Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Non-Thorn Related => Topic started by: doug on December 20, 2013, 06:44:05 am
-
Last year I set myself the challenge of running every day over the Christmas / New Year holiday and found it was wonderful.
Mind you, most people thought I was completely bonkers. This is how the conversation went:
"You mean you're even running on Christmas Day?"
"Yep, first thing Christmas morning"
"You're bonkers, any normal person would be stuffing themselves and drinking all day long"
I found running everyday was lovely for all kinds of reasons and this year I'm probably going to cycle every day instead (ice-free roads permitting).
Anyone else doing this kind of thing? Why? Why not?
-
Hi Doug!
What a wonderful holiday activity!
I'll be doing something similar, continuing my daily 8km walks and cycling as weather allows. I'm not normally deterred by rain, but we're due for another round of freezing rain here and without studded tires, it makes for slippery going. In between, however, I plan to resume/continue my regular training loop 3x weekly with some shorter riding in-between.
In good health; all the best,
Dan.
-
Unfortunately I'll be working right through apart from the 28th Dec :(. Hopefully commuting by bike the 18.5 mile round trip, I'm pleased that I've only had to use my car for 3 days this year when I wasn't feeling 100%. The RST hasn't missed a beat.
Happy Christmas to all the forum members,
Neil.
-
You've surely done well, Neil. Shame about having to work on though the holidays. Thanks so much for the nice holiday greetings and all the best your way as well.
Dan.
-
Hi All,
Well I go riding as this time of year is Summer time! Sun is out and it's Riding Time ;D
Why not go riding in the Summer ???
NOTE: I have to ride this time of year to keep light :o
Pete 8)
-
Rub it in Pete theres a good lad ::)
theres a storm blowing here at the moment you'll be glad to know,my son is in your part of the world and he's loving it.
anyway christmas day, well i'll open the pressies i'm not getting, if the weather is ok i'll defo go out for a few hours by that time the daughter will be here with her gang so i can have the craic with the grandkids /then when dinner is done and dusted i'll do what i've be doing this past 20 years BED for a few hours. ;D
-
Welllll, most of our talk here is dominated by the weather, as you might guess. For the first time in many years, we have serious snow & cold before Christmas. When my wife & I reached Ottawa this past Monday afternoon--I had been away for a month--there was a difference of 55 degrees between Rio de Janeiro, which we had left about 24 hours before, and Ottawa. (I don't complain too much about such these things -- don't get much sympathy for the rigours of visiting Brazil...)
So this weekend, we're having two winter storms, which will make four already this year. We have had some cold weather--earlier this week, the morning temp was -28, windchill of -39. Our line on All This is that we're agin global warming, but a little local warming would be fine.
There are a few cyclists on the streets these days, but I'm not one of them--the roads are too slick, and the snowbanks mean that there's even less space than usual. And car drivers all too often exceed their radically reduced safety margins in these conditions.
But there's plenty of snow on the trails in the Gatineau Hills, where I was cycling just before I left Ottawa in mid-November. So I'll get my X-country skis tidied up in the next few days. And with the cold weather, there's a good chance chance that the Rideau Canal, our long (8 kms) outdoor skating rink will be open before Jan 1. It's magical on a cold clear night.
And, early in January, I'll take my Raven frame & forks, plus my Rohloff and SON28 hubs, with various other parts, to my LBS, TallTree Cycles, to begin the build of da boid. This is likely to be named "Osibisa", a nod to the Ghanaian band and their anthem, "Woyaya" -- "We are going, heaven knows where we are going. We will get there, heaven knows how we will get there. We know we will!" Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1QM3_fguB8
Best to all of you and yours for the holiday and the new year, with my thanks for your information, wisdom, uncommon sense and courtesy over the past year; and especially to Dan, for shepherding us so generously. Safe riding over the holidays.
J.
-
Rub it in Pete theres a good lad ::)
Yeah, you're so right, Jags. i mean, who invited these guys from Down Under? When did they last offer us any of their sunshine?
Oh damn, I'm from Down Under myself. But we won't mention that.
-
It only Snows at the North Pole this time of the year!
Is it not mid summer for all of us?
Pete ???
