Bookended!

The weather around here can change in a few minutes. I know they say that about everywhere, but it's never been truer in our experience than here in Grand Marais. To the south, east, and west, you have the lake—or should I say LAKE?!—while to the north, there is the ridge, rising over 1000 feet from the lake.

I've seen storms come out of nowhere. One minute it's clear and next minute a storm blows over the ridge and you are soaked. When we go for walks, we always carry a backpack with an umbrella and a jacket. We've been caught too many times...

Yesterday was one of those days. They were predicting scattered thunderstorms, so before going for a bike ride I checked the radar. Nothing. Just a small area of rain out over the lake down toward Duluth. I figured it would be safe to crank out a 25-30 mile ride.

Right! About 8 miles into the ride, just before getting to Cascade State Park, it started to sprinkle. The sky looked mainly clear, so I figured it would pass. I kept riding. The rain got harder. The wind got stronger against me. I put on my jacket. The rain got harder. At about 9.5 miles, with the rain still coming down and the sky mainly clear, I figured it was time to turn around and try riding east. I'd just ride a little further that way to get the miles...

As I climbed up out of the lake shore, the rain let up. Or maybe because I was now going with the wind it just seemed that way. At about the 13 mile mark, it stopped raining. The sky was clear again and the pavement was dry—it hadn't rained here at all. Great, I'll get those miles in easily.

As I got to the east end of town, it started to sprinkle. It got cloudy. OK, do I want to risk this? I decided to go home. I didn't want to get wet twice in one day. Five minutes after I got home, it poured. Thunder, lightening, wind, rain. The whole thing. I ended up with 21 miles, not quite the 25-30 I wanted, but I didn't get more than a few sprinkles on me the second time...a good exchange, I think : )