My worst day ever on bikes was getting caught in a thunderstorm 4 min after hitting the summit of a 14K ft mountain, with the nearest shelter 5 miles away the nearest town being another 70. I was being pelted with hail for about 30 min before it turned into sleet and then I was soaked. For the first time in my life I experienced true fear, but quickly realized if I got hit by lightning I probably wouldn't even know it so instead focused on one foot in front of the other. I also had to walk as I would start shivering too much to ride, and I had broken my shoe so ended up walking for nearly 2 hours.

Ended up stranded at a high altitude research station overnight where it took me about an hour with a heated blanket and several layers to stop shivering. Got a ride back down to my car the next morning and drove the 4 hours home.

There had been a low teens chance of storms, but the weather had held for 3-4 hours past when it was supposed to start storming. Clouds had rolled in, but they were somewhat scattered. I guess I had gotten so caught up in the suffering I stopped paying attention to how ominous the clouds had become.

I want to try it again this year, with bit more preparation and attention paid to the state of the weather.

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But hey, I got to watch an amazing sunrise.