new englanders: how go you today?

[Climb01742]

my workout today involved snow and a shovel. a good hour. sweating for sure. about a foot here. how goes it with you today?

[Pete Serotta]

we have temps in the low 50s and jost got back from a ride,,,I have plenty of extra bedrooms if the winter gets too much,..BUT unless you bring your bike you will have to ride a SEROTTA.... but the red wine is optional :beer: :beer:

Have a good weekend. PETE

[KJMUNC]

Shoveled out the cars, driveway and sideway for a nice wake-up workout. At least it's light snow and not that heavy stuff.....that's coming tomorrow. :rolleyes:

Riding? I'm heading into the basement to hit the trainer, where it's 65 and sunny if you count flourescence.

[Banjers51]

Two hours of shoveling to get the car out of the garage, just so I could drive to campus to give a final exam. I suppose, from the students' standpoint, there is some justice in this. First time I've had to drive to campus all semester, though--time to get some studded tires, I guess.

Banjers51
"Putcher fangers on the strangs" E.Scruggs

[93legendti]

You guys got hammered. We only got 8".

[Tom]

Nine overnight, a couple today. I guess some more tomorrow. Better than the inch of freezing rain last Friday.

[39cross]

I should have worn my HRM today. it would have been interesting to compare it to a bike ride. We must have gotten a foot or so.

Did I mention I love snow? :crap:

[Peter P.]

Last night I snowshoed the 1.5 miles to mom's house and shoveled her driveway and sidewalk. Then I snowshoed to the supermarket and loaded up my backpack with 15+ lbs. of milk, meat, and seasonings to make 5 lbs. of beef jerky, and snowshoed the 1.5 miles home.

This morning I shoveled out parking spaces for my car and work truck, shoveled the front walk of my apartment building so the elderly woman on the first floor can walk to the store across the street.

Then I walked 1.7 miles to the post office to pick up a package, and returned to mom's house for a second round of shoveling. Again, I traipsed home in the snow.

Upper body workout, baby!

[93legendti]

I had a Fed Ex delivery today. I usually chat with the delivery guy. He told me yesterday was the first time in 21 years he didn't get his entire route completed. He couldn't deliver half of his packages.

Global cooling! :)

[1centaur]

Shoveled my foot of snow for an hour this morning; hit the Computrainer this afternoon to ride a route (mentioned in the California riding camps thread) that I pulled off Motionbased and edited, so another 90 minutes of exercise there. Preparing for my annual feast of caramel cake from http://www.carolinescakes.com/

They are expensive but mmm, mmm, good.

[William]

Well over a foot here. The first part of clearing out drive way was firing up the Cruiser, popping it into four wheel drive and plowing it down....I don't own a plow btw. :) Then we went to work with the snow shovels. Got my son to B-ball practice, then out on the Effin Cross Bike for a fun hour of riding. Yee Haww that was fun...cold but fun.





William

[duke]

About 8 inches here. Spent about two hours shoveling and then a 5 mile walk with the S.O. All in all it was a pretty good workout. Christmas party tonight so it should be easy to replace those lost calories.... Looks like more stuff coming tomorrow.
duke

[ThirtyEast]

Midnight cross bike ride through the city streets here in Boston last night. Crazy fun. Hunkered down inside all day today.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I've got a small snow blower that works fine for my driveway and sidewalk. I went to the gym for about an hour yesterday afternoon and the major problem on the way home was other drivers who insist on driving just as if it's sunny and clear--until they see other people in the ditch.

I usually take December pretty much off the bike until spin classes start in January and just hit the weights at the gym this month. Plenty of time to do that while I'm job hunting . . .

The LBS is sponsoring an MTB race in the local park tomorrow morning at 9. I figure it';s going to make some pretty darn good pictures so I'm going to go over there.

BBD

[Bruce K]

Snow here varied depending on the drifting.

I had a bare spot on my driveway and drifts up to 16" +/-.

Some of you have seen my driveway so when I say it was one outing at 2 hours and a follow-up late this afternoon of about 45 minutes to clear it with the snowblower and shovel the stairs, decks, and walkway to the workroom, you'll understand.

