smokey52
Posts:493
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| 03/26/2023 06:45 PM |
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As I've posted before, I wait for the first clear day after substantial rain to clear the winter salt from the roads. Today was that day, and I had a good ride.
If molasses and I had a race, molasses would win, but it felt good to be out again.
Also, as I noted in years past, it's amazing how many empty liquor bottles are on the side of the road.
smokey |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 03/26/2023 08:34 PM |
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Good on ya, and keep pedaling!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 03/26/2023 08:38 PM |
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Molasses or rust, that is the question.
Spring has sprung. I’m at around 2000 kms so far for the year (all outdoor). |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 03/27/2023 02:54 PM |
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| Just about all of California is under water now. I have not ridden since October. Ditto on the empty liquor bottles alongside the road. I spot a lot of those little ones they used to hand out on airplanes. Working man's favorite I guess. |
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6ix
Posts:485
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| 03/29/2023 07:46 AM |
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It's been a consistently very cold winter here in Colorado. Way more snow than normal too. Low 60's today so heading into the hills!
I have a running theory on all those single-serve liquor bottles you find on the roadside, as well as the empty cans of beer. Easy to throw away evidence. Rather than buy an entire bottle of whiskey at the liquor store, they buy a bunch of the small bottles so they can drink on the way home. Since only one small bottle is open at a time, even if they got pulled over they wouldn't be caught with a large open bottle. The other small bottles are still sealed. Seen this sort of activity outside of manufacturing plants as guys get in their cars on the way home. They can drink all the way there. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 03/29/2023 08:43 AM |
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Even though we have had a pretty mild winter by Chicago standards, it has not gotten warm enough to ride outside yet…think I have 2 outdoor rides this year, so far.
But I am down on Spring Break, and while the weather has not been great, it has been warm and I got 3 great rides in, including an awesome day on singletrack trails near Destin. 2.5+ hours of twisty fun.
Cold and breezy this AM, though…so waiting until the afternoon to ride. Will hopefully get into the mid-60’s by then. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 03/29/2023 12:08 PM |
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6ix, I read your post and just got the thought that our country was built with, by and around three things. Alcohol, guns and slavery. All right from the start. Alcohol was brought from Europe both for the settlers and to trade with (and help subdue) the native people (who were enslaved from very early on but made so-so slaves; too independent and they knew the back country way to well.)
Johnny Appleseed - the minister who planted apple seeds all over the midwest so he could come back in a few years, dig up the sprouts and hand them to freshly arrived settlers as the start of an orchard and that settler's down payment on a title. But - the vast majority of those apple trees bore fruit not fit for eating. That takes work, grafting on twigs from good eating apple trees. Can't eat those apples that are going to fall and rot? Might as well make hard cider. (The amount of alcohol consumed per capita in the settlements was near incredible. Leading to the swing the other way - Prohibition. Moderation not being an American way of doing things.)
Prohibition - moonshine, guns, hot rods. Prohibition didn't last but the other two went on; as the NRA and NASCAR. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 03/29/2023 02:07 PM |
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| Peter, my understanding is that weak hard cider was common in revolutionary times because it was safer to drink. That was the apple tree's killer app. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 03/29/2023 02:11 PM |
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Ben - you forgot tax evasion and distrust of government as two founding principles. They govern your politics to this day, although it doesn't explain the empty bottles.
As to soggy California, it's interesting how storm tracks are much more southerly this year. Read last week that to date for 2023 LA and San Diego have seen 2x Seattle's rainfall. That is huge. Up here it is just much cooler than normal. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 03/29/2023 02:32 PM |
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| Whoops, sorry Ben, my local old guy on a fixie is named Peter. Crossed wires. |
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 03/29/2023 09:04 PM |
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| From what I remember reading a long time ago, the hard cider was concentrated in winter by letting it freeze, but not all the way through. Water ice jacketed the cider, and the alcohol was concentrated in the liquid portion. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 03/29/2023 09:28 PM |
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| Cool! My question: what was the blood alcohol level of the Declaration of Independence signers in July? I'm guessing not much, but what do I know. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 03/29/2023 10:39 PM |
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Posted By Orange Crush on 03/29/2023 02:11 PM
Ben - you forgot tax evasion and distrust of government as two founding principles. They govern your politics to this day, although it doesn't explain the empty bottles.
As to soggy California, it's interesting how storm tracks are much more southerly this year. Read last week that to date for 2023 LA and San Diego have seen 2x Seattle's rainfall. That is huge. Up here it is just much cooler than normal.
OC, the original Europeans to the now United States had the alcohol, guns and slaves before the government even got here. The tax evasion and distrust didn't come to a boil for another 100 years.
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thinline
Posts:323
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| 04/07/2023 12:41 PM |
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| Looks like Monday will be the first outdoor ride for me this year. Sunny today but pretty cold and howling winds! Tomorrow and Sunday, high of maybe 40 F and still windy. Monday, sunny, 60 F, winds topping out at 10 MPH. Looking good. Nice all next week (freakishly so for April in Vermont) then I go to Mexico for a wedding for 9 days. Expecting 80s and sunshine but . . . no bike! |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 04/08/2023 08:51 AM |
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| Where in Vermont, are you, Thinline? I noticed a couple of 80's in the forecast for NH... |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 06/12/2023 01:17 PM |
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Still Spring, and spent some time in my favorite place…
https://app.globalcyclingnetwork.com/Hzo2UGJ6GZd2M5ZBA |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/12/2023 09:24 PM |
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hah! I was visiting inlaws two weeks ago during that warm and sunny spell and while mainly gravel roading crossed App Gap, thinking of you. Hope you are well.
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 06/30/2023 06:08 PM |
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Now transitioned into summer rides. Not many: too much smoke/haze or torrential rains.
I did not expect to use the trainer so much at this time of year. Oh well. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/30/2023 09:54 PM |
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Interesting how the extreme weather is out east this year.
Just had an awesome week gravel riding in Fernie, part of my multi year project (it will probably take at least 10) to put wheels in as many places of B.C. as I can. Four rides with awesome mountain scenery, many deer encounters, several mama moose with babies, herd of mountain goats, one bear. And volunteering at the local gravel race with a night of free beer as reward.
Soon up a week of railtrail riding with my wife in Nelson, BC. |
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