-
ahh wait until this climate change really kicks in then you'll know what a good winter feels like ;D ;D
Happy Travels Andre 8)
-
Best to all of you and yours for the holiday and the new year, with my thanks for your information, wisdom, uncommon sense and courtesy over the past year; and especially to Dan, for shepherding us so generously. Safe riding over the holidays.
And all the merries to you too, John, and all the chaps (and a few chappettes) on our happy forum.
-
and from me have a great christmas everyone. ;)
-
and from me have a great christmas everyone. ;)
Likewise from me and all of mine in Godzone - have a Happy and Safe Holiday season everyone!
My sister is in from NYC and we will be riding some local rail trails and tracks. I don't want her riding too much on-road, given we're LH traffic over here. She's already fallen in love with my wife's Raven step-through, so I'll have to check her bags carefully when she leaves... :D
One of my holiday goals is to finish my UK and Danube trip diary - watch these pages!
Slammin!
-
i was supposed to do the Danube tour few years back but the guy that was supposed to be arranging it should have won the liers cup the biggest spoofer on gods earth. so the trip never happened.
look forward to reading about it.
-
Pete,
You are wrong. As I write this I am stuck in a blizzard that has shut down US287 north of Amarillo, TX. Less than 100 miles away in Colorado there are clear skies and dry roads. :-[ On my way to Pincher Creek, Alberta, CAN. for a 27Th delivery. Hope to spend Christmas in Billings, MT, there is a good casino there with local brew.
Merry, Merry, Happy, Happy to everyone,
Tom
-
Safe journeys, Tom. Be careful of yourself Out There.
Best wishes for the merriest of Holiday Seasons to All!
Dan.
-
Thanks Dan,
Always care full. Coming up on my second million miles with out an accident. Should get the award early next year!
Best, Tom
-
Tom, safe journeys--seems there's snow everywhere in N America today/tonite. Maybe you'll catch a nice chinook in Pincher Creek!
-
Pete,
You are wrong. As I write this I am stuck in a blizzard that has shut down US287 north of Amarillo, TX. Less than 100 miles away in Colorado there are clear skies and dry roads. :-[ On my way to Pincher Creek, Alberta, CAN. for a 27Th delivery. Hope to spend Christmas in Billings, MT, there is a good casino there with local brew.
Merry, Merry, Happy, Happy to everyone,
Tom
Hi Tom,
How can you have a Blizzard in the Mid of Summer?
The Sun is out and it its a warm 25c
I'm starting to think your all Mad!
BBQ Time again ;D
Pete 8)
-
Hi Tom,
How can you have a Blizzard in the Mid of Summer?
The Sun is out and it its a warm 25c
I'm starting to think your all Mad!
BBQ Time again ;D
Pete 8)
Mmm.... I was in Taupo at Christmas 2 years ago and didn't see the lake through the rain for three days! But, have to say NZ was the best way to pass Christmas ever. My favourite part of north island was Cooks beach on the Coramandel. Enjoy, your summer
-
You guys from up-over (vs. down-under, which we (you) determined earlier is an agitating term) are all getting big heads from all the envy coming your way! And, I must say, taking full advantage of it! ;D
Yes, Pincher Creek is located on the Crows Nest Highway (CA3). It is located in southern Alberta on Alberta's side of the Canadian Rockies near the British Columbia border. The entire rode is a heavy touring area all year round. Wild life, granite mountains, mountain bound lakes, rivers, make for a beautiful area. There are several popular cycling routes through that area, one being the great divide route which starts in Banff, Alberta and goes south through the US.
I take a lot of loads emptying in Calgary, Edmonton and the Grand Prairie areas. When planning a load out, I sometimes take loads that will route me through the Crows Nest for the sheer pleasure. It can be iffy (time wise) in the winter, avalanches (natural and man induced) are common, coming across the roadway in some areas. But Canada has monster equipment and very capable personnel that clears these areas amazingly quick.
Pete, if you ever decide to come back (to US or CA) try to include this area, you will not be disappointed.
Look like they have opened the road. Gotta push north, later.
Tom
-
Tom, there's a great book about the history & ecology of SW Alberta, by Sid Marty, Leaning on the Wind, an account of how the chinook has shaped the landscape & the peoples who have lived in those parts over the past few thousand years. Marty, in case you don't know of him, used to be a Park Ranger in Banff NP, and quit in despair about policies & politics in the mid-late 1970s. (God only knows what he makes of the situation today...) He became a writer & musician.
