Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Big Snow? No...

Well, we didn't get the big snow that was predicted (again). But we did get about 8 inches, plus we got 4 inches the day before. We did get plenty of wind all day yesterday, and last night. And we received a bunch of sleet, which made the snow heavy to shovel. The sleet froze in the eave troughs and flowed over, making some dandy icicles.


There are some big drifts out there - a friend of mine had a 4 foot drift across his lane. The deepest in my drive was 2 feet. So much for the up to 8 foot drifts that were predicted.

Since we were under a Level 1 Snow Emergency (only emergency vehicles allowed on the roads) this morning, we kept the office closed today. It'll be back to work tomorrow.

Jon, hearing about my crank issue from a few posts ago, sent me a 170 crank arm to match the Sugino crank on my Kuwahara. Thanks Jon!

I mounted that up today, and I am thinking of slapping on the Nokians to try some snow biking. I'd like to see what condition the roads are in.



You might be asking yourself (but probably not), "why doesn't that big dummy put the Nokians back on his Tricross - after all, he just mounted new VO fenders on his bike?" Well, the answer is I trimmed the front fender stays just a hair too short, so now the Nokians won't fit on the front. My 32mm Schwalbe Marathon fits fine, though.

Whenever I do something mechanical, I never quite seem to get the results I am after. Well, I did get the front fender to fit that Schwalbe just right. I just forgot I've got a little bigger Nokian that would be nice to mount in snowy conditions, like today.

The road crews do a really good job of clearing the roads around here, so I'll be able to get the Tricross out in another day or too.

In the meantime, keep the rubber side down.

Happy riding!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems like everyone got a snow day off work except me - I'm jealous! I like your ending line " Keep The Rubber Side Down". That's a good one!!

TrevorW�� said...

I tend to be a bit the same regarding the mechanicals.
Part of my problem is that I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and the simplest of jobs seems to take me twice as long as it should.

Steve A said...

Hmm, my approach to VO fenders was different. I just mount them and don't bother with a trim until I've run out of other fiddling which might be a while yet. Based on your example, I will mark the trim line before removing them and making the cut.

Yes, I succumbed. You're a BAD influence!

Big Oak said...

PaddyAnne - that's an expression I heard many years ago. Several people in our bike club here use it. I wish I could take credit for it - I just repeat it!

Trevor - If you have a good outcome, then spending the extra time is good.

Steve - you might want to mount the biggest tires you will use when you mark the fender stays!

Jon said...

Glad the crank works for you. Gotta keep those old parts on the road!

chib said...

Wanna be a great biker!
Greetings from Rwanda

Dano said...

I too was disappointed with our snowfall.

jeff said...

We got less than forecasted here in KS too. But 14 inches was more than enough. Is it spring yet?

Big Oak said...

jeff - apparently not. We just received another 5" today.