The Midwest effin sucks

[Mikej]

Man I can not take this cr@p anymore - Frieakin' 2" thick ice sheet on my road, and since most cities ran out of salt long ago - there is plenty of sand to slide around on - everywhere - and the debris from the potholes... F...help me keep my sanity - What are you other guys in WI doing these days?

[rphetteplace]

I'm watching snow out my f'n office window as we speak. Wake me up when spring comes. :fight:

[caleb]

I think this has to be one of the worst midwestern winters in a long time.

Snow stayed on the ground in early December, and we've hardly cracked 35* since then. Should be below zero in MN tomorrow night.

We're on track for 110+ skiable days, but the conditions have been really icy for the past six weeks.

[SWorks4me]

'Cross natz was fun!

[Ahneida Ride]

Actually it blows ...

I was halted to a standstill as a gust of wind hit me in Lincoln Nebraska.
It was 4:00 in the afternoon and 104 degrees out. ;)

[maunahaole]

I think that's why there is beer and icefishing.

[thwart]

What are you other guys in WI doing these days? P*ssing and moaning, followed by more p*ssing and moaning...

Daylight savings time starts this weekend and there's a foot of snow on the ground, and it's snowing more right now. That's just wrong.

[stevep]

there was a mean film of a couple of big highway accidents in the midwest today or yesterday.
suucks for march/
pretty nice here today... got 2 hrs in plenty warm probably 45 degrees...
like the bahamas.
snow here mostly gone, northern ne still super buried.

hang in boys/ girls the sun is high.. nice days cant be far off.

[saab2000]

Man I can not take this cr@p anymore - Frieakin' 2" thick ice sheet on my road, and since most cities ran out of salt long ago - there is plenty of sand to slide around on - everywhere - and the debris from the potholes... F...help me keep my sanity - What are you other guys in WI doing these days?

Yes, these are the difficult days. But in about 2 months WI will be the perfect place to ride. I even expect that I may get out for a ride in MI tomorrow. I plan to ride in Wisconsin later in the month.

The miserable weather now is what makes it so great in the summer on the deserted, quiet roads and long summer evenings. :beer:

I just doesn't get much better than a Wisconsin summer afternoon and evening on the bike. Think about that to get you through the late winter/early spring.

[Karin Kirk]

Still very much winter-like here, thank goodness!
This was taken a few hours ago. The sun started to peak out after snowing solidly for over 24 hours. Big fun! :banana:

Does skiing mad powder count for base mileage or anything?

[whitecda]

.

[rphetteplace]

Still very much winter-like here, thank goodness!
This was taken a few hours ago. The sun started to peak out after snowing solidly for over 24 hours. Big fun! :banana:

Does skiing mad powder count for base mileage or anything?

obviously nobody told him not to wear white after labor day :beer:

[Karin Kirk]

obviously nobody told him not to wear white after labor day :beer:

umm, or her, since that's me

[jimcav]

i've spent 11 years in maryland between annapolis and bethesda, and most of the really bad snow i remember was in february and march, although it never lasted too long.

and unless WI is totally different than the mid-west i grew up in, those nice summer rides are also filled with swarms of nats and flies and whatever else that seem to lie in wait at certain dips in the road or pockets of shade--i don't know how many hot summer rides i've done where i nearly choked on bugs.

that is one nice thing about the west coast near the ocean--neither here in puget sound WA or in CA (san diego) did i ever see/feel bugs, except spiders and ants on the ground.

jim

[dauwhe]

Does skiing mad powder count for base mileage or anything?

I think it diminishes the magic of powder to try to put it in such a mundane category! :)

80 miles on the bike total in the last three months and I'm happy! Of course, the first 200k in April won't be fun, but oh well.

Dave

[saab2000]

80 miles on the bike total in the last three months and I'm happy! Of course, the first 200k in April won't be fun, but oh well.

Dave

Welcome to my world! If it doesn't rain or snow tonight I am on the road tomorrow!

[Jeff N.]

...plus Favre retired! Jeff N.

[saab2000]

...plus Favre retired! Jeff N.


That's the really bad news. Unthinkable.

Me? I am still in major denial.

The Iron Man is finished.... :crap:

[Frankwurst]

Man I can not take this cr@p anymore - Frieakin' 2" thick ice sheet on my road, and since most cities ran out of salt long ago - there is plenty of sand to slide around on - everywhere - and the debris from the potholes... F...help me keep my sanity - What are you other guys in WI doing these days?