Savage winter storms in Eastern Canada -- Tronna shut down by an ice storm, displacing even "Mayor" Rob Ford from the front pages & the preoccupations of the population -- and here, it'll get cold again shortly. Just checking the weather where you're going, and indeed just after Christmas the forecast is for a rapid warming, with Grande Prairie going from -30 as I write to 4 & 5 at the end of the coming week. Warmer still in Pincher Creek!
-
Snowed here today,man its feckin freezing roll on the summer i think i'll have to throw another overcoat on the bed tonight. ;)
-
Snowed here today,man its feckin freezing roll on the summer i think i'll have to throw another overcoat on the bed tonight. ;)
Tonight in the far end of the supermarket parking lot, a woman who just loaded a huge shopping from the trolley into the back of the car, and pushed the trolley a long, long way back to the trolley stand, and then walked back, said to her husband as she climbed into the car, just as I cycled past: "Drive quickly. I need the brandy. My nose is after falling off." I too came straight home and declared the sun over the yard-arm.
-
;D ;D ;D i'm away to me bed.
-
Just spoke to a mate in Galway, recently moved back from here. He said he had 4 inches of hail at the back door! No need to "dream" of a white Xmas!
Only thing white around here this time of year is the sand on the beach...
Enjoy the break, everyone! ;D
-
and theres a storm warning for your friends in galway today better batten up the hatches.
its nice and sunny in my part at the moment but that wont last long.
-
Chucking it down here in Wales but still going out for a spin shortly. 'If it's Not Raining it's Not Training'. ;D
-
Hard as bloody nails those welsh men ::)
-
No pain, no gain. Off for a ride; you've shamed me into it, Neil.
-
Well done Andre, a ride in the rain is better than no ride at all.
Come on Jags, we can't give these Kiwi's any more ammunition, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.
-
;D
Pete
-
Your right Neil all that sun can't be good for a person ,give me frost bite anyday ;)
and your right if you have the right gear and right frame of mind then the weather is not a big deal.
(YEAH RiGHT )
anto just into hiding.at least until the weather picks up.
-
Blimey Jags it a long wait till June.
-
;D ;D ah it wont be that long Neil.
-
Blimey Jags it a long wait till June.
Nothing beats a good Welsh gloom!
-
... so far, the major activity is shovelling snow. Our annual average is 220 cms, record has been 440 a couple of times. To date, we have 110 cms and it's not even January! (The cigar-shaped object in front the the hedge, btw, is my canoe.) It all looks pretty in today's sunshine, though -- see fotos taken mid-morning, by which time the temp had eased to -18. With sun, anything's tolerable. Looks good for skiing this week!
-
Great photo! We get that too some years John! Not this year! 70 mile per hour winds and rain with blizzards of sleet and snow thrown in. Looks like this year is a wash out.
Anyway, up to my sister's rambling farmhouse with all the family, four dogs, four cats, three horses, numerous ducks and hens, and other menagerie, and a huge meal round the big table and later the roaring fire (the horses, ducks and hens stay outside of course!). Two hour walk after the meal up on the moor in the wind and rain/sleet/snow.
Sleep.
Prise the Raven Tour out of the garage when back home to get rid of the waist line! :D As a keen skier, I would love to go for a ski on Boxing Day! Not this year.
Merry Christmas everyone!
-
... so far, the major activity is shovelling snow. Our annual average is 220 cms, record has been 440 a couple of times. To date, we have 110 cms and it's not even January! (The cigar-shaped object in front the the hedge, btw, is my canoe.) It all looks pretty in today's sunshine, though -- see fotos taken mid-morning, by which time the temp had eased to -18. With sun, anything's tolerable. Looks good for skiing this week!
wow thats class, Ireland would come to a standstill if we got half amount of snow.
lovely photo though.
anto.
-
Thanks, Anto. Y'know, there are even a few cyclists out & about. Used to be that the winter hardcore riders used bikes with narrow tires to cut through the snow to the tarmac/whatever below. Some riders still use that approach but now, more & more people use the fat-tired 29ers. Days like today are not too bad, as the cold temp means that there isn't too much slush about, even with the salt added to the roads. Winter weather really messes up derailleurs, though.
