On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 11:44:32 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/20/2016 12:42 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 8:31:28 AM UTC-7, Mark J. wrote:
On 6/19/2016 5:28 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 1:13:37 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
My own Dawn Patrol was wonderful and uneventful:
http://www.channel3000.com/news/-Nak...dison/40117484
--
Yah, we got that, too -- next Saturday. https://pdxwnbr.org/ Remind me to ride west. I'm tired of weird.
I was creeping along on tired legs today because I wiped myself out riding up Mt. Bachelor on Friday. http://www.glitteranddust.com/wp-con...54-768x768.jpg
Central Oregon is usually dry this time of year, but not on Friday -- rain and sleet at the top. I was so hypothermic on the way down, I practically passed out -- or whatever you call it when your brain freezes and you start seeing Oprah at the end of a tunnel of light with coffee and doughnuts. I was starting to loose my grip on the bars and had to stop and gag down a Cliff bar in the rain. One of my top five miserable rides.
The sun was out in PDX today, and so were all the cyclists. It was like the Mayfly hatch or the return of the Monarch Butterflies with all the bright colored jerseys.
-- Jay Beattie.
I stow a rolled-up plastic "kitchen" garbage bag in my tool kit, with
arm and neck holes cut in it. Weighs perhaps 5g and takes up
essentially zero room. It's been years since I've used one, but it's
cheap insurance. Against hypothermia, not nudity, that is.
-Mark J.
My head was freezing, so I would have had to put the bag over my head -- which some people have suggested I do in other contexts. Actually, though, I could have used the garbage bag as an additional layer beneath my Showers Pass (product placement) rain jacket. I would have worn long finger gloves, but I didn't pack a pair. I did not expect Juneuary in Bend and brought my rain jacket as a precaution.
The same thing happened to me once on Larch Mountain -- soaked to the bone and shivering so hard on the descent that I could hold on to my bars. I suppose a garbage bag might have helped then. My companions had more sophisticated equipment -- cell phones. They had married better, too, because their wives were willing to drive 30-40 miles to pick them up. I rode home, teeth chattering, doing my Captain Kirk impression . . . must . . . keep . . . riding.
-- Jay Beattie.
Yecchh that sounds just awful unlike my pleasant rides
recently. With practice you could be famous!
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7SLExZrEuow/maxresdefault.jpg
Andy was a god!
Personally, I prefer riding in falling snow to riding in near freezing rain, except for the traction issues and so long as I'm properly dressed.
If I had to descend the Gavia in falling snow and a pair of arm warmers, I'd cry frozen tears and stop in the nearest town for espresso and a hot shower. "Honey, I'm in Italy -- could you come and get me?"
And you can bet that the descent was pretty treacherous in fresh snow. I mentioned Larch Mountain, which is a nice, long fairly low angle climb, but there is often snow near the top in June, e.g.
http://cyclingportland.com/wp-conten...ain.jpg?189db0 http://cyclingportland.com/chutes-ladders/
I did this on a sunny spring day, and I hit the snow going up and got pretty good grip so I kept going to the top . . . and then I had to sled, fish-tail, fall, squirm and walk back down. It was so much easier going up than coming down. I couldn't imagine what it was like descending the Gavia in that snow storm, in a race, trying to make time . . . in shorts.
-- Jay Beattie.