After The Devastation

The Blizzard of 2015 has come and gone, and while I mocked the weather forecasters for their use of "historic" to describe the coming storm, it turns out they were correct (for once).  The snow was indeed historic, setting snowfall records in Worcester, and I think in Boston as well.

My area wound up with one of the higher snowfalls as well; over 30" in about 24 hours.  That's not shabby at all.  When flakes first started to fall, I figured I'd stay on top of things and keep shoveling.  After shoveling the entire driveway about 4 times (each time there was only an inch or two of snow each time), I realized that I was shooting myself in the foot.  Why?  Well because all I was doing was giving the gale-force winds a place to deposit the snow.  The winds were whipping the snow across the lawn without leaving much behind, but as soon as it got to the driveway, which was lower because I kept shoveling, the snow dropped out of the wind and ta-da...more snow to shovel.  So I said screw it, went inside and figured I'd just wait until later.  Which I did.

Thankfully, Bill came by a few times with his plow and helped with the really big stuff...which at this point, was pretty much everything.  I did my best to keep the walkway, and the section of driveway in front of the garage, clean, but he took care of the rest.

The good news is that I was on my bike when the storm started!  Unfortunately, it was only to move it to the back of the garage so that I could tuck my Jeep inside and out of the way.  Also unfortunately; I don't see me taking it out onto the roads anytime soon, what with the mess that's out there now.

The forecasters are calling for some more snow tomorrow/tomorrow night, but with expected accumulations of only 3 - 4 inches, we're not really paying it any attention.  I mean; what's 3 - 4 inches after being hammered with 30+?

There's another storm system potentially lining up for Monday, but this morning, they said there's a chance that will miss us to the south.  Fingers crossed that that happens.  Unless it's going to be rain, in which case I would welcome it with open arms.  Let's get all this crap out of here so the bike can return to the roadways!!

Ok, that's all I've got for ya today.

Hopefully soon we'll all be back to...

Riding Hard, Taking Chances

SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!

Sound the Sirens!  Lock the doors and stow away the food!!

Yep; Old Man Winter has apparently not forgotten about us.  We've been doing pretty well so far in terms of not having much precipitation, but that all ends tonight, and in a big way.  The latest forecasts are now saying well over 2 feet for most of our region, with the exception of one little tiny area, which they're saying could get over 3 feet.

And where is this tiny area you might ask?  Why, it's in the same spot it's always in; right over my frikkin' house.  Screw you, Old Man Winter!!

I was watching the forecasts last night and the weather guy said this storm will be of historic proportions.  He then went on to say; "The last time we saw something like this was in 2013."  Wait, what?  So how can this coming snowstorm be of historic proportions if we had the same thing only two years ago?  [shrug]

At any rate, the forecast totals have been increasing all day today, and now the Governor of the state has declared a state of emergency which goes in to effect tonight at midnight.  That means all roadway travel is banned, and you will be fined if you're out on the roads (snow plows are exempt, obviously).

The good news about this driving ban is it forces my company to close tomorrow.  Some of you may think that we'd be closed anyway because of this impending storm, but oh, no no; my company hates to close.  I've been here over 16 years and this will be only the 3rd time they've closed.  What they choose to do is send out a notice which says "Use your best judgment.  If you feel it is unsafe for you to drive, you will need to use a vacation day, or go unpaid."  Bastards.  But now with the driving ban in place, they cannot ask or allow employees to drive in.  Yeah, take that!

I'll have to hit the store on the way home - not the grocery store, I did that last night (and what a fiasco.  This snowstorm will only be a couple of days - how much bread and milk do you people expect to go through on two days??)

No, the store I will need to hit on the way home will be the liquor store.  I am woefully low on supplies and I know one plow driver who is going to expect some form of payment when he swings by on his route.

So with that, I will sign off.  I hope everyone out there stays safe, and I'll see you on the other side of this storm.

Shovel Hard, Avoid Avalanches

In Search Of A Title...

I don't really have a title for this post, because I don't really have anything to post.  We still haven't had much snow to speak of, yet the roads are still covered in salt so the bike is still sitting quietly in the garage.  Work has been kicking the bag out of me for the past couple of weeks, but I'm hoping the coming week will be a bit slower...which will bring me to the first week of February, and the madness will resume once again.

