End of the Biking Season

Discussion in 'General VFR Discussions' started by skimad4x4, Oct 7, 2014.

  1. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    So who else is already gearing up for winter?

    Up here in the Alps it looks like the end of the biking season is approaching fast so I thought it would share some recent photos.

    An obvious downside of living in a ski resort, is that I tend to be among the first to put their bikes away until Spring, but with typically 3 meters of snowfall each year at valley level :smow: there is no chance I will be riding the VFR through the winter.

    Suffice to say for several weeks there have been increasing of hints of the coming change. Temperatures are dropping and we have had our fill of rain recently, indeed more than enough. Just down the valley, workmen are busy fitting snowploughs to vehicles in the council depot which is fast disappearing behind a growing mound of road salt. Whilst greater care is needed on roads suddenly covered with wet and slippery leaves, the rapidly thinning foliage helpfully opens up sight lines allowing overtakes in places which were not sensible a month earlier.

    Last Sunday the chance of ride over the Col de la Ramaz to enjoy the mountains briefly sporting their full autumn colours was more than enough to tempt me out despite temperatures hovering in low single figures. Even with clear skies, the low sun had little impact, and I only realised how cold it was when we stopped for coffee. My heated grips had been on full throughout the ride, and even with winter gloves my fingers were painfully cold, and in some of the deeper valleys we found patches of fog had lingered throughout the day.

    IMG_9185.jpg IMG_9187.jpg

    Then as if to reinforce the point, this morning I was woken by the sound of workmen busy installing a road sign which will probably be there until well into May.
    IMG_9192.jpg

    With luck we will enjoy a few more riding days before the snow arrives, but for now it is definitely time to clear space for the bikes in the garage.



    SkiMad
     
  2. Crazy Commie

    Crazy Commie New Member

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    Makes me even more thankful for living in Arizona with our nearly 365 days a year riding season (barring the occasional monsoon or 120F days with stop and go traffic)

    But as much as I love the desert scenery, we certainly don't have the lush green scenery filled with grass and trees like you guys do.
     
  3. jethro911

    jethro911 Member

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    I installed the snow tire on my car last weekend so yah it's coming soon!

    Damn you live in a beautiful part of the world my friend!
     
  4. derstuka

    derstuka Lord of the Wankers Staff Member

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    Wow, such beautiful scenery John! Sad you have to put her away, but she will be ready and willing to put the rubber to the road come Spring 2015! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

    Cheers,
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2014
  5. mlap5150

    mlap5150 New Member

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    Yeah the cold and rainy days are becoming more and more common here in the Midwest. Thankfully this weekend is supposed to be sunny and 60 so good opportunity to get in an end-of-season trip. Other than that it's going to be on/off commuting and short distance for me until the snow comes (hopefully not for a while).
     
  6. 74ullc

    74ullc New Member

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    Its finally cooled down here enough to actually get the bikes out. The last 3 weekends have been bikes everywhere you look around here! But I would trade the extended riding season of my location to live in a pretty part of the world in an instant. I didn't realize just how not-beautiful it is here until I went to Spain, France and Italy this summer. Wow!
     
  7. PawnBoy

    PawnBoy New Member

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    I'll be breaking out the heated gear any day now, but I'm hoping to ride into November.
     
  8. carlgustav

    carlgustav New Member

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    And that's why I like living in N. AL. Near the TN, GA, NC mountains with a long riding season. And even when the season moves into 'winter', we just pull out the DS with knobbies & keep on truckin ... :nod: ...

    ACE
     
  9. CandyRedRC46

    CandyRedRC46 Member

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    Our riding Season is just starting to get good here in central Florida.
     
  10. zombie

    zombie New Member

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    I never took the snows off my car this year, I figured I'd be riding too much to make it worth the expense.
    I would like some heated grips as its getting colder here in the mornings on my 140 km commute daily. I really need to get some waterproof gloves for the rain though. The Icon patrol gloves I'm currently wearing are not as waterproof as they ay are supposed to be.
     
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