February Groundhog rides

[ny biker]

Do you use a saline nasal rinse after riding? I try to remember to do this most of the time.

Sometimes. I really didn't think it was that bad while I was riding, in fact I didn't think about pollen at all since I did not feel any allergy symptoms at the time. My eyes are less red today but still itching. I'm wondering if I forgot to use the eye drops before I went to bed after the ride.

I have a ride scheduled on Sunday. It will be colder so I hope the pollen won't be as bad. Though if it is still windy I will cancel because that always makes pollen worse.

It is very windy here today with gusts around 70 mph at times. Fingers crossed, I still have electricity though it went off for a few seconds several times between 7:30 and 9:00. I am trying to work from home -- the federal government is closed but my client is opemn. However I keep losing the remote pc connection so am struggling to be productive. Of course the noisy stompy neighbors are home. If the electricity goes out I will lose the ability to drown them out by blasting the tv.

How are things in Massachusetts? I saw somthing about flooding expected in Boston.

[Crankin]

It's a cold rain. Pouring. The wind is definitely picking up now, probably some gusts in the 40-50 mph range. I worked from 9-12 and was glad I have 2.5 mile drive. The North End and Seaport have some flooding already. Towns along the coast, up through the NH coast, down to the Cape are getting hammered. Most of the south shore towns that aways get hit with flooding and severe damage were told to evacuate. I hope they listen, but often they don't. The National Guard was activated last night. I don't think we will get real flooding where I live, maybe some swollen streams. It is supposed to turn to snow out here, but they really can't predict how much; we are on the edge of the rain/snow line. My 2 favorite x country ski areas are in the 6-12 inches range, but, it's going to be in the 40s over the weekend, so Sunday may be a choice of ski or ride. That does not happen often!

[north woods gal]

Been watching the progress of the storm on the news. Looks like some serious stuff. Hope you guys stay safe and warm.

We rarely get those kinds of wind, here. It would be a disaster if we did with all our shallow rooted trees. Anything above 40 mph and we have a high risk of power outages. Most of out here in the sticks have backup generators, just in case.

[ny biker]

Re: power outages, I am lucky in 2 ways. The power lines are underground here, so if power goes out it means something happened in an adjoining neighborhood, and larger areas of outages are given priority for repairs. The other good thing is the small (1 truck) firehouse around the corner -- things like fire stations and hospitals are top priority in widespread outages.

I just saw an outage map. Most counties around here have 20-30% of customers in the dark. One down in southern Maryland has also 50% without power. It is a sparsely populated county, a nice place for cycling. Meanwhile I see reports of flooding in my hometown, which does not surprise me.

[Crankin]

Yeah, it's a mess from the whole coast, Boston, and a few inner ring suburbs. Lots of power outages. We are sitting in our sunroom, with the shades opened, so we can watch. About 30 minutes ago, we heard a big boom and crash, but we don't see any limbs down. We have small wetlands area behind us, so most likely in there. At first, I thought a branch fell on our neighbor's roof, at the end of the 3 attached townhomes, but, nothing. The gusts seem to be coming less frequently, though still coming.
We have a municipal electric company and if there is a problem, it's fixed pronto. So much better! During Sandy, my power went out for 2 hours, while neighboring towns had days of it. The last town I lived in also had a municipal utility, shared with one other town. That saw us through 10 years of some fierce winter storms, where some of our friends had to go to hotels for a week. A lot of people around here do have generators; I know my friend on the Cape has one, but she also had one in her home here.
It's nice to have a cozy day and evening, but then again, I am not near the really dangerous stuff.

[Crankin]

OK, I found the source of the loud boom and cracking noise. There are 2 trees down in the wetlands, one closer to my condo than the other. Both huge, totally uprooted and on the ground, across the water. You can't see them from my backyard, but when I went to go out for a walk on the path that connects my street to the next neighborhood, there it was.

[emily_in_nc]

It sounds really awful, Crankin. Glad you are safe. Sorry about the big trees, though. We saw so much of that around here from Hurricane Irma, and it was kind of heartbreaking.

[inversion-table]

Glad your safe and ride safely

[north woods gal]

Just to let everyone know, I am not trying to rub it in with you folks that are having tough weather. I hope all are safe. Today, for us, though was gorgeous. Highs in the upper 40s, all sunshine and NO wind.

Plan A was to ride the trails. That was a bust. Got about ten yards on the ice and called it quits. The ice was absolutely treacherous. Even the studded tires were slipping. Love my trail riding, but not worth the risk of a bad spill. Went to plan B.

Plan B was heading out on our paved roads for a long ride on the Krampus with its tall 29x3" wheels. Did 26.3 miles, total, all pavement. Longest ride, so far, this spring. Loved it. Our paved roads are all nearly clear of ice, now, with only a scattered patch of ice, here and there, and nothing I couldn't ride around. (Of course, that's only going to last until the next snow storm. )

No, the Krampus is no speed demon - my average speed wasn't all that great - but those tall, wide wheels do have their advantages. One is that those tall wheels hold their speed better than smaller road bike wheels. That means a LOT less shifting once I get up to speed. Seriously, compared to a standard 700x25 road bike wheel, I reduce the need to shift by about half in the rolling hills I ride. Hard to appreciate if you've never ridden big wheels out on the road for any distance, but it's true.

Another advantage, of course, is comfort. Those big wheels take the bite out of the worst any paved road has to offer and they are oh, so stable. The bike sometimes feels like it's steering, itself.

Another plus is the ability to safely deal with sand and road debris. In fact, I can bounce back and forth from the road to the gravel shoulder anytime I want. That comes in real handy as a safety feature, sometimes.

Still, I do want to have something a little faster and bit more paved road friendly, even though I really don't need such a bike. The Krampus, after all, is a dedicated trail bike, not a road bike. Still, with the easy rolling tires I use on the Krampus, I could ride the Krampus all day long on the roads. Just wouldn't get as far or go as fast.

Hope everyone gets a chance to ride, this coming week. Happy St. Patty's day.

[emily_in_nc]

Hey now, it's March! You might want to copy/paste this excellent post to the March thread, to make sure more folks see it, NWG!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too. :-)