Open Letter to New England Weather

[kfergos]

Dear New England Weather,

As you may have noticed, it is now June 25. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we're ready for some summery weather now. The overcast, rainy, windy days are all very nice, and I'm sure we appreciate not sweating to death in 95°F humid days, but we're ready for some sun. The plants are very green thanks to the incessant rain, and I think they'd probably like some sun, too.

Plus, Weather, all this heavy drizzle (did you notice that this is the 5th day in a row of rain? And, if rumors are correct, the 22nd overcast day this month?) is awfully hard on my bike chain -- I'm having to clean it like it's winter! I have been wearing long pants, jackets, wool socks, vests, and sleeves all month when normally you've made those items totally superfluous by this point. Frankly, I'm ready to see something other than rain in the forecast for a while, if you don't mind.

I hope you consider my petition, especially since the New England MS 150, the Cape Cod Getaway, is this weekend. I'm quite sure that a couple sunny, nice days would bring the 1,000+ cyclists on that ride great joy.

Sincerely,
kfergos

[Crankin]

Ditto.
I think we may actually see the sun this afternoon. In fact, the sky actually has a yellowish tinge right now. I will be riding my bike this afternoon, no matter what!

[Tri Girl]

Funny.

This is the complaint I had for all of April and May when it was cold and rainy all the time.

Now I want to punch the weather in the gut because it went from cold and rainy to insanely hot in the 100's and ultra humid- and we normally don't see 100 until early July.

I guess the weather listened to me and moved onto you- I just hope my current weather does the same thing and moves your way. ;)

[mayanorange]

Tri- our NE Mother Nature already hit us with the 90+ temps and matching humidity for a couple weeks- in April I think (maybe early May). That was bad. We're a bit backwards this year.

NEers- I'm surely doing an anti- rain dance. We're going to try to sneak out tonight for one last ride before the Cape Cod Getaway, and yes, Weather, please, please, please be nice to us! You can rain once we go to bed Saturday if you can't hold it all weekend, but be nice while we're on the road!

[ny biker]

And yet Seattle went almost a month without rain.

We are finally getting some real summer weather here in DC. I will be on Long Island for the 4th of July and will be staying at my parents' house which has no air conditioning, so most likely there will be a heat wave in New York that weekend. I'll probably be spending a day in Connecticut, too, and will try to get the brutal heat to come with me.

[GLC1968]

You can send some of that rain our way, if you'd like. While it's rained some in the Portland area in the past month or so...we haven't had a single drop at our house. Our rain barrels are bone dry. The cistern is way lower than it should be at the end of June.

Honestly, this whole 'rainy PNW' thing is a farce. :p It snowed like mad this winter ('it doesn't snow here') and it hasn't seriously rained since sometime in April ('it rains steady, November through June'). What is going on???

[SheFly]

And yet Seattle went almost a month without rain.


Seriously! A quote from a NE FB status this morning "We've died and gone to Seattle" :D I almost pee'd my pants laughing at that one.

I'm having a particularly hard time with this weather given my current emotional state. I think I may move to Hawaii. I have already started building an ark, and am taking reservations for space.

I sincerely hope those of you riding in the MS 15 this weekend catch a break. I have done this ride in a monsoon (driving rain, closed portions of the course and 50 degree temps), and it is no fun! Best wishes to you this weekend - if I get my ark finished, it's certain to stop raining :D.

SheFly

[Biciclista]

how much rain have you actually had?

[TxDoc]

I'm quite sure that a couple sunny, nice days would bring the 1,000+ cyclists on that ride great joy.

Come to South Texas and you can enjoy 100 degrees :D

[Crankin]

Mimi, we haven't actually had that much rain in inches. It's been more like a continual mist and showers, punctuated by heavy downpours in different spots, along with a few days of steadier, light rain, for about 2 weeks. Before that, we had a couple of weeks of rain/clouds during the week and sunny weekends.
Usually, the weather here changes every 3-5 days, often quite dramatically. So any pattern of the same thing is unusual.
To give you an idea, I haven't had to water anything outside for 3 weeks.

