Modern Buddy

It's about to get horribly cold here; coldest temps since February of 2011.
65 today, 8 on Wednesday. I didn't ride today because of the wind - a semi has already blown over on the freeway.
Me no likey.

Hope things are better where you scoot.

Tocsik wrote:...

Hope things are better where you scoot.

Unfortunately not so much...

http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwat ... rm%20watch

We will be hitting a low of 36 on Thursday, with a high of 55. Of course that sounds mild to you folks from colder climes but it will be a nippy commute!

Yes, in CO it seems it will not be scootworthy for a few days, and even then very cold for a bit.

fortunately I am able to reschedule my visits to Boulder and then take the bus to work.

Just bought a fancy dual-bank charger to complement my battery tender too, so I can at least have the batteries on deck!

Ride safe my friend, be warm!

I'm heading from the Chicago area to north central South Dakota early Wednesday AM. About a 15 hour drive.

We'll drive through snow (hopefully no icy roads) and spend Thursday through Saturday outside in temps of -15 deg (low) to 2-9 deg (highs) before we turn around and make the trip home on Sunday.

There has to be a better way to vacation?

Rob

Rob wrote:I'm heading from the Chicago area to north central South Dakota early Wednesday AM. About a 15 hour drive.

We'll drive through snow (hopefully no icy roads) and spend Thursday through Saturday outside in temps of -15 deg (low) to 2-9 deg (highs) before we turn around and make the trip home on Sunday.

There has to be a better way to vacation?

Rob

I would be VERY concerned about icy roads. Safe journey man.

ravenlore wrote:

Rob wrote:I'm heading from the Chicago area to north central South Dakota early Wednesday AM. About a 15 hour drive.

We'll drive through snow (hopefully no icy roads) and spend Thursday through Saturday outside in temps of -15 deg (low) to 2-9 deg (highs) before we turn around and make the trip home on Sunday.

There has to be a better way to vacation?

Rob

I would be VERY concerned about icy roads. Safe journey man.

Thanks and I am. I've going into this with the mindset that we (my son and I) will stop and spend the day in a hotel if necessary and get up there on Thursday instead of late Wednesday.

Rob

Rob wrote:

ravenlore wrote:

Rob wrote:I'm heading from the Chicago area to north central South Dakota early Wednesday AM. About a 15 hour drive.

We'll drive through snow (hopefully no icy roads) and spend Thursday through Saturday outside in temps of -15 deg (low) to 2-9 deg (highs) before we turn around and make the trip home on Sunday.

There has to be a better way to vacation?

Rob

I would be VERY concerned about icy roads. Safe journey man.

Thanks and I am. I've going into this with the mindset that we (my son and I) will stop and spend the day in a hotel if necessary and get up there on Thursday instead of late Wednesday.

Rob

Maybe post an update that you make it out there OK?

Also, hope you brought baselayers. Brr.

It will be 11 degrees here in Dallas on Monday...
11 freaking degrees... it NEVER gets this cold in Dallas!!!
W...T...F!!??

It's 78 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got a little icing coming home today. Glad I did not leave any later!
The 20 degree chill did it along with the freezing rain. Roads were fine yet after leaving work wondering if I should have put on the wet gear had the thought at a light maybe it will just freeze before i get too wet and WHAMO frozen face shield and other parts! Glad it was a short commute today!

that does not look safe at all.

ya - cut this one kind of close. Can't ride if you can't see and it was just about total block out. Roads were not holding any ice and I was not frozen - so it looked worse than it was,

4 degrees this morning in Chicago. It doesn't look much better for the week either. No scooting for awhile. I usually scoot in freezing temps but not this cold.

We had daytime temps in the upper teens over the weekend. On Saturday I was short on cash, so I rode a mile to the credit union then stopped at the farmer's market on the way back. Not too bad (though the selection at the market is getting slim). But I rode to the movie theater* 4 miles away just after noon on Sunday, and about halfway there came to the conclusion that I'd reached the temperature where I should've taken the cage. At 35mph, the windchill was a little below 0ºF.

Shortly after I got home from the movie it started snowing, and we got a few inches on the ground overnight. With no sun or above-freezing temps in the forecast, I think this snow might be "for keeps". At the least, it'll be a while before I ride again, so I moved the bicycle from his spot inside the front door, and put the scooter there and hooked up his battery.

*I saw Dear Mr. Watterson, a documentary love letter to the reclusive creator of Calvin and Hobbes.

Hopefully by Wed we'll be back in the 30's. Supposed to maybe hit 50 on Thursday, which I have off. I might ride around just to be back in the saddle!

