Wednesday, March 21, 2007

A good day to not be riding

(Photo by Brian Wallace/Juneau Empire)

So somewhere beneath this mountain of snow is Thane Road, a favorite route of mine. The road was of course closed for avalanche control when this one came tumbling down. But I think the gunners shot off a little more than they could handle. Road crews said it would be at least 10 hours before they could clear away the 20-foot-high powder wall, and there's a whole town's worth of people who live on the wrong side of this thing. Rough.

It's crazy weather day here in Juneau. We hit the all-time seasonal snowfall record early this morning - 195 inches (the official number is measured at the airport. Where I live, on Douglas Island, we have received closer to 240 inches.) Then it switched over to rain - heavy, heavy rain. Heavy in the way that waterlogged snow sitting atop a fresh powder slab is heavy. Avalanche danger right now is an understated "extreme." Flood advisories are rampant. They even threw in a wind advisory for good measure. Officials are telling people to drive at their own risk. If you don't get buried by a snow slide, you'll probably be swept away by a torrent from a flooded-out stream, or blown away by 50 mph gusts. Welcome to spring in Southeast Alaska - where winter doesn't just melt away. It implodes.

Either way, it's a good day to sit inside the office, ice my knee into dull-ache oblivion, and dream up ways to make a great gimp adventure out of it all tomorrow. Any ideas?

6 comments:

  1. Painting, book reading, mentally project healing thoughts into your knee and then wonder why its not working.....Drink?
    Try and find a bike that you can pedal with your hands and brake with your feet? If no one makes one then patent the idea and..... hang on a minute...... thats an idea......got to go patent office calling......

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  2. Get crutches, put little snowshoes on them and go "tri-podding". Other than that I have to go with the munky and say "drink".

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  3. Buy a Nintendo Wii?

    The boxing game is a pretty good workout:-)

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  4. Waffles! Host a waffle party! Have guests bring their favorite toppings - and beer! Nothing goes better with waffles than beer. Then, when everyone is stuffed, break out the "Twister" game mat. Give out prizes for who pukes first. So....there you go. Knock yourself out!

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  5. Let me start by saying I enjoy your blog very much, it's so interesting! I recieved an email with a link today & when I went to it the 1st person I thought of was you, you may not be interested at all but I would bet anything that if your are, you would be selected. It seems to be a good fit, check it out..........

    http://www2.trekbikes.com/for_women/women_who_ride/


    Kevin
    Boston Ma

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  6. You need a puppy, days of entertainment and cuteness will melt the recovery time away.

    Maybe a good skjoring puppy....

    Good to hear you have a diagnosis on your knee. Have you seen your PT yet? That could be your adventure for the weekend ;)

    DG

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