0 comment Saturday, June 21, 2014 | admin
Yesterday, it was 80 degrees according to the nearest bank's temperature display. Today it is snowing. I definitely was dragging my heels getting out of the house this morning, and I can't tell if that was a good or bad move. When I woke up, it was raining lightly, but it started a little "wintry mix" as I was rolling to work. The best (or worst, depending on your perspective) part of the ride in was the wind. It started really blowing making any sort of progress a battle of Will power. You can get an idea of the velocity from this photograph of me as I arrived at work:
The angular striations visible against the window in the background are flakes of snow and drops of rain. The edges on the building are presumably parallel and perpendicular to the ground, so you can get an idea of the wind. From my rough estimate, the precipitation looks to be coming in at about a 45 degree angle to the ground, maybe a hint more. This leads me to conclude that the sideways force exerted on the snowflakes was as strong as the gravity pulling it downwards minus the inherent wind resistance. Nick N. is an engineer, and should be able to tell us if this is indeed correct.
You will also note the buds on the trees, signifying that nature believes we are well into spring... Wrong again Nature!
Like Brendan, my pants were soaked, and I stripped down to my wool undershirt and rolled my pants up to my knees to dry off. I was summarily chastised by my boss for my tight shirt (it's usually just an undershirt, OK!). Rather than Tom Jones tunes, my mind drifted to "the Hell of the North" as I rode in. Often for this race, conditions are similar, except it takes 7 - 8 hours, and there are more cobblestones (Pave`) than the teeny section I ride from 15th to 14th on Wynkoop. I can't imagine it, but then again, there are a lot of quitters in Paris-Roubaix, I suppose they are just more sane than the pros who win.
The angular striations visible against the window in the background are flakes of snow and drops of rain. The edges on the building are presumably parallel and perpendicular to the ground, so you can get an idea of the wind. From my rough estimate, the precipitation looks to be coming in at about a 45 degree angle to the ground, maybe a hint more. This leads me to conclude that the sideways force exerted on the snowflakes was as strong as the gravity pulling it downwards minus the inherent wind resistance. Nick N. is an engineer, and should be able to tell us if this is indeed correct.
You will also note the buds on the trees, signifying that nature believes we are well into spring... Wrong again Nature!
Like Brendan, my pants were soaked, and I stripped down to my wool undershirt and rolled my pants up to my knees to dry off. I was summarily chastised by my boss for my tight shirt (it's usually just an undershirt, OK!). Rather than Tom Jones tunes, my mind drifted to "the Hell of the North" as I rode in. Often for this race, conditions are similar, except it takes 7 - 8 hours, and there are more cobblestones (Pave`) than the teeny section I ride from 15th to 14th on Wynkoop. I can't imagine it, but then again, there are a lot of quitters in Paris-Roubaix, I suppose they are just more sane than the pros who win.
Labels: May Day