Weather delay

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Hoping to get off on a shortish test-tour soon to vet some new equipment before taking a much longer desert journey on the Nomad. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired to delay my departure till later in the summer, putting me square in the middle of our new-normal wildfire season.

Oregon's wildfires are getting worse...and closer. Local radio (KPNW) callers report wolves were seen just outside the runway fences at the Eugene Airport this morning, driven closer to town by the drought conditions -- just like the mountain lions:
https://nbc16.com/news/local/cougar-seen-in-residential-springfield-area
http://www.registerguard.com/news/20180724/cougar-shot-and-killed-in-springfield-neighborhood/1

We're okay here in Eugene at the southern end of the Willamette Valley but Southern, Central, and Eastern Oregon are being hit pretty hard by some fire complexes. Lots of structures lost near Dufer: https://www.ktvz.com/…/long-hollow-fire-doubles-i…/774383656

Air quality in town worsened sharply last night and made the moon very orange. This morning, the normally blue skies are all brown and are expected to worsen throughout the day.

I'm having to replan some of the route for my next bicycle tour and plan to leave my stove at home, eating only cold food while traveling. The risk of starting a fire is just too great and besides the horrific damage, I could never hope to outrun a fire once it started in these conditions. Much better safe than sorry.

A friend coordinates the state emergency management GIS system and it provides useful realtime info on fire and other problems:
https://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/PublicInformation/index.html?appid=f8a0d8814a67445a9e6bf3485f4fd24f

More recent photos in the links below if you have a Facebook account:
https://www.facebook.com/KDRV12/posts/10158081045848312
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1984933641527192&set=a.361651147188791.83129.100000317256190&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CaveJunction/permalink/10155645846322393/
https://www.facebook.com/KDRV12/posts/10158080754673312

Best,

Dan.

[geocycle]

Take care Dan.  I have experienced fires in France and Australia and the results were not very nice at all.  Changes in wind are the most scary as are often very hard to predict. We've had moorland fires in the UK but the wet weekend will be helping to douse them. As you say, the new normal.

[jags]

scary stuff stay well away from that.

[mickeg]

I would take a butane stove, but I insist on coffee in the morning.

I hope you have cell service with data plan so you can check on weather forecasts as that relates to fires, plus of course data on the fires.

[Danneaux]

No cell coverage in about 75% of the area I go, George; too remote and not enough towers for coverage, even for Verizon.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Do weather radios get a signal?
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/Maps/PHP/OR.php

I have no clue if fire data is transmitted on weather stations or not.  And unfortunately the weather report is a generic report for the entire area covered by a that station, could have a radius of 50 miles.

With a high gain antennae I have gotten reception in places I should not have, but still there have been places where I got no reception at all.

[Danneaux]

Do weather radios get a [weather] signal?

Yes, George, about 70% of the time in the areas of SE Oregon and northern Nevada I travel, especially at night. My favorite weather radio for America is the Sony SRF-M37W. I have previously described it in some detail here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4023.msg18320#msg18320
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4023.msg18519#msg18519
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4439.msg50127#msg50127

Oregon Public Radio has a number of transmitters and repeaters throughout rural Oregon, so I am most likely to get those. Except for relayed national content, the local broadcasts on the hour or half-hour tend to cover local and regional weather at least to a cursory degree, so I can sometimes get those stations if the National Weather Service ones are unavailable.

All the best,

Dan.

[Bill]

Dan

Be safe.

[Danneaux]

Be safe

Thanks, fellows; will do.

All the best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

How many years have you been doing this heroic ride, Dan?

[Danneaux]

[How many years have you been doing this heroic ride, Dan?

Nearly 40, Andre. I know the country and conditions well enough to deeply respect it.

There are vast areas with no comms, little chance of meeting others, almost no water or resources and weather extremes -- all worth respecting if out there alone.

All the best,

Dan.