Like an idiot, I believed the “meteorologists” who predicted Monday’s thunderstorms would strike in late afternoon so I rode my motorcycle to my mother’s assisted living facility in Radford to pick up some clothes to take to her at the rehab center where she is trying to recover from a broken hip.

Dark, ominous clouds closed in as I turned on U.S. 11 and the first drops started to fall as I approached Christiansburg. I ducked into a car wash to escape the downpour which quickly turned into a deluge.

I don’t mind riding in the rain but cloudbursts leave too much standing water on the road and motorcycles don’t handle hydroplaning very well.

As the downpour intensified, I called Amy to say I would be delayed and waited out the storm for more than an hour.

When the rainfall dwindled to a drizzle, I donned my rain gear and headed for Floyd. At Riner, as it always seems to do, the skies opened up again and I ducked into the Shell Station and grabbed a late lunch at the Subway restaurant.

When the storms let up again, I headed back out on Rte. 8 only to hit another storm at the Little River bridge and Floyd County line. Water leaked into the normally-tight rain suit and around the edges of my helmet.

By the time I hit Floyd the rainfall was back to a drizzle and had all but stopped by the time I reached Sandy Flats Road. I pulled into our driveway and looked up the 450-long, steep driveway. The storm left new, deeper gullies and ruts into a gravel surface already devestated by weekend storms.  I let out the clutch, gunned the bike and roared up the driveway, bouncing over the ruts and sliding in the mud. By the time I reached the top, both the bike and I were covered in mud.

I pulled into the garage, shut down the bike and waited for my pulse to return to normal. Outside, the rain started again.

Forecasts call for more of the same today with a chance of even heavier rains and increased chances of flooding.