There is something on the horizon which I'm focusing intently on, though; the Key West trip!  We depart in exactly 4 weeks, and I can't wait to get down there.

I just hope that Winter isn't storing up all the snow and saving it for the 19th, when we're schedule to fly out...

That would suck, because we're really looking forward to getting down there so that we can...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Margarita Madness!

The lack of snow so far this season might otherwise be a blessing, but with the unusual amount of bitter cold, combined with just enough precipitation, the roads have been pretty slick.  Which means the plow truck drivers are out in full force - not plowing, but looking to make up their lost OT wages by layering the roadways with salt.  And I do mean; layering.  It's really been overkill around here with all the salt they're putting down.  In fact, just this morning on the way in, the salt trucks were out in full force once again.  I was behind one for a while and he was slinging that stuff far and wide.

All I needed was a tequila truck to come along and I'd have been in business.

And by "in business", I mean I would've banged in sick.

And by "sick", I mean...well...you get it.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Graveyard Gratitude

I had the bike out this past Saturday - I know; big surprise.  I didn't have a lot of time so I kept local; headed down some back roads, made my way through Wrentham center, down 1A to Wampum corner and bore right onto 121.  I didn't have any real destination in mind, but when I saw Burnt Swamp road approaching, I figured I'd take it and see what adventures lay in wait for me up by the reservoir.

Well, the adventure wasn't very far down the road at all.  In fact, it was waiting for me only 300 feet along.

There's an old cemetery on the left side and as I was rolling past, I figured what the heck.  I've cruised by this thing any number of times before but I've never swung in.  I love me some old cemetery strolling, so I signaled my intent, rolled off of the pavement onto the dirt and grass tire tracks which split the field of stones down the middle.

As I rolled gently along, I noticed there were a number of Veteran's graves here, each designated with an American flag posted next to the applicable stone markers.  These flags were the normal type; a simple flag held to a wooden dowel "post" with three staples.  These had apparently been here for some time, as the weather and elements had caused many of the flags to pull free of the top and middle staples, leaving the flags to hang onto the ground;

Well, I couldn't leave them like that, so I rode all the way to the back, turned down the back path and set the kickstand.  Fishing a flathead screwdriver out of my tool kit, I got to work.

Wiggling the pole back and forth a little to loosen it from the frozen ground, allowed me the ability to more easily work on things.  Using the blade of the screwdriver to remove the staples which had pulled through, I then pressed them through the seam of the flag - nice and thick.  Once that was done, I pressed the staples back into the "post" and reinserted the flag back into the ground.

Voila - good as new;

I walked around the cemetery and fixed the ones I could.  I imagine the neighbors were at first wondering what this black-clad biker was doing to the graves, but anyone that watched for a few minutes would be able to tell I was doing something good, not anything bad.  (I still was half-expecting a cop car to pull up and inquire about my activities.)

Some flags were easy to fix; just pick them up, use the screwdriver to punch a hole through the frosted ground, and call it done.

(I would have attempted to relocate that granite base, but I wasn't able to discern where it belonged - it didn't seem to belong to the grave in the picture.)

Others weren't able to be fixed.  I retrieved those whose posts were snapped, and will officially retire them back at the Post.

At the front of the cemetery, there were a couple more flags to fix, as well as a wreath (on a stand) which had been laid by the local American Legion (judging from the ribbon which ran across it).  The stand was bent over forward - not sure if vandals pushed it over or if the winds had gradually pressed it down.  I was able to straighten the legs, punch new holes in the ground, and stand the assembly back up proper.

Strolling back to the bike parked quietly along the back "road" of the cemetery, I realized I should have turned it around while it was still running.  Not a big deal, but it was facing downhill on a path of loose sand and pine needles - nothing which would give me any kind of purchase for my feet to push backwards on.

After swinging my leg over but before starting it, I figured what the heck.  I'll see if I can roll it back up the decline.  To my complete surprise, it rolled very easily!  It had to have been about 15 feet that I pushed backwards up that decline, but not once did my feet skid or lose traction, and the bike seemed far easier to move than it should have been.  In my surprise, I kept looking at the ground to see if it had leveled off, but no; I was indeed still moving backwards up a decline.

