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Big Storm in the West

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Big Storm in the West

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Old 01-07-08, 04:39 PM
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rwp
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Big Storm in the West

The last few days have seen lots of rain in various parts of California, Oregon, etc. and a whole lot of snow in the higher elevations of most western states. Here in Reno, I've put away the bike for a few days at least and joined the rest of the crowd in driving to work.

However, today I saw 1 cyclist brave the snowy roads. So has anyone else been affected or am I the only softy who can't make it through the entire winter?
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Old 01-07-08, 05:26 PM
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It's all just water and debris, my friend. But then, I look up at what snow there is and don't have it on my doorstep.

Actually, I did the bike-train-bike thing both ways on Friday (by far, the wackiest storm in a few years here in the South Bay) and it was fun because everyone else believed the media and stayed home... the surface streets were empty, except for all of the debris that the winds left laying about.
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Old 01-07-08, 07:50 PM
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In the Boise, Idaho area we are getting effects of the same storm system. Today I awoke to falling snow with an accumulation of about two inches. I expected packed snow turning to ice on the streets, but temperatures most of the day were mid- to high-30's. The sun came out and mid-afternoon I went out for 32 miles on my bike. Today was my day off, and it was good.
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Old 01-07-08, 08:37 PM
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So. Say the weather patterns are running on a sine wave. Then the amplitude increases. So the fronts go that much farther than they should. The weather would be extreme on either end. 12C in Toronto here today. Normal is -2. Snowstorms in Southern Cali huh?

Good enough reason to me for cyclocommuting.
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Old 01-07-08, 09:56 PM
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The snow has arrived in Denver. I will be going home in it at 12:30AM
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Old 01-07-08, 10:07 PM
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Originally Posted by gmule
The snow has arrived in Denver. I will be going home in it at 12:30AM
Be safe brother!
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Old 01-07-08, 10:40 PM
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I drove this morning because of the rain... However i'm biking tomorrow. It's cleared up for now.

(southern california here)
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Old 01-07-08, 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by gmule
The snow has arrived in Denver. I will be going home in it at 12:30AM
Did mine ate 5 p.m., will be at it again at 7:15 a.m.
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Old 01-07-08, 11:37 PM
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I'm still cleaning the mud off my Lemond.
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Old 01-08-08, 12:36 AM
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Nope. Here in Oregon we had about a 1" sheet of ice covering most things. I drove to work but came home at lunch and got my bike once things had thawed a bit =) Skinny 29" tires suck on ice, I tried and almost fell 2 times before getting off my street haha
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Old 01-08-08, 01:07 AM
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Originally Posted by climbhoser
Did mine ate 5 p.m., will be at it again at 7:15 a.m.
I did 25 miles in it from DTC to 88th and colorado. It really was not that bad.
Things did start having me concerned when the sun started going down while it was dumping in the washington park area but then I hit the cherry creek trail and all was good.
All in all it was fun but not a lot of snow. I do regret forgetting my rain pants. My jeans were nice and iced up.
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Old 01-08-08, 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
I did 25 miles in it from DTC to 88th and colorado. It really was not that bad.
Things did start having me concerned when the sun started going down while it was dumping in the washington park area but then I hit the cherry creek trail and all was good.
All in all it was fun but not a lot of snow. I do regret forgetting my rain pants. My jeans were nice and iced up.
Not as good as the last good storm, eh? That one forced me to bring out the MTB for the commute!

Amazing how well they take care of those trails...better than the roads for sure. My commute is almost all on the Cherry Creek Trail from Parker to DTC.

Almost ran into a coyote last night running full tilt straight at me down the path. I didn't have my light on due to the proliferance of the ambient lighting right around Cherry Creek and C-470 and he saw me at the last minute and did a freak-out turn. Pretty cool. I love commuting in the snow!

Now, if only I had an easy way of keeping the bike clean
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Old 01-08-08, 10:53 AM
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It was done snowing by the time I left my office. We only got a about an inch so it wasn't that big of a deal to ride in. On the way home I was goofing around and I took a couple of pics.





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Old 01-08-08, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by climbhoser
Not as good as the last good storm, eh? That one forced me to bring out the MTB for the commute!

Amazing how well they take care of those trails...better than the roads for sure. My commute is almost all on the Cherry Creek Trail from Parker to DTC.

Almost ran into a coyote last night running full tilt straight at me down the path. I didn't have my light on due to the proliferance of the ambient lighting right around Cherry Creek and C-470 and he saw me at the last minute and did a freak-out turn. Pretty cool. I love commuting in the snow!

Now, if only I had an easy way of keeping the bike clean

The coyote would have freaked me out.
My other commuter is my fixed gear with 700X23s. I've been leaving that one at home. The MTB is where it is at for me. I can crash on anything more than a dusting with my 23s.
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Old 01-08-08, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
The coyote would have freaked me out.
My other commuter is my fixed gear with 700X23s. I've been leaving that one at home. The MTB is where it is at for me. I can crash on anything more than a dusting with my 23s.

My new Xcheck had 23s on, but I put the 32s on after last night's commute. The 32s did really well this morning. Pretty much cover everything except the biggest storms.
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Old 01-08-08, 11:51 AM
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I drove to work on Friday, skipped the group ride Saturday, and rode to work yesterday and today. I may get a little damp on the way home tonight, but no biggie. The worst is the wind and the possibility that a tree might fall on you.
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Old 01-08-08, 06:52 PM
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Today we got about 3 inches of real snow near the house, but as much as 6 inches out of town where I ride. More is coming tonight. The streets are very slick. It could be a couple of days before I ride again.
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