Add on that the kids at school passed on some kind of cold/flu bug so I've been flat on my back since Thursday PM. Thank goodness for snow days.

BK

[Ti Designs]

I went to work knowing the shop would close early, and I didn't much feel like sitting in traffic, so I rode my mountain bike. I got our before 3:00, it was starting to add up and I found myself about matched with the cars on the side streets. I hit the bike path with about 4" on the ground and to my total shock found someone else riding home too. As she turned off the path and headed for home I headed for the local golf course for a bit more time on the bike. I found the snow a bit too deep to keep the bike going, it go harder and harder to get started, and it was getting dark. I could ride down the hills, but after a while I couldn't see where I was going - time to call it a day. On the way home the only things on the streets had plows attached. I needed to stay out of the way or become part of a snow bank...

This morning I got an early start, out the door with my snowshoes at 6:00 so I could get to the top of Whipple hill by sunrise. It was 11 degrees when I was getting dressed, which meant I was overheating 10 minutes after I started. I have no sense of direction, so while you could say I broke trail, I kinda feel sorry for anyone who followed my footprints. I know there's a trail under all of that snow, I may have crossed it a few times on the way.

After almost 3 hours of trudging around on snowshoes I returned cold and exhausted. Made a fire in the wood stove, cooked myself up a whole package of breakfast sausages right on the stove, then made the best cup of hot chocolate ever - without ever leaving the front of the stove. Here's the deal, if you live in the area there's a place in Harvard Square called L.A. Burdick. They make hot chocolate which is more like a soup than a drink - if you take it outside in the cold it'll harden. They also sell the mix, which has the down side of letting you know just how many calories are in that cup, but that's not where you need to put your attention. Next, you'll need a steamer to get that frothy milk topping. Mine is a pressurized steam wand that is heated right on the wood stove - you can use one of those battery powered ones if you want. With the hot chocolate made you can kick back, warm yourself with the heat of the stove and listen to the sounds of a crackling fire and snowblowers.



My car still sits under a foot of snow, I don't really care.

[gemship]

went for a ride earlier today, here in Gloucester Ma. beer run :beer:

We got about a foot, not quite of light, powder like snow. I rode my mountain bike and let a little air out of the slicks and it was a surprisingly progressive ride with little gett offs. Yeah sure there were many times I lost traction in both tires but I rode slow and stayed on the brakes alot. It was a fun challenge.

[CNY rider]

Today was the first time this year I wanted and needed to use the snowblower to do the driveway.
Anything up to 4-5 inches
I do by hand. We have a long driveway but I like the exercise. I also don't like the noise and pollution of the thrower but sometimes it can't be avoided.
Storm last night was just too much to handle, so I headed out to the shed for the snowthrower.
Just about ripped my arm out trying to manually start it, no success. Probably because it sat a year after being used only once last winter.
Then I remembered it has an electric start which I have never actually used. Went to get an extension cord and then remembered I last saw it up at summer camp.......

So I shoveled who knows how many pounds of snow all while thinking "Today I am a snowthrower......"

[johnnymossville]

4.5 hours of riding today. Cold and Damp, but doable.

[myette10]

12 inches in the scenic blackstone valley (south central Mass). Snowblower died after 5 minutes so my workout was a shovel and 375' of driveway at 7* average pitch.

I'll be doing it all again tomorrow... my version of "hill repeats"

[ents]

9 inches or so? Fun times doing silly things on a fixed gear in the snow.

[Climb01742]

12 inches in the scenic blackstone valley (south central Mass). Snowblower died after 5 minutes so my workout was a shovel and 375' of driveway at 7* average pitch.

wow. or whoa?
you win. or lose?
whichever, that's quite a workout. hope your back holds out! :beer:
hoping that today's snow, which looks to be wetter+heavier, will be much less.
for the sake of all our bodies. ;)

ps: the TV weather man just said it's been snowing for 40 straight hours. luckily maybe half of that has been just flurries but still, with a day of snow to come, that's impressive. or depressive? :D

[Bruce K]

Matt;

That S+++S big time.

