The Summer Doldrums...

[SWriverstone]

AARRGGH! :( Summer...is...really...dragging...me...DOWN! We're in the midst here in Washington, D.C. of the umpteenth day of sweltering heat, 150% humidity (meaning you actually have trouble pulling the air into your lungs it's so thick!)...and temperatures in the 80s and 90s (and feel like the 120s).

Not even whitewater kayaking offers relief...the rivers are so low the fish are gasping, and the water temperature is about the same as the air. :(

I'm fantasizing more and more about the return of those crisp, cool days of autumn...and the GLORY OF WINTER!!!!

<sigh>

Still a few months to go...

Scott

[big mario]

Scott,
Despite the current streak of 95 degree and warmer days on the front range, there is quantifiable proof of winters inevitable return: the days are getting shorter and shorter, and soon the higher rocky mountain resorts will be firing up their snow guns for the annual race to open first. Of course, for those of means and little patience, there is always south america.
dreaming of october,
mario
p.s.
(i know, we are spoiled brats out here!)

[SWriverstone]

Good points Mario---I watch the days getting shorter too! BTW, how soon do all the New England resorts open? (I should probably dig around last year's posts to find out.)

Holly and I were just watching last year's SES and ECES DVDs...I CAN'T STAND IT!!! Our local resorts (in the Mid-Atlantic) won't open before December (unless we have a crazy cold fall, which I'm not counting on). AARRGGH!!! I can't wait 4 more months!!!

Will anyone in the East be open in October? If so, we're planning a trip!

Scott

[Steve Dold]

Scott, was last season your first? You sound like me, after my first season ended, I was so bummed. That summer was the longest one of my life. One thing that helped me get through it was taking my mountain bike up to the ski resorts and riding (which had the side benefit of getting me in shape for the upcoming season).

[lonerider]

Originally posted by SWriverstone
AARRGGH! :( Summer...is...really...dragging...me...DOWN! We're in the midst here in Washington, D.C. of the umpteenth day of sweltering heat, 150% humidity (meaning you actually have trouble pulling the air into your lungs it's so thick!)...and temperatures in the 80s and 90s (and feel like the 120s).
Scott

Sounds like your problem is more temperature and geography than anything else. Otherwise you would be riding your Insect, your Dirtsurfer, kayaking, etc... but I agree... I never really liked the summer months or the heat myself. People used say I should be Canadian because my favorite sports are ice hockey, snowboarding, and I dated a girl who was captain of a curling team.

I agree that when it gets hot like that it sucks... I rode up at Hood a couple of summers and that definitely helped.

In addition... now I'm skateboarding 4-5 times a week and having a blast... maybe you could skateboard in and underground parking lot where it's cool and dry. I also play ice hockey which is "cool" (using the air compressor doesn't die) and you get that slashing carving feel (just last week a hockey instructor was saying "just look at how Arvin keeps his inner shoulder from dropping into the turn... that help keeps your weight stacked over your edges and lets you turn harder while going faster")

[Phil]

RT has opened in November already. Of course that only means a couple hundred yards of beginner slope. I feel you Scott. Whatever you do, don't get any new gear before the season starts - that makes it 10x worse! Taf is due Sept 4, so I think that my mind will be occupied and the time will fly. She will go back to work in Nov. and a couple weeks later the (man-made) snow should fly.

How is Holly?

[big mario]

And I still have a major stoke going. It got even worse after watching the hardbooter video last week. I can't get carving out of my head. I've even bought two boards since I pulled my bindings in may. My poor heckler sits lonely and neglected in the basement gathering dust. The pathetic thing is that I have probably spent more time gazing longingly at my growing quiver than have riding my mountain bike. Those who know me know that that ain't natural. I have a sickness, and cowbell is not the cure.
signed,
desperate until the snow flies

[Phil]

Give your Heckler some love Big Mario. Either that, or send it to me and I will. I have been riding a minimum of 5 days a week. That is how I get over the snowboard withdrawal.

[Jon Dahl]

I'm going riding tomorrow and I'm still dreaming of boarding. Even a big V-twin sportbike only takes off the edge. During a normal year I would have boarded on the 4th of July somewhere here, but those dreams are on hold till winter.

[SWriverstone]

Originally posted by Phil
RT has opened in November already. Of course that only means a couple hundred yards of beginner slope. I feel you Scott. Whatever you do, don't get any new gear before the season starts - that makes it 10x worse! Taf is due Sept 4, so I think that my mind will be occupied and the time will fly. She will go back to work in Nov. and a couple weeks later the (man-made) snow should fly.

How is Holly?

Taf is due??? Wow---congratulations! I didn't know you had another coming! Yeah, that'll definitely take your mind off other things!

Holly's doing great. She's back to work now and back to eating normal food again. But---like me---she's having trouble getting back into the workout thing in all this heat. We're going to do some road biking this weekend.

