# greetings from 'warm and dry'



## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Just thought I would rub it in a little. Along with the Borrego Kid, who is camping nearby, I have been in the desert southwest now since just before New Years and riding every day (almost) Two days ago, we did a ride on the old Butterfield Stage route, east of San Deigo on the edge of the Colorado desert. About 90 miles out and back to a little town off I-8. We were passed by less than ten cars during the ride and rode in shorts. Day before, I rode "round the block" about 80 miles up and over Montezuma Pass, Yaqui Pass and back to Borrego. About 5600' of climbing, again in shorts, but with a windbreaker for the descent.
Then yesterday, a sprint up Montezuma, appx 4000' of climbing..Ahh, today is a recovery day, and it is cold --about 60 degrees for a high..
Thought that might be interesting to all you there in the Grey-t Northwest..
Don Hanson


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

*Dear Mother Nature....you win*



Gnarly 928 said:


> Just thought I would rub it in a little. Along with the Borrego Kid, who is camping nearby, I have been in the desert southwest now since just before New Years and riding every day (almost) Two days ago, we did a ride on the old Butterfield Stage route, east of San Deigo on the edge of the Colorado desert. About 90 miles out and back to a little town off I-8. We were passed by less than ten cars during the ride and rode in shorts. Day before, I rode "round the block" about 80 miles up and over Montezuma Pass, Yaqui Pass and back to Borrego. About 5600' of climbing, again in shorts, but with a windbreaker for the descent.
> Then yesterday, a sprint up Montezuma, appx 4000' of climbing..Ahh, today is a recovery day, and it is cold --about 60 degrees for a high..
> Thought that might be interesting to all you there in the Grey-t Northwest..
> Don Hanson


I was going to post my whining rant in its own thread, but since Don decided to bait us with his tales of sun and dry roads I'll post a follow-up. Just be very thankful you are down in SD right now. It is sunny in the PNW, only problem is that it is barely at the freezing mark and most roads are covered in icy slush after Wednesday's snow. I don't know how bad it is south of Seattle and towards Portland, but in White Rock, BC where I live, and down towards Bellingham there is 6"-12" of snow. Parts east of me (Langley, BC) got 50 cm of snow, or nearly 20". And unfortunately there is not a lot of warmth or rain in the long-term forecast to really get the melting going. Then again, who am I to trust the same people who predicted "non-significant" snow on Tuesday night into Wednesday?

I only have 7 years of PNW "experience" but this has been the wildest winter by far. Between extreme rain, very extreme wind and some moderately heavy snow (I won't call the snow "extreme" but in the PNW context it is) it has been a winter to forget. My hours on the bike from Nov.1 to present are definitely down and while a portion of that can be contributed to travel at Xmas and a bad bout of food poisoning in mid-December, most of the time-loss can be attributed to weather. I am pretty much game to ride in any form of rain, from light showers to heavy downpours. I will only pass if there is snow/ice or if I think there is a reasonable chance that the wind will kill me with a fallen tree branch. Don't laugh - I've been hit once before in windstorm with a falling branch, it was forearm-sized and hit me on my upper right arm, leaving a nasty bruise. Even last weekend when it was mostly dry but cold enough to form ice in a few places my teammate crashed on a patch of black ice on a straight road. I was lucky not to plow him and go AOTK, instead I gave him a nice chainring and foot to the back. But back to my woes :cryin: , I am stuck with more downtime due to the current weather situation and then at the beginning of Feb I have some stupid work travel to Vegas that will further eat into my training. I think I will have my lowest March fitness levels in the past 10 years this year. :cryin: :cryin: Yes, I know people ride indoors, but after spending my early cycling years living in Edmonton, AB (think North) I have grown to avoid all indoor riding. Until this weekend perhaps.

Anyway, Mother Nature, if you are listening I just want to say I am sorry. I am sorry if I took the beautiful dry and sunny summer for granted. I am sorry if I assumed I could ride outdoors 52 weeks per year. I am sorry if I complained about the spring rain showers ruining my life, they weren't that bad. I am sorry if I felt that June seemed a little dark and I expressed my dismay with you. I hope you can accept my apologies and we can move on from this.

Thanks,

a cyclist.


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## JP (Feb 8, 2005)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Just thought I would rub it in a little. Along with the Borrego Kid, who is camping nearby, I have been in the desert southwest now since just before New Years and riding every day (almost) Two days ago, we did a ride on the old Butterfield Stage route, east of San Deigo on the edge of the Colorado desert. About 90 miles out and back to a little town off I-8. We were passed by less than ten cars during the ride and rode in shorts. Day before, I rode "round the block" about 80 miles up and over Montezuma Pass, Yaqui Pass and back to Borrego. About 5600' of climbing, again in shorts, but with a windbreaker for the descent.
> Then yesterday, a sprint up Montezuma, appx 4000' of climbing..Ahh, today is a recovery day, and it is cold --about 60 degrees for a high..
> Thought that might be interesting to all you there in the Grey-t Northwest..
> Don Hanson


Yeah, but I've got chains on my 4Runner! 