As you know, my driveway is similar in length and pitch so I can truly relate.

There is no way I would attempt that task.

I would be the guy at the bottom of the driveway witha bunch of FRN's in hand flagging down some guy with a plow.

BK

[girlie]

4.5 hours of riding today. Cold and Damp, but doable.

Nice!

[Ti Designs]

I started writting this rant about how people who don't know how to drive in the winter should just stay home, but I realized that they do the same thing in everything they do. Driving, riding, what they do for work... People suck.


If you think you're good at something, you probably suck at it. If you always think there's more to learn, you probably suck less. If you find you're better than all around you, it's not because you're great, it's because they suck.


Yup, Ed's in his holiday spirit again...

[myette10]

Matt;

That S+++S big time.

As you know, my driveway is similar in length and pitch so I can truly relate.

There is no way I would attempt that task.

I would be the guy at the bottom of the driveway witha bunch of FRN's in hand flagging down some guy with a plow.

BK

The thought crossed my mind Bruce, but the snow was light enough that it wasn't too bad. Three hours start to finish. If it's slushy today, I'll be borrowing a snowblower or waving down the plowboys.

Your driveway and mine are similar, though the pitch on yours is pretty steady and steep right to the road. Mine starts of shallower at the road, then tips up brutally in the middle before leveling off at the top again.

[Hardlyrob]

We got about a foot yesterday, but the winds did their magic...blowing all the snow off the yard and into the center of the driveway. Drifts about 3-4 feet (mid thigh to waist deep) down the center of the drive to the road. A few barespots on the drive as well.

No stinkin' shovels here - even too much for the snow blower - this was tractor snow! It took almost 2 hours to clear the drive with the tractor and a 4' front end loader - lots of fun pushing snow until the piles were 6- 7 feet tall, then grabbing it bucket by bucket to move it. I do love pushing the giant piles down the drive, across the road and into the protected wetlands - perfectly legal, but it still feels like you're getting away with something.

Had a teen driver drive his car off the road and onto it's side in front of the house - I think the cops were happy to have something to do...

Looks like another 6-10" today - this will be easy snow blower snow.

Cheers!

Rob

[capybaras]

I started writting this rant about how people who don't know how to drive in the winter should just stay home, but I realized that they do the same thing in everything they do. Driving, riding, what they do for work... People suck.


If you think you're good at something, you probably suck at it. If you always think there's more to learn, you probably suck less. If you find you're better than all around you, it's not because you're great, it's because they suck.


Yup, Ed's in his holiday spirit again...

Ed,
What happened to your happy hot chocolate day spirit? It's beautiful out! Put your feet up, drink something good, and enjoy the view. :banana:

[Hardlyrob]

Ed,
It's beautiful out! Put your feet up, drink something good, and enjoy the view. :banana:

Here's advice that applies just about any time of year.

Out with the SnowShoes and the dog for a clamber across the fields!

Cheers!

Rob

[Bruce K]

Sounds like fun Rob. :banana:

Unfortunately, not too many of us have the backyard that you do. :crap:

As for the snowshoes, I'm going to be looking hard at the post X-mas sales at either REI or EMS.

Any suggestions for beginners?

BK

[Hardlyrob]

Hi Bruce;

I grew up with snow shoes in CNY, and have both the old style ones that look like giant tennis rackets, and the newer high tec aluminum and webbing ones. To be honest, I like the old school ones. The new ones tend to splash snow up the back of your legs. The downside on the traditional ones is the bindings are a pain in the butt to set up.

Look into Faber who makes both kinds of them. Their website is quirky, but you will get a sense of the pricing and the different styles. I'm sure others on this forum know more about them than I do.

I can't tell you much about my favorites - the ones I was out on for a while this afternoon - they were my grandfathers, in Canada, and are pushing 100 years old - they still work great.

Oh yeah - don't forget the poles - they make it much easier. I just use my ski poles.

Cheers!

Rob

[William]

I haven't been shoeing in years. The last time was up around Paradise on Mt Rainer. It was a blast....and like cycling, it's a lot easier to draft then to break trail. Could have used them around the property this weekend.


:fight:

William