The only relief I've found from heat around here is hang gliding---though it's miserable on the ground, it feels great at 3500' above ground level! :)

Yeah Jon, last season was my first---so the stoke is definitely still going strong. And good point Phil about not buying gear before the season starts! LOL I've been seriously wanting one of those boards with the bird on the bottom... ;)

Scott

[FTA2R]

Scott,


I head tomorrow some nuts are going to run Great Falls National Park in GF, VA. I believe it's off if it rains. Doing that is like something out of an xterra commercial. I would go if it didn't rain but i'll be busy.

===
Barry

ps give your skateboard a second chance, I'm loving mine after almost killing myself a few weeks ago lol!

[SWriverstone]

Originally posted by Barry
Scott,


I hear tomorrow some nuts are going to run Great Falls National Park in GF, VA. I believe it's off if it rains. Doing that is like something out of an xterra commercial. I would go if it didn't rain but i'll be busy.

===
Barry

ps give your skateboard a second chance, I'm loving mine after almost killing myself a few weeks ago lol!
Yeah, the Great Falls Race is an annual thing---definitely Class 5 Nutsoid paddling. :) I've had the ability (and chances) to do it for years, but never have 'cause I refuse to end up stuffed under a rock and never seen again (which has happened to a few expert kayakers over the years---there are some skeletons down there...)

Don't worry---I haven't given up on my skateboard! I've always said skateboards don't require as much real estate to have fun as Dirtsurfers, so they both have their place!

Scott

[alpinegirl]

i thought summertime was for earning money in an effort to support this illness, er ah, i mean hobby.

every 12 hour, 90 degree work day that's wicked humid is well worth the time i get to spend on snow in the winter. well, at least that's what i've been telling myself to help me get through these days

[ak_rider]

Killington claims to be the first to open. usually late Oct or early Nov, depending on temps. Others in VT open around early to mid Nov. Still a few months to go, but hang in there. The sweltering days of summer just make me appreciate the snow even more.

[skategoat]

Play some golf. A great diversion. I'm playing the worst and the best golf of my life. Rounds like 39/47. A true golfer will understand the frustration in that.

[Neil Gendzwill]

There's a slalom race community in DC, you could hook up with them through www.ncdsa.com or www.slalomskateboarder.com

[BobD]

in Minnesota. Only just going down now for the first time. This was a week or so ago on my local stream.

BobD

[jkallinen]

Bob, is that on the Kettle river? Sure has that look.

[Gecko]

I am in "the doldrums" right now...no wind for miles...hotter than F!#$...the walls are sweating almost as much as I am...

Have fun with your summer gentlemen good carving is only 6 months away...

[BobD]

The Vermillion at hastings, at about 110 cfs. Unfortunately, it's now down to the 60something cfs. The water table is still pretty high though, so it wont take much rain to bring it back up.

[mirror70]

I stay busy with my hobbies.

[bobdea]

that looks like a back yard meth lab but I figure that is carbon fiber in a vacume bag.
what is it that you are making?

[mirror70]

The meth lab is to the right, out of frame.

I'm making these, among other things:

[big mario]

100 degrees in denver right now. I think i'll go hide in the basement and fondle my quiver
mario

[Steve Dold]

I wish it was 100 here. It's been 106 in Sacramento every day for the past three or four days, and last night I talked to a guy in Lake Havasu AZ who told me it was 121 there yesterday! He says it's like trying to breath the air from a restroom hand dryer. Here's my summertime hobby:

[bobdea]

good mix, I must say

[Steve Dold]

Thanks Bob, but I have to come clean. It's not nearly as great as the picture above would suggest. That day was a rare event.

This is what it's really like to own an airplane (http://www.dold.us/aviation/c140/doorpost_slideshow/index.htm)

But I tell you what, it COMPLETELY took my mind off of waiting for winter :mad:

[Jon Dahl]

In your Castle AFB pics, looked like I saw a F104 Starfighter 2 seat trainer. I've always been a fan of that plane, has a very interesting history, not all good. No slackers could fly that one! Talked to a retired Air Force pilot who BTW was involved in the F117 development program, he said the 104 was the best "high q" plane ever built.

[Steve Dold]

Yep, that's a D model trainer. I think they only built about 20 of them. I don't know a lot about the 104 but I've read it could do over 1400 mph and go to over 100,000 feet, which must have been pretty impressive in the late 50's. It must have been a handful, it doesn't have much wing.

This museum is very cool, every year they have open-cockpit day. I haven't been yet but I gotta go, if nothing else to see what the inside of a B-36 looks like.

[Jon Dahl]

was the nickname for it. 100,000 ft. was the one setup with supplemental thrust for "astronauts." It would out turn a F-15/F16 in supersonic flight, but was a handful at landing speeds. Thats what I meant by "high-q", meant supersonic turning abilities. They had some real darwinian pilot loss 'till they trained them for it. A F-104 with a larger wing was put up in trials against the F-15, and out-performed it in many catagories, but lost out because it only had one engine.

