It's heating up...

[FastDoc]

By local standards at any rate.

I didn't have to work Saturday so Roger and I took advantage of the semi-warm sunshine to ride and 'practice' for our upcoming race. 75 miles (estimated) of sand, rocks, trails, whoops, jumps, and dunes was a great workout. I regreted not wearing warm weather gear though. Had to take off coat and shirt to cool off on breaks.

I am really looking forward to letting this bike race. It wants to run!

[zingshoen]

good onya! just so that you don t get too envious of the australian sunshine: here i am driving my battered coupe coz it s raining bigtime. the bureau says:

Areas of HEAVY RAIN, which may lead to flash flooding, are expected east of a line from St Lawrence to Stanthorpe, excluding the Gold Coast region. 24 hour totals of between 100 to 200mm are likely, with locally heavier totals in excess of 200mm possible. Periods of more intense rain may deliver totals in excess of 100mm over a shorter duration of up to 6 hours.

summer in australia can be somewhere between bushfires and/or floods. in brisbane at least it means high humidity and if it rains it pours. our real riding seasons are spring, autumn and winter :-)

[FastDoc]

I think Australia is a beautiful interesting amazing place to ride and well worth dealing with the rain . What are winters like there? Do you get snow? Do you have a dry season?

[zingshoen]

there s snow if you go looking for it, down south, mount buller in victoria is a popular skiing resort, but i ve never been there.

in brisbane (same latitude as northern africa) a cold morning would be 4 C, warming up to 20 on most winter days. mangoes grow here and pineapple, so that gives you an idea. to sweat in your light but protective clothing on a hot day (long kevlar trousers and boots) is probably more discomfortable than having the cold weather. it is normal to sweat a lot. on really hot 35+ days i ride with wet clothes, like hop in the pool with clothes on, then ride. keeps you cool. but mostly summer days are 28-33 and quite humid.

the rain is good, we need it, it s been too dry. wet season should be nov to easter, but often it is not so exact. some years rain starts in sept/oct, some years in jan/feb. a dry summer is a worry, coz the winters are usually dry.

the queensland forest dept does controlled burning off of the underbrush, so in qld bushfires are not so common. they happen more in new south wales and victoria where there s no burning off and with less rain they are becoming more frequent.

[SpudRider]

Zingshoen, we need to see photographs of your Zong in its native habitat! :roll: It's summer "down under," please post a ride report.

Spud

[SpudRider]

We get lots of snow in East Idaho.



Spud

[zingshoen]

snow is beautiful and serene. even slushy, muddy, rainy is not so bad as long as it isn t cold! i find 20 degrees celsius cold, 18 degrees and i ll wear a beanie and a jumper and longjohns!

the bureau says storms and rain should clear up next week so i ll take my camera along and showcase a zong :-)

here s what one of the roads i ride looked like yesterday:

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

I wonder how they paved the road right into the river like that.

[FastDoc]

It's funny how a person adapts to their climate. :P

In the summer here it's in the 90's and 100's. When it goes down to the 60's at night it feels cold.

In the winter its in the 30's and 40's. On that last ride it went into the 60's and felt hot.

When I lived in California our warmest winter days here would have been intolerable, and now they feel terrific.

I hate snow. Nothing beautiful about it when it lands on you. Makes pretty pictures but the party is over when you are upside down in a ditch in your new pickup. Yes, I've been there, done that, and no you don't have to 'drive too fast' to get screwed. Ask Spud what it does for his riding... :roll:

I think we're in the clear this winter. Except for a dusting on the hilltops a few times, no snow per se, although it can still happen.

I don't like rain either. Hence my desert dwelling place!

[FastDoc]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I wonder how they paved the road right into the river like that.

Boat launch ramp.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

snow is beautiful and serene. even slushy, muddy, rainy is not so bad as long as it isn t cold! i find 20 degrees celsius cold, 18 degrees and i ll wear a beanie and a jumper and longjohns!

the bureau says storms and rain should clear up next week so i ll take my camera along and showcase a zong :-)

here s what one of the roads i ride looked like yesterday:

Thanks for posting the photo, Zingshoen.

Flooding is very destructive. The power of Mother Nature is awesome. :?

18 degrees Celsius is 64 degrees Fahreheit. If your're wearing longjohns at that temperature, you wouldn't enjoy the Idaho winter. We reached minus 26 degrees Celsius numerous times this winter. :( I'm quite ready for springtime to arrive.

Spud

[FastDoc]

21 days, 5 hours till Spring. Almost there. Daylight savings Time in only 12 days.

[SpudRider]

Friday is the first day of March, and the weather will be warming up in Idaho. If we can get a lot of snow to melt in March, the riding season will start early, as it did last year.

Spud