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May 05, 2004

A Ride of Epic Proportions

I've needed to cut loose in a very real, very serious way since the horror and pain of finals is now over. Where do I go when such a trip is necessary? New Paltz, of course!

I'm in town to make a motorcycle picking up stint in Queens tomorrow. Erik decided we should go for a bike ride, since my ride is totally tricked out now and I haven't ridden in forever (that, and his leg is now in primo shape). We went to some trails way south of New Paltz, near an airport. Arrived at the trail head at 6:00PM, and promptly took to the single-track.

About a half hour into the ride, we were quite disoriented. And there was thunder. "I think it'll stick to the south of us," Erik says. But alas, the wind is coming from the south, I think. Boom.

Then the rain started. And the lightning. It was an amazing ride. We were hitting up sketchy single track on the top of a ridge, trying to find our way down so that we could avoid electrical discharge. I recall thinking for just a moment, "You know, if I get struck by lightning right here, right now, I really won't be all that pissed. There are definitely worse ways to go."

We eventually worked our way off the ridge, into a valley, and under the shade of a tree. The rain kept coming. My arms started to goosebump, and I realized that I could see my breath. Vague recollections of the weather report suddenly entered my head: A coldfront was moving through New York tonight, the lows this evening would be in the 30s. A chill ran down my spine, and it wasn't just from the dropping temperature.

The rain slowed, the temperature was dropping more rapidly. Erik picked up the sound of the Interstate running nearby, so we made a dash for it, me pretty much blind from it being too wet to wear glasses, Erik howling madly as we had to wade through a lake to get to the highway. It was spectacular.

We rode for perhaps another hour to hour and a half in that thunderstorm, a lost flock that didn't really care.

Post-Bike.jpg
Me, post-ride
Post-Bike-Erik.jpg
Erik, thanking Satan that we survived

Truly an epic adventure, one that I will have to tell my nephews/nieces about some day.

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