You win.


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## single1x1 (Mar 26, 2005)

*YEah snow rain WOW*



Eric_H said:


> I was going to post my whining rant in its own thread, but since Don decided to bait us with his tales of sun and dry roads I'll post a follow-up. Just be very thankful you are down in SD right now. It is sunny in the PNW, only problem is that it is barely at the freezing mark and most roads are covered in icy slush after Wednesday's snow. I don't know how bad it is south of Seattle and towards Portland, but in White Rock, BC where I live, and down towards Bellingham there is 6"-12" of snow. Parts east of me (Langley, BC) got 50 cm of snow, or nearly 20". And unfortunately there is not a lot of warmth or rain in the long-term forecast to really get the melting going. Then again, who am I to trust the same people who predicted "non-significant" snow on Tuesday night into Wednesday?
> 
> I only have 7 years of PNW "experience" but this has been the wildest winter by far. Between extreme rain, very extreme wind and some moderately heavy snow (I won't call the snow "extreme" but in the PNW context it is) it has been a winter to forget. My hours on the bike from Nov.1 to present are definitely down and while a portion of that can be contributed to travel at Xmas and a bad bout of food poisoning in mid-December, most of the time-loss can be attributed to weather. I am pretty much game to ride in any form of rain, from light showers to heavy downpours. I will only pass if there is snow/ice or if I think there is a reasonable chance that the wind will kill me with a fallen tree branch. Don't laugh - I've been hit once before in windstorm with a falling branch, it was forearm-sized and hit me on my upper right arm, leaving a nasty bruise. Even last weekend when it was mostly dry but cold enough to form ice in a few places my teammate crashed on a patch of black ice on a straight road. I was lucky not to plow him and go AOTK, instead I gave him a nice chainring and foot to the back. But back to my woes :cryin: , I am stuck with more downtime due to the current weather situation and then at the beginning of
> 
> Yeah clear roads, temps close to 70f must be nice. The Seattle and suburbs didn't get huge amounts of snow2-4 in depending on where you are, but I live out in Sultan and up the Sultan basin road a couple of hundred feet up in elevation and and I just rode one of my SS mt bikes yesterday in 11-12in of powder, but it wasn't raining or snowing was fairly clear, even had my sunglasses on but it was about 30F tempwise, but my 2.3 and 2.5 up front Dh tires aired all the way up to about 20psi worked pretty well on the powder on on compacted snow and ice. Lots of fun in the cold- even the dog liked it. Earlyer in the week before the big snow we had 3-4in of snow and when I took a ride on Wednesday w/o my sunglasses I ended up getting a snowy stick poked in my eye, cause of all of the branches hanging with snow over some of the trails.


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

im house/dog sitting out on ames lake off 202, the rbr ride went past it this fall. and i brought my cross bike, figured id run the dog on the back side of the tolt mcdonald state park. with 8 inches, compressed to 6 now with just a little snow falling and a temp of 27 im sitting on my butt, the dog, a jack russel would get lost in the drifts.

this winter has sucked.


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## single1x1 (Mar 26, 2005)

*taking today off*



kreger said:


> im house/dog sitting out on ames lake off 202, the rbr ride went past it this fall. and i brought my cross bike, figured id run the dog on the back side of the tolt mcdonald state park. with 8 inches, compressed to 6 now with just a little snow falling and a temp of 27 im sitting on my butt, the dog, a jack russel would get lost in the drifts.
> 
> this winter has sucked.


 The ride yesterday was fun- the dog is a german shorthair, much faster then me on a heavy ss mt bike in a foot of snow, his belly did turn pretty red from the cold deep snow. Taking today off cause I'm a little sore from about an hour and a half in the snow yesterday. The snow is also too deep for the fixed cross check, the 39/18 gear would be too hard in that much snow- but it's fun in 2-4 inches of snow.


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## Spinnerman (Oct 21, 2004)

Enjoy the sun Don. You will be way ahead fitness wise. It has been a bad year. I looked up the weather statistics and 2006 came in as the 5th wettest year on record at Sea-Tac Airport. The top two wettest years on record and the 5th wettest have all occured in the last 10 years. I also read an article last year that said our winters would be wetter and milder temperatures as the average temperature of the earth continues to increase. Hang on for the ride, I guess we are living in interesting times!

I do my best to kid myself and say that everyone (except those lucky few like Don) will be in the same boat when we line up to race this March). 

Rich


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## wasfast (Feb 3, 2004)

Here in Vancouver, WA, it's slightly overcast, dry, and in the 20's this morning. I rode 50 with a small group. Nothing too fast but the roads are 95% clear. Just a couple of shady spots with ice on the road. More of the same tomorrow.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

*Greetings from "screw you"*

that is all.


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

Argentius said:


> that is all.


X2. Double screw-you, Don   More snow for lower mainland BC tonight. And I am having a standoff against indoor training. Hence, no training  I'm going to have my worst form ever in March.


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