4 ms·

I recently went on a 60 mile gravel bike trip with a rather large group (50 riders) in the PNW. It was ~May of last year, and a freak storm came out of nowhere

I recently went on a 60 mile gravel bike trip with a rather large group (50 riders) in the PNW. It was ~May of last year, and a freak storm came out of nowhere over the mountain, while we were in a large national forest. We were all wearing shorts (weather was in the 60s), and woefully unprepared as the temperature dropped into the 20s. I had thin gloves with holes in them. The storm dumped sleet on us and we had to descend a mountain in the snow for an hour in those temperatures, soaking wet. After 30 minutes I couldn't feel anything past my forearm, or below my ankle, and we had to bike about 2 hours in those conditions. The group got split up, and we all got hypothermia. it's a miracle no one died. I somehow got a flat tire and my sealant didn't fix it. Apparently I turned to my friend and asked if my rear tire was low and he lied and said it looked fine, knowing that if I stopped to try and fix it, I wouldn't have the coordination to actually repair the tire with how cold my hands were, and I would have really struggled to get going. Entire thing could have been avoided if we had gone into it with the assumption of "When you enter the mountains, assume that any cold/wet weather is possible". Bring hand warmers and/or safety blankets, or even just a big roll of aluminum foil. Someone in the group had brought an amazon package specifically for that reason, and they shoved it in their jersey to block wind and keep their core body temperature up. They were fine, the rest of us were not. EDIT: another storm I'm just remembering - not mine, but my dads. When he was 18 he was hiking on the side of a ravine in California with two friends. They were supposedly trying to find some caves in the side of the hilltop, and my dad grabbed some loose rock and fell - over 100ft straight down, another 200 tumbling at an angle. He spent 3 months in the hospital, mending a fractured skull and jaw, 2 broken vertebrae, and a whole lot of other injuries.

starwind 4y ago
What time did the storm roll in?
switchbak 4y ago
I got caught near the top of Mt. Fromme - literally a 40 min climb from city streets in North Vancouver. A flash storm hit us near the top, hit us with rain + hail in the middle of summer, and from +24 degrees C down to 3. We went from fine to hypothermic VERY quickly. Bombed down to the bottom of the hill through gnarly trails, freezing my hands and feet off all the way down. Since we were in t-shirts it was getting pretty serious. At the bottom of the hill the weather pattern disappeared and it was warm and sunny again. Sometimes you can even have life risking events in the front country, on a gorgeous day with a great forecast. Now I take small emergency jacket all the time* regardless of anything. Another good reason is if you sustain an injury, you can get tremendously cold even in decent weather. Heating packs are a good idea too. * - well until I get negligent again, and get caught out in another hailstorm.
TheRealPomax 4y ago
As someone from the PNW: if you're going on anything beyond a quick trip, pack for literally every type of weather. Never leave without at least a small camelback with a wind breaker, rain pants, and a foil emergency blanket (bonus points for packing a few plastic bags and a roll of tape, because once the heavens open up, you can quickly slip those over your socks and tie them off so your free stay dry even if your shoes soak through. Keeping your feet dry is stupidly important). The PNW is literally rain forest, just not the tropical kind.

starwind 4y ago

What time did the storm roll in?

switchbak 4y ago

I got caught near the top of Mt. Fromme - literally a 40 min climb from city streets in North Vancouver. A flash storm hit us near the top, hit us with rain + hail in the middle of summer, and from +24 degrees C down to 3. We went from fine to hypothermic VERY quickly. Bombed down to the bottom of the hill through gnarly trails, freezing my hands and feet off all the way down. Since we were in t-shirts it was getting pretty serious. At the bottom of the hill the weather pattern disappeared and it was warm and sunny again. Sometimes you can even have life risking events in the front country, on a gorgeous day with a great forecast. Now I take small emergency jacket all the time* regardless of anything. Another good reason is if you sustain an injury, you can get tremendously cold even in decent weather. Heating packs are a good idea too. * - well until I get negligent again, and get caught out in another hailstorm.

TheRealPomax 4y ago

As someone from the PNW: if you're going on anything beyond a quick trip, pack for literally every type of weather. Never leave without at least a small camelback with a wind breaker, rain pants, and a foil emergency blanket (bonus points for packing a few plastic bags and a roll of tape, because once the heavens open up, you can quickly slip those over your socks and tie them off so your free stay dry even if your shoes soak through. Keeping your feet dry is stupidly important). The PNW is literally rain forest, just not the tropical kind.