Cross country skiing, working on bikes, eating and drinking like a pig. But as Saab 2000 says, in a short period of time we'll have some of the best riding in the country. Long days, quiet country roads, brats on the grill and lots and lots of beer when you get home. It has been a long hard winter. Summer will be here soon. Both weeks of it. :beer:

[FMS_rider]

... unless WI is totally different than the mid-west i grew up in, those nice summer rides are also filled with swarms of nats and flies and whatever else that seem to lie in wait at certain dips in the road or pockets of shade--i don't know how many hot summer rides i've done where i nearly choked on bugs.
...that is one nice thing about the west coast near the ocean--neither here in puget sound WA or in CA ...

jimCome to this http://www.horriblyhilly.com/home.html and I can promise that you will fall in love with WI road biking. It intersects many of my favorite routes near where I live. As for bugs, they can be a major pain in the @ss at certain times of the year as you approach the Canadian border anywhere from Minnesota through Maine, but you would have to work at it to get a bug bite while riding in the Madison, WI area. There are certain areas around here where they can be annoying when you are sitting or standing around in the evening or occasionally in the daytime when it is wet or humid, but they are so much better here than they were where I grew up in upstate New York that I hardly notice them.

With regard to this year's winter --I am finally beginning to agree with everyone! I get great pleasure from riding my winter bike in rather extreme conditions, but I am now more than ready for spring, especially since I have had a new road bike for several weeks now that I still haven't ridden, and it is still snowing, and sub-zero weather is still in the forecast. Last winter I rarely used my wheels with studded Nokians --this winter I have not had them off for a single ride.

(OK, I might be just a little bit jealous.)
Lew

[72gmc]

neither here in puget sound WA or in CA (san diego) did i ever see/feel bugs, except spiders and ants on the ground.

Man, you have to ride in the woods more. Big clouds of tasty gnats. And then there's the falling seagull scat the size of a fried egg...

[Tailwinds]

Come to this http://www.horriblyhilly.com/home.html and I can promise that you will fall in love with WI road biking.

Whoa!! Look at that elevation profile! :eek:

[Fixed]

bro it's summer here for you cats 70 for a high
but the season are nice to have we have fall and summer and really summer
cheers imho hang in there it's almost spring
:beer:

[rphetteplace]

Come to this http://www.horriblyhilly.com/home.html and I can promise that you will fall in love with WI road biking. It intersects many of my favorite routes near where I live. As for bugs, they can be a major pain in the @ss at certain times of the year as you approach the Canadian border anywhere from Minnesota through Maine, but you would have to work at it to get a bug bite while riding in the Madison, WI area. There are certain areas around here where they can be annoying when you are sitting or standing around in the evening or occasionally in the daytime when it is wet or humid, but they are so much better here than they were where I grew up in upstate New York that I hardly notice them.

With regard to this year's winter --I am finally beginning to agree with everyone! I get great pleasure from riding my winter bike in rather extreme conditions, but I am now more than ready for spring, especially since I have had a new road bike for several weeks now that I still haven't ridden, and it is still snowing, and sub-zero weather is still in the forecast. Last winter I rarely used my wheels with studded Nokians --this winter I have not had them off for a single ride.

(OK, I might be just a little bit jealous.)
Lew

those road around there will make you chuck up a lung

[Ginger]

Saab...I take it you didn't get snow...this is this morning:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p139/Gingerbike/Miscellaneous/IMG_3303.jpg

Cabana boy!??? *sigh* No cabana boy...I have to shovel the snow myself.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p139/Gingerbike/Miscellaneous/IMG_3301.jpg

[thwart]

nice summer rides are also filled with swarms of nats and flies Dogs and mosquitoes are nature's way of keeping bicyclists moving.

What I wouldn't give right now for a couple of bug bites... and everything that comes with it.

[TMB]

obviously nobody told him not to wear white after labor day :beer:

It's before Labor Day now.

[AgilisMerlin]

rained corn snow all day.........

no more city salt
roads destroyed


just another winter in maine

[pdxmech13]

Man I can not take this cr@p anymore - Frieakin' 2" thick ice sheet on my road, and since most cities ran out of salt long ago - there is plenty of sand to slide around on - everywhere - and the debris from the potholes... F...help me keep my sanity - What are you other guys in WI doing these days?

Gets It

[Elefantino]

Still very much winter-like here, thank goodness!
This was taken a few hours ago. The sun started to peak out after snowing solidly for over 24 hours. Big fun! :banana:

Does skiing mad powder count for base mileage or anything?
Cool picture. Excellent form. How fat are those boards?

I miss skiing. Was one of the best things about living in Utah.

[dekindy]

Yes, these are the difficult days. But in about 2 months WI will be the perfect place to ride. I even expect that I may get out for a ride in MI tomorrow. I plan to ride in Wisconsin later in the month.

The miserable weather now is what makes it so great in the summer on the deserted, quiet roads and long summer evenings. :beer:

I just doesn't get much better than a Wisconsin summer afternoon and evening on the bike. Think about that to get you through the late winter/early spring.

My wife and I noticed that when we lived in South Bend, IN and then later when we took summer bicycing vacations in Michigan after we moved to Indianapolis. Ideally conditions for summer riding up north atmo.