The snow-clearing apparatus is a whole sub-culture in itself. Some years back, a friend moved to Ottawa from Vancouver, and from his downtown apartment window, he used to watch the snow-clearing ploughs and trucks at night -- he'd never seen such things in Vancouver. It's not uncommon for the snow to last well into April in the hills across the river -- and then, sometimes within a couple of weeks, it melts enough to start cycling again, so we're skiing in early April and cycling by the end of the month. Springtime can be very rapid and dramatic -- the saying is that we have two months of March, and then go right into July.
If you haven't grown up with it, the winter can be dangerous, but the change of seasons can be magnificent too: it's not just that the leaves, etc., change colour--the whole landscape changes. When you see a picture like the one I just took, it's hard to imagine the same scene six months later. Below is my old AJS, sold last June to finance my Raven.
-
great taste in bikes ;)
ah weather here at the moment is miserable rain wind sleet ,supposed to be good tomorrow so i might just chance a spin i'll wait and see.
anyway have a great christmas i'm gonna have a sneakey look under the tree see if i got anything ;)
-
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5473/11536789516_1f5d8e3153_z.jpg)
-
"Tom, there's a great book about the history & ecology of SW Alberta, by Sid Marty, Leaning on the Wind, an account of how the chinook has shaped the landscape & the peoples who have lived in those parts over the past few thousand years."
Thanks John, I'll add that one to my to get list. Yes I have heard of him, his book Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek is already on it. (Along with Andre's Iditarod.) When things slow down after the Holidays I will get that list taken care of. I hope his history style is similar to James Michener's as I love his books (esp. Texas).
Your mentioning of the importance Chinook has played in that area solved a mystery for me. For years I have been passing a small store in Moyie, BC, situated along the Crows Nest. They advertise for sell "Snook Jelly". I now realize they must be talking about jellied Chinook! I must find a parking spot large enough for my rig to try that.
"... so far, the major activity is shovelling snow."
I sure hope that is your back yard. Else you have an aw-full lot of shoveling yet to do if planning on using that car!
Tom
-
Andre,
Positive thinking last until the digits start turning black (then it goes someplace unknown).
Pete,
You have a mean streak. ;D
Tom
-
Positive thinking last until the digits start turning black (then it goes someplace unknown).
The irony is that I grew up in the Little Karroo, a desert where every morning, even in summer sometimes, the water barrel is frozen, and noonday temperatures can reach 120F, so I should be used to it. But I've lived in temperate climes so long, I've just grown soft; I'm continually amazed at where some of the fellows here choose to live, and where they choose to cycle. As schoolboys we used to hang on the airport fence on Wednesdays when the plane came in, and laugh at the British tourists who would come to the door, be hit by that heat, and promptly keel over. I repent my sins, Father, forgive me now that I too will probably fall down dead at the plane door.
-
I'm continually amazed at where some of the fellows here choose to live, and where they choose to cycle.
Perhaps the greatest part of it is an accident of birth, Andre, and tracking on from there as one gets locked in to schooling, work, and social connections. I have at times fervently wished my parents had birthed me in sunny San Diego County, California, but alas. I chose them wisely otherwise and it could have been worse.
I lived for a year in rural northern Mississippi and frequently trekked to Memphis, TN. Early Spring and late Fall were pretty and nice, but oh the summer heat and humidity, when it was sometimes 36°C and 97% RH in July. Whew. I returned to Oregon at Christmas break and stepped into ankle-deep snow. My thought each time: "People actually choose to live here?!?"
All the best,
Dan. (...who would live all over if he could and sees freezing fog outside the window at the moment)
-
Andre,
Pete,
You have a mean streak. ;D
Tom
Hi I do Not!
It is mid Summer and time to write and talk about Summer!
When its Winter Time! Talk about Winter?
You all talk about Summer in the Mid of Winter? are you all mad!
Winter is always in the mid of the year! I have been to the UK in June/July and it was cold!
Yes I live in Godzone and i'm Lucky, But almost anyone can move here.
Its Summer, have Fun in the Sun.
Pete.....
-
Yeah if a fella was in his 20's maybe a move would be in order especially the way things are here in Ireland.
my son loves Auckland only a month left on his visa but i reckon he will try and move there permanent some day.
as for weather in Ireland to be honest it never gets really bad only rains about four times a year 3 months at a time,seldom do we get heavy snow and if we do we just close the place down until it melts,yeah we might be green but we are not stupid. ;D ;D
-
...in Ireland ... it ... never only rains about four times a year ... 3 months at a time
That's we they call it "the green and beloved isle", Jags.
