No winter here!

[JTE83]

Here in Houston, Texas - it gets hot! And this is my first ever warm winter in the USA! I've been used to living in Chicago almost all my life with it's cold winters and snow. Week's forecast for Chicago - 20 F to 30 F, morning today was 9 F.

But here in Houston it's in the 70's all week! I should be biking tons now but the big drawback is that's it's dark by 5:30 pm now. So if I workout after work I gotta use my Light & Motion Arc Ultra light and Superflash taillights for a night workout!

How's winter going around where you live?

Oh, my life is going great now too. After my contract job ended at Schlumberger, I interviewed the next day at Jacobs - a company that designs stuff for the space shuttle and space station. Got hired same week. I'm getting paid big bucks as a Proe Designer / Detailer pulling $1067 weekly paychecks! The only problem is it's hard for a felon to get a nice apartment in Houston! I might be staying in Houston for a long time, and I might work up to a Mechanical Engineer position at my job (more $). Working on Space Shuttle stuff is interesting! And it'll look really good on my resume. Best aerospace job I've ever had!

 

[Bro Deal]

Oh, my life is going great now too. After my contract job ended at Schlumberger, I interviewed the next day at Jacobs - a company that designs stuff for the space shuttle and space station. Got hired same week. I'm getting paid big bucks as a Proe Designer / Detailer pulling $1067 weekly paychecks! The only problem is it's hard for a felon to get a nice apartment in Houston! I might be staying in Houston for a long time, and I might work up to a Mechanical Engineer position at my job (more $). Working on Space Shuttle stuff is interesting! And it'll look really good on my resume. Best aerospace job I've ever had!

Too much information. Do you pour a truth drug into your Wheaties every mornings? It's like that movie Liar Liar.

In the Rocky Mountains it is in the mid thirties. Running on snowy trails is not that bad though. It's a nice break from cycling.

 

[Cycler6n]

yeah, and here I sit in 15 degree new york, congrats though and good luck with the job!

 

[sideshow_bob]

Technically it's 'summer' here. But I think I read last week we've just had one of the wettest Novembers in history, and December has been much the same. We are currently in the middle of a La Nina cycle so I guess the first half of 2008 is going to be wet here.

I'm already pretty over riding in the rain. This week I was out 4 times in heavy rain and had my bike stripped back to the frame once for a clean. On the upside a lot of the storms are brief. We had one yesterday which blew through in an hour and by 7:30 the outdoor track I've been racing on was dry enough for racing to go ahead.

--brett

 

[JTE83]

Hey bob - you gotta tell us where you live for your statements to make sense!

 

[alienator]

Hey bob - you gotta tell us where you live for your statements to make sense!

Well, if it's summer, I think it's a safe bet that he's in the southern hemisphere. Since he goes by "sideshow bob", his name is Brett, and seems to have a terrific grasp of English, I'll bet you can narrow down his locale to either New Zealand or Australia.

 

[alienator]

Technically it's 'summer' here. But I think I read last week we've just had one of the wettest Novembers in history, and December has been much the same. We are currently in the middle of a La Nina cycle so I guess the first half of 2008 is going to be wet here.

I'm already pretty over riding in the rain. This week I was out 4 times in heavy rain and had my bike stripped back to the frame once for a clean. On the upside a lot of the storms are brief. We had one yesterday which blew through in an hour and by 7:30 the outdoor track I've been racing on was dry enough for racing to go ahead.

--brett

Winter here means the occasional rain. We had some heavy stuff last weekend and are supposed to have more this weekend, so I guess that means my bike'll get wet.

What really blows, literally, here in the winter is the wind. Today, on the ride to school, according to the National Weather Service, our winds were steady at 22mph, gusting to 52mph. Judging by how much the ride to school sucked this morning, I believe the NWS. You know it's windy when you slow down on the downhills...hills that are normally fast.

Suckworthy point number two is that sand, propelled at around 50mph, stings when it hits exposed flesh.

The upside is that the strong winds make the tight tops, that girls sport around campus, more bumpy.

 

[Cycler6n]

Winter here means the occasional rain. We had some heavy stuff last weekend and are supposed to have more this weekend, so I guess that means my bike'll get wet.

What really blows, literally, here in the winter is the wind. Today, on the ride to school, according to the National Weather Service, our winds were steady at 22mph, gusting to 52mph. Judging by how much the ride to school sucked this morning, I believe the NWS. You know it's windy when you slow down on the downhills...hills that are normally fast.

Suckworthy point number two is that sand, propelled at around 50mph, stings when it hits exposed flesh.

The upside is that the strong winds make the tight tops, that girls sport around campus, more bumpy.

You ride in rain/wind that strong?

 

[alienator]

You ride in rain/wind that strong?

Sure. When monsoon season rolls around, the rain gets torrential and is accompanied by high winds. There aren't a whole lot of calm days here.

The dust clouds are the worst. At least we don't get the haboobs--dust storms--that Phoenix gets. We're protected by the mountains from that sort of thing.

 

[iglagol]

As we sing in Ukraine, 'nature doesn't have bad weather', does it?

 

[Bro Deal]

Technically it's 'summer' here. But I think I read last week we've just had one of the wettest Novembers in history, and December has been much the same. We are currently in the middle of a La Nina cycle so I guess the first half of 2008 is going to be wet here.

So what happens during X-mas down there in aussie land? Instead of singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" it's "I'm dreaming of a small ozone hole"?

 

[alienator]

So what happens during X-mas down there in aussie land? Instead of singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" it's "I'm dreaming of a small ozone hole"?

No. That would be stupid. What they sing is, "All I Want for Christmas is My NZed Citizenship."

 

[sideshow_bob]

sure. that would be sydney. but at the present time they are probably applicable to most of the east coast of australia.

--brett

 

[sideshow_bob]

So what happens during X-mas down there in aussie land? Instead of singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" it's "I'm dreaming of a small ozone hole"?

well my christmas wish must be coming true cause i read recent measurements are showing the ozone hole to be contracting significantly.

christmas here is bbq's, cold beer and seafood. cycling is done before 11am or after about 5pm to avoid the heat of the day and we've got daylight from say 6am till 8:30pm or so. comparitively think socal in july.

--brett

 

[sideshow_bob]

No. That would be stupid. What they sing is, "All I Want for Christmas is My NZed Citizenship."

sure as long as you get the customary sheep with said citizenship.

actually i love nz. i've went there quite a few times to hike, climb and surf through the 90's. beautiful country. i wouldn't mind going back to ride the taupo challenge at some time.

--brett

 

[JTE83]

DEC 8 & 9, Houston, Texas - still hot! Had to use A/C in the car and apartment!