humancongereel

it's not likely to be snowy in portland again for a long time. i want to make the most of it, not sit at the computer. i want to take some rides, do some skids, have some snow wars...so what should i do? that's the hard part...suddenly i don't know what to do.

lyledriver

Put zipties around your rear wheel/tire (like chains), and go out and stand and hammer, making roostertails of snow =D

andre nickatina

yeah i was about to say, a kid i know ziptied up both his wheels and it was like the equivalent of car chains. great idea.

mattface 

Forgeet the bike, it's a snow day which means one thing in these parts, find you a hill and go sledding!

Sledding is like riding a bike downhill... brakeless.... with little or no steering!

If a proper sled cannot be obtained good substitutes are sheets of linoleum or plastic, even a large garbage bag if you're in a pinch

humancongereel

scotty wittlake? yeah, i saw him yesterday. thought he might be up snowboarding instead, but he was working downtown with ziptied wheels.

humancongereel

oh! mt. tabor! skids down tabor, sledding, sprints in the snow at the top!

andre nickatina

no, not scotty wittlake. but does wittlake ride a fixie?

braingel

i spent all day yesterday riding around on my mountain bike. i had a basket strapped to the front rack to hold snowballs, and i started a bunch of snowball fights with people playing in the snow.

and now that it's icy, you can totally do 180 skids. at least on my bike. i haven't tried my non-mountain bike yet, and now that it's icy i probably won't.

fatbat

Powerslide around corners!

CF4L

wait a sec... portland "never" gets snow? i feel like im very out of the loop or something... does it just not get cold enough in the winter? am i missing something? i know you have plenty of moisture... wtf?

humancongereel

yep, portland doesn't get all that cold...so no snow. just rain. : (

and yes, wittlake rides a fixed gear and he's fast as **** and the most humble friendly dude around.

and braingel has the best idea...fixed mtb with snowball basket. ftw.

humancongereel

yeah!

braingel

it gets cold enough when it's not raining...usually precipitation brings the weather up to the mid 40s.

if you're in albany, then it didn't really snow that much here. i'm from new jersey, and our schools wouldn't even have closed for this...i'm on my second snow day here though. there just isn't an infrastructure to deal with it on the roads, so instead of being plowed and salted right away it compacted, and now the plows can't really do much. plus all of the drivers here have no idea what they are supposed to be doing. i saw 4 busses stuck on the side of the road yesterday on my way to (closed) school, and people trudging en masse over the bridge.

andre nickatina

Oh, how I love living in a city clueless of what to do when it snows. But yeah, you're right, cities in Utah or Colorado have their **** together while we just stand around and say "What do we do, what do we do!" andt then sort of don't do anything about it and businesses and school just shuts down.... I love it.

humancongereel

yeah, drivers have no idea what to do here.

also, i think i should be working right now, but whatever. wasn't my call. but in chicago, for example, this'd be nothing.

wanna head to tabor, braingel?

andre nickatina

I took a geared mountain bike out to ride... it was like being a little kid again. Fishtail stops, 180 skids, riding down hills of untouched powder. I realllllly wish I had a fixed mountain bike to ride in this weather. I'm a bit sketched to take my fixie out tho because my tires have no traction left from doing skid stops, and it's definitely brakeless... anyone know where I can buy some zipties really fast in NE Portland, maybe Fred Meyers???

Serendipper 

This is your chance to combine mushrooms and snowshoeing.

humancongereel

yeah, that's probably it. freddy's is where i'd look. i'm broke (or, well...i'm actually saving money and my allotted funds are drying up) or i'd probably hit it.

fixed is fine.

so i think noonish i and at least two other people will be heading to mt. tabor....anyone else in? sledding, skidding, snowball throwing, whatever. snow day.

humancongereel

that's my seren...all full of bright ideas.

braingel

sure. i'm ready whenever.

andre...i didn't use my brake at all yesterday. it just locks your wheel up and then you slide. if you just ride around at a reasonable speed and resist to slow down, you'll be one up on most bikers.

Serendipper 

I'm dead serious. That combo is awesome!

braingel

where should i meet you guys?

humancongereel

no, really, that does sound like fun. oooh, what about ice fishing on acid?

Serendipper 

Now you have gone too far.

humancongereel

ummmmm....

hmmmm...

i suck at planning. cuz i figured if you headed up, you'd all be able to find us going up, too...but there are a couple of ways up.....i'd be going up 60th and salmon and taking the level (right) fork. so...yeah. but pm me, braingel, andre, whoever, and i'll shoot you my digits. i won't stay on long, but if you can't find me, that'll help.