[SWriverstone]

Originally posted by Steve Dold
Thanks Bob, but I have to come clean. It's not nearly as great as the picture above would suggest. That day was a rare event.

This is what it's really like to own an airplane (http://www.dold.us/aviation/c140/doorpost_slideshow/index.htm)

But I tell you what, it COMPLETELY took my mind off of waiting for winter :mad:

Hey Steve---you need to take up hang gliding! :) Beautiful, silent flight...and no maintenance required! Even better, you'll be the best landing pilot around when you go back to your GA plane...because in a hang glider, you only get one chance to land! (You get your approach angles wired.)

Scott

[willywhit]

The Summer Doldrums...are whipping up some great wind and storms.

[Steve Dold]

Willywhit, is that you in that pic? That's some carve going on.

Yeah, Scott, I know. At one of the radio sites I work at I see these guys launching off the ridge and staying up for a couple of hours at a time, it looks so cool. I'm not sure if I have the cajones for it though. Some of my friends are into ultralights too, if I ever lose my medical I'm gonna do that, or gliders.

[SWriverstone]

Originally posted by Steve Dold
Yeah, Scott, I know. At one of the radio sites I work at I see these guys launching off the ridge and staying up for a couple of hours at a time, it looks so cool. I'm not sure if I have the cajones for it though. Some of my friends are into ultralights too, if I ever lose my medical I'm gonna do that, or gliders.

LOL---actually, powered aircraft scare the bejeebers outta me---I hate knowing if the engine quits, I'm flying a rock! :) It's comforting to know I have no engine to lose, except the wind...which is no big deal.

I'm even a respectable glider pilot, since I actually earned my Technician license. :)

Scott (K3LSW)

[willywhit]

Steve, that's the jet boat pilot "Stevo". This is yours truly.

[RJ-PS]

Thanks for the Castle pics, they took me back a bit.
I used to be an instructor at Aviation Challenge at the Castle Air Force Base. It was my favorite job yet, a fantasy camp for kids so they could spend a week pretending to be Top Gun fighter pilots. In response to your question about the inside of the RB-36, It's very interesting how little room the crew had in such a behemoth. The military tried all sorts of projects from a nuclear reactor in the Bomb bay to using parasite jets (jets that would dock on the wings) to either combat enemy aircraft or do added reconaissance on missions.
Great history on that bird and although it was the largest production plane ever built, it doesn't hold a candle to the "Spruce Goose".
If anyone makes their way down to the open cockpit day shoot me an e-mail. We are a little more than a stone's throw away and can have you over for a BBQ and swim after a long day of climbing in the hot cramped aircraft.

[fin]

mirror70,

Is that the intake for an Audi S4?

[mirror70]

Originally posted by fin
Is that the intake for an Audi S4?

That's entirely possible ;)

[fin]

Ah, got ya, nudge nudge, wink, wink, say no more........


Alright, I have no idea what you are doing.


Bottom line, you want an S4 to go fast, ditch the twins and make it a huge single. Varoom baby! :D

[mirror70]

<a href="http://www.ktrperformance.com/gallery/Project_Cars/KTR_S4/s4_main.htm"><img src="http://www.ktrperformance.com/gallery/Project_Cars/KTR_S4/s4_fin_01.jpg"></a>
The problem with a single is that it won't fit in a street car. KTR has done a single turbo conversion that made something like 560whp on a DD dyno.

Of course, even with some pretty small twins, there are S4s putting down 450-460wHP (on DD dynos), which isn't too shabby for a car which is indistinguishable from stock..... until you put your foot down.


Anyway, I'm basically just making everything that I can out of carbon fiber. Trim pieces, body parts, bellypans, heat shields, etc etc. In the picture are a set of CF engine covers and an early CF Y-pipe I made. Space is very very tight there, so making it a larger pipe isn't easy. By switching to an FRP instead of the stock injection molded plastic piece, I can run much smaller wall thicknesses as well as integrated heat shielding. Since that pic, I've taken an impression of the space and now have an all around larger piece there.

[Jeffrey Day]

snowboardins' not all that! But if ya'll are totally buggin' to dig some trenches...why not book your trip to Chile or Argentina or New Zealand...how about going to Australia to ride with fellow flat-tailer Dan the Man!! I'm sure he'll tell ya'll how good the ridin' is for him right now!
What is it about snowboardin' anyway? I mean really...you're outside, freezin' your arse off, snow flyin' up into your face, eyes waterin' so ya can't see where yar goin'!!! What's the attraction?

Tell me...please!

[willywhit]

Originally posted by Jeffrey Day
snow flyin' up into your face, eyes waterin' so ya can't see where yar goin'!!! What's the attraction?

Tell me...please! mirror you're a sick pup. Jeff, kitesurfing is all about getting sprayed in the face and going like hell and being completely exhausted, muscles twitching, at the end of a good session.Come to the Cape or Revere Beach or Castle Island in Southie and check it out.