[Biciclista]

that does sound like Seattle, cool and misty!

[mayanorange]

Yeah, I think we have swapped with Seattle! I grew up in upstate NY, so I'm used to a bit more rain than here, but man I'm starting to get a bit depressed. Maybe I was depressed for 18yrs in NY?? I definitely appreciate the gift that is a sunny day thanks to the constant lake effect clouds of my childhood.

We did manage a quick ride last night- roads still a bit wet but there was this yellow thing in the sky for a bit yesterday! It's gone again today, but tomorrow I think we go back to typical NE summer- crashing into a T-storm in the afternoon once it gets hot. Hopefully we'll have BBQ and beer in hand by the time they hit!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yet another week of rain and thunderstorms is now predicted here near Albany/HudsonValley.

[Crankin]

Well, I am determined to try to get rides in both days this weekend. They will be shorter ones, because, I for one, do not relish the thought of getting caught in a thunderstorm. I convinced my DH not to ride to work today, because of the storms predicted for this afternoon.
I keep wondering why I seem to be running in the rain all of the time. Well, I run on days that are too wet for cycling, so it ends up that I have rarely run on a very sunny day since the winter.
Eventually, this will work out, but it is getting annoying, especially since I gave up my gym membership. I've been doing a lot of yoga at home, followed by rainy walks or runs.
Good luck Mayanorange and Kfergos! Hopefully, you will be drinking your beer before the storms hit tomorrow afternoon.

[mayanorange]

Thanks Crankin! Right now they're saying we're okay until about noon, then who knows. Lots of super short stops I think!

[Biciclista]

just to let you know, it's still cool and misty here so you didn't swap with us. More like you're being copy cats.
:rolleyes:

[TrekTheKaty]

As we say in Missouri, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute--It will change!"

Just as we finished our plans for the ark, the weather flipped and it's 96 degrees with 110 heat index. I'll go out and do a dance to send this "warm air mass" eastbound.

Good luck on your ride. We are trying to figure out how early we have to get up to get in 50 miles Saturday before heat exhaustion sets in (it's supposed to cool off--only 88). We usually like to stop for lunch, but none of the restaurants will be open by the time we get BACK.

[kfergos]

Incredibly, it did not rain for the ride! The weather said rain Saturday evening and most likely all Sunday, but it held off, at least as long as I was out on the bike. No rain Saturday -- it was a sunny gorgeous morning and clouded up later in the day -- or Saturday night (a huge boon because we camped, and there's nothing like trying to dry out a soaking wet tent); Sunday was much cooler and foggy/misty, but it never actually started raining. Today it's back to the usual pattern of 60F and rain-mist.

[ridebikeme]

Generally the wait a minute thought works here as well, however in the month of June it has not! If my memory serves me correctly, we have had only one day this month where it didn't rain(perhaps two if I have forgotton). Now we are in the flood stages where roads are starting to collapse etc... The other day a home caught on fire, but the firefighters responding had to wait for someone to determine whether the road could handle the weight of the firetrucks... yes this is the truth! Over the weekend, I was able to sneak out for a short ride on SAturday, but LOTS of rain yesterday with thunderstorms and finally losing power.

Quess that's why I never put my trainer away here:D But we live in New England, and we'll survive or go crazy... one or the other HA!

[Crankin]

I actually rode 2 days in a row!

[ridebikeme]

I'm glad that you were able to get in two days outside.. sounds wonderful!! I did get in a very short ride Saturday, and then the heavens decided to open. According to the weather this AM, roads are closed and more of the same weather for the remainder of the week. We received two inches of rain over night, two on Saturday, and I don't want to know the totals of the rest of the month.:rolleyes:

But in the end, things will all work out and we'll be outside riding once again:)

Stay dry everyone!!