After moving it enough that I'd be able to swing back onto the path which would lead me out, I paused and humorously thought that perhaps the Veterans who were buried here were thanking me for fixing the flags, and had lent a hand by helping pull the bike backwards for me.  It made for a nice thought, but I don't really believe in that stuff, so I chalked it up to my leg workouts must really be paying off.

As I slowly rolled past the markers on my way toward the exit, I had another thought occur to me...

I haven't worked my legs in months...


Ride Hard, Take Chances

Start of Year Mileage!

I realize that at first thought, this post's title may seem erroneous.  Shouldn't my starting mileage be the same as last year's ending mileage?  The answer is...yes!  So you are correct; my title is wrong.  But I'm not going to change it because I'm sure you know what I mean.  Let's just move on, shall we?

The weather on New Year's day was clear...and COLD!  Mid-20's, but dammit, this is tradition!  So after a nice warm shower to bring up my core temperature, I rolled the bike out and off I went.

Yes, the Santa hat is still on the helmet.  It, too, is tradition on this day!

I wasn't sure where to head to.  I kicked around a couple of ideas, but none of them really "hit" me, so I puttered around locally for a little bit.  But then I said screw this, I want to get some miles on, let's go somewhere!

I decided to head to the Cape for no other reason other than to dip my toes into the ocean.  [Shrug] It seemed like as good a plan as any.  Making my way to the highway, I eased up the on-ramp, checked for lane clearance, and buried the throttle.

Wa-Hoo!!  Yeah man!  This is more like it!  Clicking through the gears, I sailed easily past cars and found a nice open stretch of highway with nothing close in front or behind me, and settled into the middle lane for some high-speed highway cruisin'.

The down side of blasting along the highway is the chill seems to work its way in all the faster.  I'd tucked a couple of those air-activated charcoal hand warmer things into my socks, but I'd forgotten to put them into my gauntlets.  Still, my hands seemed to be doing ok for the most part, so I kept on keepin' on.

Once I crossed over the Bourne bridge, I was next faced with the dilemma of finding a beach.  Rounding the rotary, I opted to pick up Sandwich Rd and then the Mid-Cape Connector onto Rte 6.  I figured I'd ride a bit and just see where the road took me.

As the exits rolled by, I figured hell, maybe I'll just ride all the way to the end (Provincetown).  I've never been there, and this would give me a chance to check it out off-season, without all the traffic.

Another down side to hammering the highway is the bike becomes a very thirsty girl when the throttle is cranked.  As such, it became apparent to me that I did not have enough fuel left in the tank to make it to P-town without having to refill along the way.

I peeled off the highway at the next exit and picked up Rte 6A.  I assumed there would be gas stations along this road and fortunately, I didn't have to ride too far before finding one.

After filling up, I turned back to take pictures of something I'd just passed on the way to the gas station.  Something amazing...

Look deep into the eye...

...of a "breaching" stainless steel humpback whale!

I loved the tail...

This whole sculpture was awesome!

The other eye...

I spent quite a bit of time walking around this thing and taking it all in.  It was so cool!  The other things that were very cool were my hands.  I'd taken the gauntlets off to work the camera and had left them on my bike.  When I finally saddled back up, they were quite cooled off from having been sitting in the wind.  That was bad, as they did nothing to warm up my cold hands.

So, despite only being ~20 miles from P-town, I opted to head back home.  I wasn't really worried about having not made it, or about not having dipped my (now very cold) toes into the ocean.  I figured the best course of action was to point the front tire towards home.

Back out on the highway, I of course opened things up again, and was home in about an hour.  I didn't realize just how cold my fingers were until I tried to gas up just before home, and had quite a hard time working the pump.  Not good.  Also not good was how cold my toes were - when I finally jumped into the shower at the house, the hot water felt white-hot on them (but they were soon warmed up, along with the rest of my body, and were happy again).

So there you go; New Year's Day 2015 ride.  I had wanted to get some miles on, and miles-on, I got.

(I didn't plan it to be almost a perfect 200, it just worked out that way.)

Ride Hard, Have a Happy New Year!