[FMS_rider]

Whoa!! Look at that elevation profile! :eek:The hills are a result of the "driftless area" that was spared by the glaciers. However Madison sits at the edge of this area so if I ride northeast it is nearly flat except for the occasional "drumlin" (elongated hills left by glaciers). I do head in that direction when I am out of shape or in need of recovery, but the hills are what I love.

For anyone who plans to ride here I highly recommend a small book that is a collection of the routes used by the Bombay Bicycle Club: "Great Dane Rides" http://www.trailresources.com/b231.html. My favorite rides in that book are "Hyde and Seek" (with an added side trip on "Mill Rd" near Hyde) where I always see an amazing variety of wildlife (last summer I saw a timber wolf, weasel, beaver, sandhill cranes, wild turkeys, bald eagles, a tree filled with vultures drying their wings, and countless deer), the "Blast to Blanchardville" where I have seen many Pileated Woodpeckers, and the "Rock of Gibralter" which passes the beautiful Crystal Lake (I always take a side trip on Schoepp Rd to the nearby Fish and Moss lakes that are even prettier --in late summer Moss lake features a huge area filled with stunning bright yellow Water Lotus flowers) and provides the ultimate test of your "skinny tire" skills on an abandoned semi-paved road to the top of the 400' high Gibralter Rock that features a 25% grade over loose gravel, moss, and a thick layer of usually-wet leaves. If you like to socialize, take the "Ride to Paoli" --you will think you are in Boulder.

To any member of the forum, please send me a PM if you are going to be in the area.

Lew

[Frankwurst]

I just watched the weather forcast for this place a few of us think is a cyclists paradise. -16 Friday night. I'm gonna have to rethink my thinking. :beer:

[thwart]

"Great Dane Rides" Thanks for the information! That looks great.

-16 Friday night. I didn't need to know that...

[stormyClouds]

.

[rwsaunders]

I ran over a raccoon on the way to the airport, I saw four robins in the yard, the squirrels were doing the love dance near an oak tree and the thawing snow has revealed an incredible amount of dog crap near the town curbs and sidewalks. It must be Spring here.

[Ginger]

I ran over a raccoon on the way to the airport, I saw four robins in the yard, the squirrels were doing the love dance near an oak tree and the thawing snow has revealed an incredible amount of dog crap near the town curbs and sidewalks. It must be Spring here.

Yeah, I ran over a skunk (who had been hiding in my engine compartment for a mile or so) on Monday...

Sure sign that Spring is around the corner.

[WadePatton]

BEAUTIFUL here today. stuck behind this counter.

Freezing rain tomorrow.

I may leave early--here in a few minutes. It IS for my sanity. Maybe I'll fire me. :rolleyes:

[BUTCH RIDES]

Hello , some of the nicest people in the U.S.A. live there .
bye bye

[Smiley]

umm, or her, since that's me
I expected you to be boarding after all isnt the captain kirk a boarding instructor :)

[Karin Kirk]

Cool picture. Excellent form. How fat are those boards?

I miss skiing. Was one of the best things about living in Utah.

They're 90 mm underfoot. I love them :)
Do you still get to ski sometime?

I expected you to be boarding after all isnt the captain kirk a boarding instructor

Yes, he was a snowboard instructor, but I am an in-convertible lifelong skier.

[Ginger]

I expected you to be boarding after all isnt the captain kirk a boarding instructor :)

Why would you think that?

Silly Smiley.

[lavi]

I was born n raised in MKE, WI. I learned my lesson and moved to PDX, OR 10 years ago. I never looked back. Mom and Grandma get to see me the wife and kiddos on Holidays! :beer:

[Elefantino]

They're 90 mm underfoot. I love them :)
Do you still get to ski sometime?
Wish. Too many surgeries rendered skiing impossible.

We used to live on the back side of Snowbasin. Twenty minutes from garage to the chair. Champagne powder. I had K2 Fours.

:crap:

[FMS_rider]

I was born n raised in MKE, WI. I learned my lesson and moved to PDX, OR 10 years ago. I never looked back. Mom and Grandma get to see me the wife and kiddos on Holidays! :beer:Is Milwaukee in Wisconsin?

[saab2000]

Is Milwaukee in Wisconsin?

Ja

[fishbolish]

last year I had the good fortune to ride the horably hilly hundreds,did the whole 200k.The ride starts @ the highest point in wisconson(blue mounds )& also ends @ the same place, a 3 1/2 mile climb to the finish.they say 12-14 thousand feet of climbing for the whole 200k(depends on who you talk to). GORGEOUS COUNTRYSIDE!. couldnt wait to do it again this year...... signing up is Different story, IT sold out in 45 minutes!(1000 riders), I got lucky & got in ,but they have a lottery for 300 more riders......worth a shot.