Since it's been highs in the teens the side roads are still all ice. we may have to wait a bit before it's truly clear again. At least they didn't sand the roads a ton.

ravenlore wrote:

Rob wrote:

ravenlore wrote:
I would be VERY concerned about icy roads. Safe journey man.

Thanks and I am. I've going into this with the mindset that we (my son and I) will stop and spend the day in a hotel if necessary and get up there on Thursday instead of late Wednesday.

Rob

Maybe post an update that you make it out there OK?

Also, hope you brought baselayers. Brr.

Thanks again, for the concern. Couldn't post in SD, well I could have, but was generally too tired to get online.

Anyway, conditions were worse than anticipated. A normal 15 hour ride to Firesteel, SD turned into a 21 hour, white knuckle trip with snowy/icy roads and 40 mph winds once we hit SD. We pretty much had the same conditions on the ride home yesterday with another 22 hour ride. Road conditions started off ok, but got worse and worse as we went along. What should have taken us 4 hours after we got to Madison, WI last night, took 8 hours. Cars off the road everywhere (first time I've ever seen a state cop in the ditch), several accidents, and averaged about 30 mph on the interstate.

In between, extremely cold conditions, even colder than expected. The low was -24 with a wind chill of -42. Never hit 0 deg all 3 days we were there.
From the vehicle:


I was well layered and base layered. Everything covered stayed comfy. Any exposed skin was immediately stinging and evident.

Next vacation will be Key West in Feb. I'm really, really looking forward to that now.

Rob

Rob wrote:

ravenlore wrote:

Rob wrote: Thanks and I am. I've going into this with the mindset that we (my son and I) will stop and spend the day in a hotel if necessary and get up there on Thursday instead of late Wednesday.

Rob

Maybe post an update that you make it out there OK?

Also, hope you brought baselayers. Brr.

Thanks again, for the concern. Couldn't post in SD, well I could have, but was generally too tired to get online.

Anyway, conditions were worse than anticipated. A normal 15 hour ride to Firesteel, SD turned into a 21 hour, white knuckle trip with snowy/icy roads and 40 mph winds once we hit SD. We pretty much had the same conditions on the ride home yesterday with another 22 hour ride. Road conditions started off ok, but got worse and worse as we went along. What should have taken us 4 hours after we got to Madison, WI last night, took 8 hours. Cars off the road everywhere (first time I've ever seen a state cop in the ditch), several accidents, and averaged about 30 mph on the interstate.

In between, extremely cold conditions, even colder than expected. The low was -24 with a wind chill of -42. Never hit 0 deg all 3 days we were there.
From the vehicle:


I was well layered and base layered. Everything covered stayed comfy. Any exposed skin was immediately stinging and evident.

Next vacation will be Key West in Feb. I'm really, really looking forward to that now.

Rob

DAMN.


Glad you're back safe and sound!

I so miss the upper mid west winters. God Yes do I miss them, thanks for reminding me of why I left 40 odd years ago. R

I miss New Mex winters! The smells mainly- roasting green chiles and pinon fireplaces

Tomato Bisque wrote:I miss New Mex winters! The smells mainly- roasting green chiles and pinon fireplaces

And Christmas Tamales! R

We got below freezing a couple of mornings. Today was a high of 48F but I rode anyway. Looks like the cold snap is over though. By Sat. the temp is expected to be in the 60s with 50s tomorrow and Thursday. Good riding weather. I used the 3 days of cold wet weather for maintenance.

68 degrees & sunny here in the D/FW metroplex just took Stella to go run some errands during lunch and really didn't want to return.

That is all.

#whiteChristmas

Yeah, 63 here right now and it was 47 this morning! Nice.
I've been riding for a few days now and it's been great to have that damn cold air gone.

Gotta go now; just saw this on the local news station when I checked the temp so I need to find a really big straw:

Tocsik wrote:Yeah, 63 here right now and it was 47 this morning! Nice.
I've been riding for a few days now and it's been great to have that damn cold air gone.

Gotta go now; just saw this on the local news station when I checked the temp so I need to find a really big straw:

Heh. My Boulder ride was pretty rockin today. Hoping to get a little extra riding in...whee!

Of course, being December, it will be crappy tomorrow and through the weekend.

I had the day off, and the sun came out with temperatures around freezing, so I took a chance and rode the scooter to the comics shop this afternoon. There were enough slushy-slippery spots to raise my blood pressure, but overall it was a therapeutic ride. Days start getting longer this weekend!

[quote="SockyTX"]68 degrees & sunny here in the D/FW metroplex just took Stella to go run some errands during lunch and really didn't want to return.]

Yep - and I am looking for the 70 plus we had Tuesday to come back Thursday. Really would enjoy some ride time on days like these.