Don't hate me for whining, but...

[Tri Girl]

I'M SO SICK OF THE RAIN! I know, I shouldn't complain when there are places like Tahoe and the SE that are in severe drought conditions, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm willing to share if I could just move the low and high pressure areas.
Nearly 3 solid weeks of rain, flooding like crazy, and rainfall totals above our yearly average is about to make me insane.... We average 33" of rainfall a year, and we're already at 36" (and we still have 6 months to go). We just can't handle this much water. If I wanted to live in the PNW, I would (but at least it's pretty up there- we're not getting any prettier here in Oklahoma ;) ).

Last year we were in a severe drought; begging for rain. This year, we are begging it to stop. Our house has flooded twice (not anything more than an inch or so- so I know I'm lucky), our sewer is backing up, it's a bug feeding frenzy, all the area trails are closed b/c of flooding, and I'm tired of getting wet and dirty on every ride and run. I need sunshine or I just might lose it. :eek: Grrrrr....

And I really feel bad for all the people who depend on the weather to eat and live, like all the farmers who've lost their wheat crop to rot, and house painters who can't work, and construction that's non-existent because it's too wet. I feel terrible for those people. There are far more people who have it WAY worse than I... I know. I'll shut up now. I'm sorry I'm complaining, but it's wearing on me. Just had to vent.

[DDH]

I'm in TX, I'm right there with you. I live on a dirt road, or should I say mud road right now, and I finally got to take my bike out yesterday for a ride, after almost 2 weeks since the last one.
I'm afraid to ride in the rain, but even if I wasn't, I can't get my bike through that mud and there is no other way out. ARRRGGG
We have a friend who is a farmer and he can't get out and even prepare for the next crop because the fields are too muddy, so I feel for the farmers too.
We are basically the same as Oklahoma, sever drought last year and fires everywhere and then floods everywhere this year. I just keep thinking eventually it will stop raining. We can barely get days in between to get the lawns mowed.

[Aggie_Ama]

I wish we could send the rain to the dry parts of the nation! Liberty Hill has been flooding, we managed to be on a high spot in town but many of the roads we ride are washed out or rough. Our problem is we can't ride and it makes us cranky. The mountain bike trails will be unusuable for months. And although just 30 miles away in Marble Falls it is so much worse and we have so much to be thankful for, we can't help but whine too.

There is one particularly sweet older couple we wave at when they are out on one of the county road that had furniture moved out of their house. The live up on a bank of the North San Gabriel we could see how high the water got. They lost their gorgeous garden and we fear the two dogs that always run the fenceline barking. That water rose so quick and last night we didn't see the dogs. :( My co-workers mom is putting the pieces back after 2-3 feets of water ended in her living room. She said they have never flooded in 20 years.

[Running Mommy]

LIberty Hill??? Oh no Amanda! Our good friends live in Liberty Hill. I will have to check in with them.
They are dealing with an ailing family member right now too, so that is just what they DONT need!

[btchance]

I feel for you girls, and a week from today I will be right there with ya. Talking to my parents in OK, they are the wettest they have ever seen it, and they have lived in the same house since the 60s. There is a creek at the edge of our property, and our road goes over it. The water is usually 20feet below the bridge - right now, every time it rains, the creek water goes over the top, then recedes down after it stops. The bridge is fixing to go (has to be replaced/repaired every 5 years normally). And guess what - the only other way out is dirt/mud roads. Our little side road is gravel, and the gravel has been swept away from the water running out of the ditches, it can't go under the road in the culverts because there is too much water to fit. I am so not looking forward to this. I am really hoping that the rain will move east a little bit to AL where I'm at now. We can use the rain here, for sure.

Girls, stay safe with this.

[Aggie_Ama]

LIberty Hill??? Oh no Amanda! Our good friends live in Liberty Hill. I will have to check in with them.
They are dealing with an ailing family member right now too, so that is just what they DONT need!


Do you happen to know their address? Williamson County's website has the road closures listed if you can't get in touch with them. It was mostly the areas along the San Gabriel, so they may not be having any problem. Liberty Hill is small in population but spreads out wide. If they are in one of the neighborhoods they are probably ok. I hope that is the case! :D

[Tri Girl]

DDH and Aggie Ama- I feel for you girls, too. We've both been hit so hard- it doesn't seem fair that we're overflowing, and other places are dying for rain.

I hope the two dogs are OK!!! :( I feel sad for animals when nature beckons- they have no way to defend themselves! We had horses in a field near us up to their stomachs in water. They were looking at us like: "What's going on- help us, please." (not that animals have those thoughts- but they must be wondering why they're swimming instead of grazing) :(

btchance- I hope your family's home is going to be OK. As for the bridge- let's hope it holds out. The rain has GOT to stop sometime. I saw sun for almost 10 min. a little bit ago and it almost blinded me. ;) I'd send you the rain if I could- I hear you're in a major drought. Our farmers would be more than willing to pass the rain along, also. They'd like to harvest what crops are still left...

RM- I hope your friends are OK!!!

[Aggie_Ama]

TG- I hope the dogs were okay, the provide a little amusement late in a long ride.

RM- Did you ever find out if your friends were okay?

We are in for round two but it seems slower, I am hoping this time it will not flood. We did a ride Saturday that took us through Burnet County and the roads were terrible. Seems as though someone went over the low spots with a bulldozer. I read the county is completely overwhelmed and it may take a year or more to fix those roads. :( Most of our favorite routes from the house cross through Burnet County, but lack of cycling is small fries compared to what the residents are going through.

[luv'nAustin]

This rain is getting old here in Texas. Thank goodness we had a few moments of sunshine last week. I managed to ride with some friends and my dh yesterday and we only had slight rain, but the sky was dark and unfriendly so we cut the ride short. This morning the sky looks again and it should be raining in no time. Looks like another spin class day.

It will be some time before the lakes around here will be safe enough for me to try out my new swim aid device.

[Running Mommy]

I never got a hold of them but they are on sundance trail if that helps??

[Aggie_Ama]

I know that neighborhood, ride by it all the time. I don't know if there are creeks in it but they should have been just fine. There are a few spots on the adjacent County Road where the water came over the road but it was just low dips in the road and that was a few miles away. :)

[alpinerabbit]

Here's something to cheer you up...:p
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1082/grotefotoj7ctml1.jpg

[DDH]

OMG, that is soooo funny!!!!

[Tri Girl]

That is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D


Oh, and it's been sunny for 2 days!!! Still rained a little on and off, but at least the sun came out. I felt like a vampire as it nearly blinded me the first day, but I'm sooooooooooooo happy to see it!!! :D
Yippeeee!!!!

[KSH]

I'm in Dallas, TX. Yes, the rain is getting very-very-very old.

I have fortunate enough to find enough sunshine to put in 125 miles over 3 different days. I feel so LUCKY! All 3 times when I stopped riding, it started to rain.

Otherwise, I have been running on a lot of treadmills. HA!

OH, and this weekend... our triathlon, got changed to a duathlon... because the lake is so high it's not safe to swim where trees are now submerged.

[TexasMermaid]

KSH - It's not just the trees that make lake swimming unsafe now in the saturated/flooded areas. I'm in Fort Worth and have a friend who used to go down to Lake Travis in Austin to practice his scuba diving often. He says he's out for a while due to the pollution from run off that has made it's way into the lake. Apparently some icky organisms can be found now from sewage line problems. :eek: Yuk! Be careful out there.

At least it hasn't been hotter than heck yet. But I do miss my bike something fierce!