Good morning!
You can thank our little friends the Salmonella bacteria for my absence this week. Food poisoning had me laid out on the bathroom floor, unable to write a forecast. I was so sick I didn’t even notice the nuclear-force winds on Tuesday. Sad, because a west wind day would have been fun. Hard to sail when you can’t get up to get yourself a glass of water… Anyway, I’d like to thank my friends Drew and Jami for the fluid deliveries, and I’d like to thank everyone else for the texting and FB entertainment. =)
Now, on to lighter and more fun topics: biking, windsurfing, skiing, gardening and kiting.
First, there’s a bit of an east gradient this morning. At .11, the gradient isn’t what I’d hoped for, but it’s enough to get you on the water if you’d like. 18-23 in Stevenson, with a chance of more as high pressure builds in the desert today. 24-27 at Rooster. Next chance for sailable wind is Sunday afternoon, when we’ll see some weak westerlies.
After you kite or sail, head to the mountain for spring skiing. No guarantees, but it looks like Superbowl might open at Meadows today. Call first. If you’ve never skied it, it’s worth the hike. If Palmer’s open, the Zig Zag is the likely call today. And yes, I suppose you can count skinning as an additional sport, if you’d like. Tomorrow looks sunny on the slopes again, so if you’re headed up, wax warm and be prepared to drink, because it’s Brewfest at Meadows. Double Mountain will be there, and you can double the reported alcohol percentages in the beers. Add half because you’re at elevation and add another half because there’s no way in hell DM beers are as reported. =) At this point, Sunday’s forecast looks depressing on the hill, so get your ass up there Saturday for some sun and beer (and don’t forget your bikini).
In mountain bike world, Post is near-perfect (just stay off the very bottom section), as are HH and Syncline. I have a report from Dirty Fingers that Nestor Peak is snow-free (who really cares?), so you have a fourth ride open. Seems early to me. Seems like all the trails will be open early this year with the near-zero low elevation snowpack.
If you’d like to give back, there are work parties on Doug VZ’s (trail god) new Spaghetti Factory extensions this weekend. Meet at 8:45 at the bottom of PC road Saturday and Sunday to finish his fine work. Doug, you are the best. We love you, and you rock our world and our bikes’ worlds. Seriously, if you can spare the time (unfortunately, I’m working at MHM all day both days), please go help out. Bagels and coffee will be provided.
If you’d like to watch super-talented chicks mountain biking, there’s a movie at Columbia Center for the Arts on the 27th at 7pm. Women of Dirt get dirty, tear up trails, and pull sick shit on bikes. Did I just say “shit”? Oops. Sorry.
There are a bunch of other events going on, including a ping-pong tourney, so check out the calendar at TheGorgeismyGym.com for more information. And if you have other events, please submit them to me so I can get the word out.
And I did say I’d mention gardening: It’s probably okay to plant carrots, lettuce, bok choy and other leafy green veggies, along with snap peas. My soil is 45 degrees at night and 50 degrees during the day, and I’m at city level. That’s too cold to plant much else, unless you’re using windows or plastic to create extra heat. For what it’s worth, my soil is dry enough to double dig, so yours may be too. I got a tan in the garden yesterday…
Have a great day today!
Temira