Easter Sunday

It was high 30's and low 40's, nice and sunny with low breeze. It was GREAT to get out on the bike - Finally!!! Only rode for about 50 miles, but spent quite a bit of time to get some pictures of the bike - and of course, back home for Easter dinner.

Its going to be a great riding summer...

FINALLY

Took the bike out for a quick run today. Spent most of it at a local parking lot getting reaquainted with quick avoidance turns, emergency braking, and all of the other defensive moves to minimize my risks out on the road. Then took a quick trip downtown, filled up the bike with gasoline, and rode back out of town.

Not a lot of time on the bike, but it got me out. It was just under 40 degrees...but sunny and nice.

Clocks forward, and a Sunny today

If you looked at the sky, it would be difficult to believe that we were in blizzard conditions yesterday. Its sunny, light breeze, and temperatures hit 40 degrees (F). I got out by 11:00am and cleared the driveway. It was actually rather pleasant accept for the amount of snow on the ground and the piles of snow deposited by the snow ploys at the base of the driveway.

I got the driveway clear, and by mid afternoon the sun melted what little was left by the snowblower. I got the bike out onto the driveway and into the sun and cleaned up the garage a little. Took a picture (ok, several pictures) of my bike.

I got a vanity plate for my Nomad. "Kermt" of course!

Well, it hit :-(

The predicted snowfall hit. A rare occurrence - both the blizzard AND the weathermen getting it right. We are in a snow emergency level 3 (one can get arrested if you are on the road), and Columbus and surrounding communities are virtually closed. On the news, they had a traffic camera on route 670 - a major road through downtown Columbus. Not a single vehicle, and completely snow covered. Route 70 (the major east/west route through central Ohio) is closed just west of Columbus. Airport has all flights canceled (there are 2 still on the board, but not for long!)

We have something around 14+" of snow, but that is not the big problem. What is making it bad is the high winds (sustained in the mid 20's MPH with strong gusts exceeding 35mph) that makes it impossible to keep any roads cleared. The visibility is near white-out. Drifts are upwards of three feet.

With the wind, we have areas that are basically blown clear. Check under the truck, and you can see the grass poking through the snow on the sidewalk close to the house. And then we have drifts that are 2 and 3 feet high! I have heard drifts of 6'. I have not blown the snow around at all - this is all nature.

Do you see the street out behind the truck? Neither do I! They had just plowed it an hour or so ago.

Check out across the street. The guy there got out his snowmobile and was running around the neighborhood starting around 11pm last night.

Took this shot late afternoon on Saturday. The snow had slowed down a little, and the dogs once again wanted to go out and frolic in the snow. The youngest one lasted about 5 minutes, but the Lab mix loved being out there. She is an indoors dog, but I have not seen any dog enjoy the cold and snow more than this one!

You may ask - what has this got to do with Motorcycle Riding? Well, I was hoping to get some saddle time, or at least be able to roll the bike back and get some good pictures. Well, that is not happening this weekend. But it is time to say a prayer of thanks for a nice, warm, dry home that still has power.

Will it ever end?

I have been waiting and waiting for the weather to break. But all we have been getting is snow, ice, sleet, snow, ice, sleet... and over and over. It is going on a month since I have finished the mods, but have not been able to get the Nomad out of the garage due to the bad weather.

This weekend, just to add insult to injury, we are now looking at 14" of snow and blizzard conditions. It's March - and time to get in a few 50 degree days to run the bike a little!!!

By the way, I broke down today and bought an IPod Shuffle. I have loved my full size IPod over the last year, but it is so big and hard to protect in bad weather. The IPod shuffle is very small (1" x 1.5" x .5"), and has a clip to hook on your clothes. Its not fancy, and no video. But for riding, just turn it on and go!