Fifty Plus (50+) - Rain, rain...go away!

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View Full Version : Rain, rain...go away!


cranky old dude
09-28-08, 03:49 PM
My weekends are 4-day weekends, a reward for working four 12.5 hour
days each week. Four out of my last five weekends have been wet. Four
beautiful days when I’ve got to go to work and four wet days off. Last
weekend was an exception as we had perfect weather.

I finished work at 5:30 this morning, this wet rainy morning, to the
prediction of the weather drying out by noon. O.K., this works…I
set the alarm for 11:30 A.M. and get in a nice nap. It’s a little dreary
when I wake up so I stall until about 1:30 pm then jump on the Volae
and head west. I almost got three blocks before the rain started back
up and it didn’t stop until…well it’s still raining. I ended up cutting
what would have been close to a 35 mile ride short to a 15 miler. :(
Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer so I’ll try again. Tuesday & Wednesday
we’re supposed to get heavy rains but the weather is supposed to
clear up on Thursday (my first day back to work). :notamused: I think
my spirits are getting a little damp. Oops, that’s the drier buzzer…my riding
clothes are dry.


Happy Trails


tsl
09-28-08, 06:07 PM
I can sympathize with you, Cranky.

However, my schedule has meshed perfectly with the weather all year this year. Yesterday was the first time since winter that, due to weather, I had to ride the direct route to work instead of my extended remix club-dub long loop route. I've felt blessed all spring and summer.

Autumn is upon us and I am wary of falling footwear.

howsteepisit
09-28-08, 06:11 PM
Sometimes it seems the mother nature has it in for you. Rarely does it seem like mother nature give the benefit.


velonomad
09-28-08, 07:22 PM
Pretty wet down my end of the Ditch. Had about a 4 hour break between heavy rain showers this afternoon, I opted for a brisk 13 mile walk on the Canalway trail over a bike ride.

cyclinfool
09-28-08, 07:31 PM
Cranky,

Since I am a normal weekender I have been pretty lucky this year. Even though Sat it rained here I got my 30m ride in before noon - I was supposed to to a century Sat but due to the forecast didn't even bother to try. Today it was too wet to go out. Monday & Tuesday should be fine, I'll take a long lunch and get in 20 miles those two days - hopefully I can sneak in a ride later in the week as well.

dendawg
09-28-08, 08:51 PM
We left at 7:30 this morning to drive south to NJ for the Twin Lights ride. We were going to do 50 miles. It was raining hard on the ride down, but by the time we started - almost 2 hours later it had slowed to a drizzle. Still not very comfortable riding to the first rest stop, especially since my glasses kept fogging up on me. And I had a very wet butt where the spray from the rear wheel was hitting me. By the time we got to the 20 mile mark where the routes divided the sky was looking very dark so we decided to cut the ride short and do the 30 mile instead of the 50. Wouldn't you know it, by the time we got to the finish the sun was out! Still glad we finished early as the bikes needed a lot of cleaning before we loaded them back in the car. Hope I can figure out how to get the sand and grit out of the deraileurs.

cranky old dude
09-29-08, 11:01 AM
All right, it's Monday 1:00 pm and though the rest of the city dried out this morning,
the mist just stopped falling here about 45 minutes ago. So here goes, going
to try to get in a peaceful dry ride.

freeranger
09-29-08, 11:14 AM
We're actually hoping for some rain here in Louisville. Might have some rain tonight, but it won't be enough to make up the over 4" shortage of rain for this time of year. Have a burn restriction in our county and a neighboring county now, as everything is so dry. Send some rain this way! (but only during the week--no weekends allowed!)

BSLeVan
09-29-08, 11:15 AM
12

BikeWNC
09-29-08, 11:24 AM
What rain? We're still in an exceptional drought down this way. Down 40% so far this year which is the same as last year and we're heading into what is usually the driest season. If it were not for Fay's 4-8 inches in August we would be desperate for water.

dguest
09-29-08, 11:49 AM
What rain? We're still in an exceptional drought down this way. Down 40% so far this year which is the same as last year and we're heading into what is usually the driest season. If it were not for Fay's 4-8 inches in August we would be desperate for water.


Not sure where you are, We had a severe drought last year but we have done fine this year. Last year we had to buy hay for the cattle from out of state, This year we have too much and can not find anyone to buy it. But the riding has been great all season, Well except for saturday which was a total wash out. Did a nice 40 mile ride sunday and the leaves are just beginning to turn here.

cranky old dude
09-29-08, 01:16 PM
Last week as the Bride and I visited the Thousand Islands we spoke with
a gentleman from North Carolina who also said they've been experiencing
drought for the past two years. We've had so much rain up here that the
leaves are all turning color already, about three weeks early. The dendrologists
say that's because the trees are so streesed from too much water.

stapfam
09-29-08, 01:17 PM
Not sure where you are, We had a severe drought last year but we have done fine this year. Last year we had to buy hay for the cattle from out of state, This year we have too much and can not find anyone to buy it. But the riding has been great all season, Well except for saturday which was a total wash out. Did a nice 40 mile ride sunday and the leaves are just beginning to turn here.

This year was dryer than last year- but it has still been a wet summer. The leaves on the trees have gone from Green to Brown. No Autumn colour at all.

At least we are coming to the "Dry" season over here. May be a bit cold but normally the wind stays below 20mph.

Roll on April- We had our 10 days of fine weather that month.

Jim from Boston
09-29-08, 02:03 PM
My weekends are 4-day weekends, a reward for working four 12.5 hour
days each week. Four out of my last five weekends have been wet. Four
beautiful days when I’ve got to go to work and four wet days off. Last
weekend was an exception as we had perfect weather...
:notamused: I think
my spirits are getting a little damp.


I have two weekend days to get in a long ride and I have only been able to do one in the last five weeks, mainly due to rain here in the Boston area. These were the last four weeks of a ten week century training schedule, to include postponement of the organized century charity ride this past Saturday, the Rodman Ride for Kids. Then next week I'll be out of town on the new date (grumble, grumble).

tsl
09-29-08, 03:37 PM
The dendrologists say that's because the trees are so stressed from too much water.

And they say the same thing in dry years.

I think they really have no idea whatsoever, but since they're paid to say something, they make it up. They just say stress due to [fill in the kind of weather we've been having], cash the check, and call it a day.

Besides that, I just looked it up. We're below normal for rainfall on the year. Less than 50% of normal for September alone, despite all the hurricane-induced rains. Too wet my @$$.

cranky old dude
09-29-08, 04:08 PM
Any way you cut it, the leaves are changing way ahead of normal.
Just observing.