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I do have some nice business sponsors who give away prizes for my email recipients, people who’ve donated. This week’s is Cascade Acupuncture in Hood River and The Dalles. Let’s face it: you play hard. You’re going to get sore, and you might even get hurt. Cascade Acupuncture can help you with that. Massage? Sure. Acupuncture? Definitely. Chinese Herbs? Yes, that too. Over 20 insurance companies will cover Cascade Acupuncture’s service, and C.A. will do the hard part of checking your insurance coverage and benefits, to minimize the risk of large bills. With locations in Hood River and The Dalles, online scheduling, and Monday-Saturday hours, it’s convenient to get yourself feeling better, right now.

We’ve got a couple of wind-dependent events going on this morning to go with the light wind. It’s the RoShamThrowDown kiteboarding event down on Hood River’s Sandbar, and it’s the Gorge Blowout Laser race. Lasers are small sailboats designed for light wind, so you know these racers are good! Don’t worry about the light wind this morning.

The wind will pick up pretty quickly today (it’s already in the teens at the Hatchery, with a .06 gradient) but strong thunderstorm potential is going to make it unpredictable and gusty. We’ll see 17-20 by mid-morning with 23-25 later from Hood River all the way east. However, once the thunderstorms kick in, the good wind on the river will be done. Tomorrow looks like it will start off with leftover T-storms, but if they’re gone by dawn, we’ll see a 24-28 start from the Hatchery east to Doug’s. Depending on the thunder situation, we could see 26-30 tomrorow.Thursday morning also looks a bit messy, as the offshore low causing the thunder makes its way east, but by the afternoon, the atmosphere should stabilize a bit, giving us steadier west wind at 24-28. The strong westerlies continue on Friday, and with the icky offshore low gone, it should be nice and steady.

So, mountain bikers like rain and cherry farmers hate rain this time of year. I’m not going to take sides. As a mountain biker, I’d love some rain on our dusty trails. As a cherry lover, I don’t want to see a drop. We’ll see thundershower chances building all day, becoming significant after 3pm and lasting all night long. The most likely time for rain will be between 5pm and 8pm, and it could be heavy. We’ll see another chance of rain on Thursday night.

Speaking of Thursday night, the Hood River Area Trail Stewards and Dirty Fingers are throwing a Seven Streams wake. Meet at the bottom of Post Canyon Road at 5:30 for a last lap through Seven Streams. Or do the Post and Pint ride, leaving Dirty Fingers at 5:30. Or join the Hood River Triathlon Club for a Post Canyon run, leaving the bottom of Post Canyon Road at 6pm. After your run/ride/hike, come by Dirty Fingers for a Seven Streams wake. Bring a pre-cooked dish to share.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira