at night with rain pouring down and there are no streetlights. It doesn't help to have the headlight on low or high beam, and a wet faceshield. It was a good thing there was a fog stripe along the side of the road so that I could navigate in some places.
5. Strong cross winds on a wet road made me worry that I might lose traction when compensating.
6. Close lightning strikes are not enjoyable.
7. My modular helmet is very waterproof, but the faceshield fogs up in the rain (even with open vents), so I had to open it a little which defeated the waterproof.
8. My boots are not water resistant, so I made a squish-squish sound until I took them off. I was soaked to the bone. My phone was soaked, but works fine. My 'as seen on TV' aluminum wallet was a good investment, everything stayed dry.
9. My motorcycle has never been cleaner. Dusty crannies that I couldn't reach are sparkeling clean.
I guess that's about it, an enlightening experience overall. But I don't want to do it again!