But the climate, except for being wet, is temperate. There are places in the Mediterranean that are colder...
-
Eeek we are moving, the house sold and we have rented an apartment. So every day it's lugging stuff from point A to point B. At least we have a month to get through it! My sweetheart has been in this house for 17 years, raising her son. Stuff stuff stuff!
Today was my first ride from the new starting point!
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/337799611
I tried a rail trail. Egads, not the best idea! The roads are 99% clear but from lack of traffic or lack of sun, it was ice and snow the whole way. I didn't have to get off and push too much, but it did happen. Definitely pushed the limits of the Marathon Winter tires! Good enough on the harder stuff but... in snow maybe 3 to 6 inches, sort of a powder with a crust on top... really tough slogging! At least for me.
Anyway it was fun to be on a new road. I lived further south, in Poughkeepsie, in the 1980s, and would ride not too far from there but that was just a bit out of my usual. From Woodstock, again, just a bit far. Now, it could be a standard loop. Except that rail trail! The obvious alternative, Rt 32, is too busy for my taste. A nice excuse for further exploration!
-
Going up the Tambo Valley to Omeo, then along the Limestones Rd to the Cobberas for a bit of walking and exploration. Returning to Bairnesdale via Gelantipy and Buchan then the East Gippsland Railtrail. Country towns, bush camping and the wilderness of The Cobberas National Park.
http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/2380880-limestones-loop/
(http://assets.boxdice.com.au/robert_hawkins/listings/306/69507147.jpg?fit=x465)
(http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b456/Tomactroop/Jan%202011%20High%20country%20trip/Camping4WDTrip2011BUSH246.jpg)
(http://www.discovereastgippsland.com.au/images/uploads/activities/Buchan_01_-_Buchan_River.jpg)
-
Going up the Tambo Valley...
Very good, Pete! Looks like you'l be in some State Forest lands, and it surely is scenic. Very nice views along the river.
'Hope you have a wonderful time and some nice Adventures along the way.
All the best,
Dan.
-
Going up the Tambo Valley to Omeo, then along the Limestones Rd to the Cobberas for a bit of walking and exploration. Returning to Bairnesdale via Gelantipy and Buchan then the East Gippsland Railtrail. Country towns, bush camping and the wilderness of The Cobberas National Park.
I'm jealous, Pete! I'm stuck here on BBQ and family duty until next week, and back to work the week after.
Have a magic trip, and post some more of your marvelous photos!
Sam
-
Christmas Colours on Dartmoor.
-
lovely pic's looks like tough cycling country loads of hills. ;D
-
Christmas Colours on Dartmoor.
Lovely countryside, & so nice to see greenery and bracken in December.
Pretty much just blue (sky) and white (loadsa snow) here today, sunny & bright but seriously cold with a hard northwesterly blowing, windchill -30 or so. Snow very squeaky when you walk on it, & lotsa bad comments going down--don't get sozzled on New Year's Eve & fall asleep in a snowbank or you might not wake up. (Not a joke!)
Some great X-country skiing on Boxing Day, just 10 kms round trip for the first outing of the year to a public cabin in the Gatineau Park, light the stove (I was the first one there that day), cuppa tea and a Ritter Sport choc bar, warm up & assemble in reverse order. More to follow later this week but not today, -25 is my cutoff point 'cos you just never quite warm up & ice on the beard isn't much fun...
-
God John you've a hard auld life all the same ;D ;D
i went out today only got 11 miles in ,first spin in 6 weeks or so. man i nearly died sure miss being off the bike.i used to love winter training but that was many years ago i'm getting lazy for sure need a good kick up the arse. ::)
jags.
-
Wonderful photos, greatly enjoyed!
Nice day too, John!
Best,
Dan.
-
Used to hike over Dartmoor. Lovely photos. Thank you so much for posting them.
-
lovely pic's looks like tough cycling country loads of hills. ;D
"when the road gets tough the tough get going"...........but on foot this time :)
this is the old tramway near Haytor. Horse-drawn wagons, using this track, used to haul out the quarried granite.
-
Fantastic.i was going to say CLASS but thought i had better change the reckord. ;D