progre-ss

Wow! You suffer a powerout for 5 days (and still no power as I write) and you miss out on all these wonderful fixie posts! My family and I and most everyone in Monroe County of North Eastern Pennsylvania suffered through an ice storm that hit the area with a furvor that hasn't been experienced in quite some time. Anyone else suffer the same fate as I? No running water, no electricity, and more importantly for my kids, no video games with no school for several days. Ah, priorities... Lots of snapped trees, downed powerlines, blocked roads, and a community brought together by the wrath of Ma Nature. Good folks in NEPA. Remind me to buy a generator! So, did I miss out on anything important here? Any new stash pockets? Flavours of pie? Any new land speed records on a fixie? I'll eventually start reading all that I've missed but does anyone wanna give me the condensed version?

pitboss

bikes were built, then ridden. Some events took places, others did not.
glad you are safe

cicadashell

glad you only lost your electricity.

as to news, there is apparently some divergence of opinion as to the merits of so-called "hand brakes", specifically as regards their potential benefit in fixed gear applications that involve stopping. rest assured, however, that the issue will be swiftly resolved.

progre-ss

Thanks for the kind words [165] and cicadashell. The latest news from the power company is that I may have power by mdnight tonight but with the upcoming winter storm coming, I highly doubt that. Friends down the road have been told they won't have power until the weekend! Yes, it's a good thing electricity is the only thing we lost! Thank God!
I've been slowly reading the posts I've missed over the last few days or so and have noticed the hand brake issue. Just like this Big Mac I'm eating, it'll pass. I see the female fix thread is back on top. Again. I guess the more things change, the more things stay the same.

dobber

I feel for ya fella. Ice Storm of 98 left me without power for 11 days.

progre-ss

I survived that Ice Storm of 98 (or was that 97?) also, but was living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the time. Funny thing is that even with the Ice Storm, knocking out power to many, it was business as usual for most of the city. I still had to go to work all that week. Same thing with snow storms. No matter how much snow fell, you shovelled it out of your driveway that morning, got into your car or got on your bus and off you went to work, only to come back to a couple more feet of snow and the remnants of the snowplow that just plowed the street for a fifth time. Back in Ottawa, snow removal was a 24/7 thing if need be. I find here in NEPA and NJ, they don't plow until it stops snowing and even when they do plow, they don't do much good. And if there is an inch of snow on the ground in the morning, it's a snow day! Geez... Sorry. Rant over.

ryan_c

What ya need to do is turn an old bike into a generator - I've seen it done with a car alternator and a belt around the rim. Then you can post on bikeforums entirely under your own power.

BlastRadius

Didn't the Professor rig something up with an old bike?

maynard g krebs

Gilligan's Professor!? Yeah, but his bike was made from coconuts wasn't it?

icithecat

We have had an interesting week here in Victoria also. Wet snow and ice. Strange stuff indeed. Many people lost power due to tree branches falling on lines. Semis jack-knifing on highways left and right. 1,800 home loosing power due to a car accident and a power pole.
The city snowplow was plying the same three streets for two days.
It snowed three inches in the city and a foot at higher elevations.
Yeah, were tough.

dasein

At the time I lived 30 kms outside of Ottawa. We were without power for 15 days. It ****ing ruled - I was 17, had a closet full of winter camping gear, and no responsibilities, because my school was without power too. So I was comfortable. Best vacation ever. I hear others were troubled; obviously they didn't get into the spirit of things.

progre-ss

I've always wanted to try winter camping! My buddy and his brother and a friend or two would do it every winter. They'd drive up to some secluded spot in the Gatineaus, then hike in the 5 or 6 miles to the camping spot. They'd be pulling sleds full of camping supplies and someof those compressed firelog things. As well as a week's supply of chicken wings that they could cook over an open fire and then toss the bones in the same fire.