Jeremiah Watt

Sit back and I will tell you a tale about a man from California that rode a Tornado thru the Kansas contryside and lived to tell about it. There are some folks whom say that it didn't happen, and then there is me, the sole survivor and the man who safeguards the truth about this miraculous day. The fellow who tackled this perilous day, was no mere mortal, no siree-Bob, this was a man who knew no danger that he wasn't plumb afraid of.

The tent door was thrown back by the jaded traveler at 6:45, and with steely eyes he looked into the heavy sky that loomed up from the south. With gritted teeth he worked his way out of the nylon abode he had found shelter in from the nights abuse, and dressed in the very best rain gear that could be purchased at about any old hardware store. He quickly put on his rain pants, and thena thin top form some cycle shop called Fredricks of Hollywood, then follwed that with a blazing yellow rain jacket. Plastic bags adorned his feet as he croutched low in cat like poise doing his shoes up tight..............tight, as if he was headed into the gladiator dome to meet the weather.

His mind was fixated on his making it too Nixa as his next leg of the journey, you could see it in his hard set jaw that nothing would change his mind in these matters, Nixa it would be. A hush fell over the crowd...............me that is, as our velo hero stood to his full wieght.......ah, scratch that make it hieght and the wind really rocked his rain proof world. Wait a minute, he can't do that, can he. The hero is climbing back into his nylon culvert much like the proverbial groundhog of that infamous day. Why, I will not be able to relate this days events to you without our HERO. Give me a minute to spoeak to him, maybe I can wrestle him out of the safety of the tent, that 10 cent hero ain't going to blow my big story telling break.

I finally convinced that cape wearing velo hero, that he could make it, and better yet he believed me. It was too easy, I just massaged his ego a little and he took a full bite of it. I had to keep him focused as he doned his climate control gear, a pair of bags were deftly wrapped on each of his lowest extremiites....................feet you fool, not the little bugs that eat wood. This was the real "coup de grass" of technical gear. I threw in a little german just fo my friend Fritz.

The camp is rolled up and stashed with accuracy into the bag from which it hibernates. Each item packed with care and attention to detail. The bag is evacuated of air, then rolled tight and strapped up with 3 tight straps. Then he carrfully lays the bag down into the carriage of the waiting trailer................oh oh, I wonder if the hero knows he has his underwear hanging out of the bag he's packing. Okay he has spooted the problem and is cutting of the part that is hanging out................I told ya, this guy really knows his way around the survival game. He was meant to live under the hardships of inclement weather.

The leaden sky is just wating to dump a torrent of rain on our rubber clad, plastic hearted hero, he struggles to make his way out onto the highway. And leans into the bars in the low drop position, you can feel the struggle as the muscle on his back taunts into the strain of the wind. This was destined to be a day in which man and weather would battle for supremacy..................yes,yes, I know, we all knew that the weather would win, but hey don't ruin a good story.

He's leaning into the bars as I said and working thru the 27 gears available to find a rythm, a pace he can hold for some time in the wind. Hold on here, he's off the bike already, and wiping his brow..............he's only gone 75 feet. Okay, okay, its not sweat it's rain, he's going again now. We are underway, and headed due south for Nixa as the next days end. The rain is filling every low spot on the Kansas countryside and each fold and crease in his rain gear. Looks like the neck of the jacket that our hero is weauing is not quite tight enough I can see rain running out the bottom of his jacket now. Boy howdy is it ever raining now, and that wind forces the rain to slant and sting the face of our quickly wearying traveler.

We have traversed only 16 miles of the grey Kansas countrside, and it only took 2.5 hours to get it done. Our weary traveler is under a barn roof looking at a map to see if per chance he should make a change of direction at this point. His acute mathematical mind is telling him that he could be really tired in another 20 miles and would not be in Nixa. With clairty of thought he mounts his stead and takes a sharp turn to the east,................oops, dang near missed the road.......... onto a very narrow back road out across the hinter lands of Kansas. He has chosen to try and skirt this storm front that blows on an ill wind from the south.

There seems to be no need of taking on water on this day for our east bound hereo, it seems like there is water running out of every orifice on his gear.....................I wonder if he ran over a spring by accident. No maybe not, as I watch his progress, I can see that the bulk of the water is iether running down his neck or sprayed up by his 700x23 tires and then migrating to places not so well protected. Jeremiah is passing his first intersection that could be used to travel south at this point, and opting for another road some 20 miles on down the water-logged route. Next stop is south bound number 7. Well maybe not, the rain is starting to bounce when it hits the pavement of front of this Irish Rocket that he rides, and it looks like it is maybe stinging a little more as he rides becasue he has put a spare plastic bag under his helmet on the windward side and he has donned a pair of winter gloves as well. Now hes toasty, or sweaty. A steady rythm keeps this Tornado whipper in shape as he fronts this storm that blows out of the Gulf of Texas, the wind is chilling and I can see the toes being wiggled to keep them warm while he pedals.

Hey guys, I will be back in a few minutes I am just going to run and get a cup of coffee while he pedals. Don't say anything, it doesn't take much for him to come to a stop.

The toes are cold and the fingers are cold, and our Hero has come to the last road headed south for his destination of Nixa. There is a farm truck coming up from the south and our Tornado Whipper walks over to stop the truck and speak to the farmer and his wife. Just be thankful that our cape wearing hero didn't decide to step in front of the slow moving vehicle just to show his status amongst the Hero's of the day..............he could have been run over flat! The weather prognosis is not good says the farmer, a guy dressed like you had better run for yer life cause there's fixin to be Tornados come'n this here way..........................where did he...................

You folks see that rooster spray of water headed north, that's our rubber covered HERO making tracks north towards Fort Scott, common sense is one thing that this man of heroics has plenty of. And he knows full well that if you don't put yer self in front of a Tornado, then nobody expects ya to tie it up. The last 10 miles north took mere minutes, with the gail force tail wind and a terrified cyclist on the cranks.................the country goes by in a blur.

Fort Scoot, and we pick a low life dive that was cheap to hole up in. The hero doesn't realize it yet, but his life is more on the edge inside this establishment than out in the weather. It turns out there is a real rowdy tattoed bunch just 2 doors down, and they stay that way most of the night. But it's okay folks danger, is something that this fella lives with every day of his journey..................and I can assure you that he an I enjoyed watching television from under the bed.

And so goes the tale of riding the tornado that blew in from the south all the way as far north as it wanted to take us. The weather report showed as many as 4 Tornadoes had touched down in at least two of the counties that Jeremiah had rode thru. ANd that in fact the temp for the day had gone from 56 degrees in the morning down to as low as 39 degrees during a paortion of the storm front. There was one town that had 2x6 lumber picked up on one side of the street and thrown across the street and on through both sides of a metal storage building. The was one incident of a loosened road sign being pierced through a fence post.

Rest assured that through it all, and just for you........................our HERO never so much as faltered as he hunted for a sign that read MOTEL.

Good Night and God Bless