schnauzers.ws

I flew home to Colorado from Vegas on Friday night and arrived to probably the worst Thunderstorm in decades. The lightening outside the plane window was terrifying and even worse when the pilot decided he was going to land. Seated in row two and flying just about every other week, I have become accustomed to the cockpit sounds. I know what they sound like when they test them before take-off and I hoped never to hear them during flight. Not this night. As the plane tossed up, down, and side to side, I had the worst feeling during a flight that I have ever experienced. I was scared. As I alternated between the window and the TV on the seat in front of me, My hands we firmly connected to the arm rests. Just a short hour before I told the folks next to me how often I fly for work. Sort of cocky in my statement, I sure wasn’t living up to my comments.

The pilot was going for the landing. Four hundred feet above the runway (if it was the runway), I heard the dreaded voice I wished to never hear. WIND SHEAR! WIND SHEAR! WIND SHEAR!. Two seconds later, the engines were at their highest rev, with a whining sound that equaled the stress grunt of an Olympic weight lifter breaking the world record. The plane shot up almost vertical, still tossing being tossed around like volleyball. Not a word from the captain. The look on the flight attendants faces were not reassuring. They looked like I felt, terrified. The plane came around again, this time way to the South of the usual airport landing. “What’s going on?”, said the couple next to me as if I was an experienced pilot. We are going to make another go, I said. “Is anyone else aware of this? Why doesn’t the pilot say something?”. the couple said. I am not sure. Just then, the pilot comes on and says one word, “cabin”. The attendants get frantic. I get frantic, my teeth clenched so tight it hurts. We drop from 8000′ to 7000′ (remember, Denver is already at 5280′), then back up to 8000′. Holy crap, this guy doesn’t know what to do! We make another turn even further South. Where’s he landing, Texas? Finally, we touch down and I see a glimpse of a building I se from the airport road. He landed on the Cargo runway. Twenty minutes of taxiing and we finally disembark with me a new believer in Terra firma.

So what does this have to do with mountain biking? It changed my plans for the Sunday ride. I wanted to stay a little more local and enjoy my comfortable surroundings. I still had way too much adrenaline built up.

So, I rode with some friends at Alder/3 Sisters park in Evergreen. A relaxing and fun day!

What are you looking at?

I call this “Exploded Corn Dog”.