BO15 The Silver Maggot reborn

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It’s really cropy out, 26 F, gale warnings. Lake Superior Is whipped up to a white froth. It pushed my truck around. I went to town for some work on my
truck, snowed the whole way with whiteouts on all the hill tops. Too cold to do anything outside. You get an ice cream headache and chill blanes in your hands in five minutes. It shucks.
 
27 F this morning. At 9 AM it’s up to 32 F. The winds have calmed down to 13 mph out of the NNW. So, the north wind bringing down the polar vortex. Looks like it may change enough in five more days to the point I can work on bikes in my unheated shop and in the yard on my outdoor work bench. Going to be in the 50s F for a few days in a row. This will give me time to go gravel riding. By tomorrow all the new snow should be melted off the gravel. So the plan is to hopefully begin work on the “Black Fly” in mid May.
 
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It’s snowing here on radar but it’s not hitting the ground. Twenty miles East it’s snowing and sticking. Tomorrow I was planning a bike ride but it’s going to be below freezing all day. I don feel like bundling up with chemical heaters and electric sox. Honestly, I’m so sick of winter riding that I don’t want to bother riding right now. I’m going to put my winter cloths into the storage unit tomorrow and take out the summer stuff. I refuser wear winter clothing anymore.
 
Dang dude, Old Man Winter is really handing it to you right now. That's depressing. Cool photos of your compound though. Is that a channel that runs right along your property? Into the Lake?
 
OddJob said:
Dang dude, Old Man Winter is really handing it to you right now. That's depressing. Cool photos of your compound though. Is that a channel that runs right along your property? Into the Lake?
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Yeah, we are in the area called the “Chain of Lakes” 5 lakes with channels that people take catamarans through. The whole chain empties into the Indian River of the UP, which, empties into Lake Michigan. Great canoeing and kayaking as the Indian has been designated a wild and scenic river and I hardly ever see anyone on it. No development on the river. One of the Chain of Lakes, Corner Lake, has a spot in it where 3 counties meet. Makes for a lot of confusion for people unfamiliar with the area.
 
Had a blizzard, ended an hour ago, the ground was white. Must have been lake effect snow bands as it varied in intensity, on, off repeat. Somtimes I couldn't see across the lake. Everyone is posting it on Facebook so it covered a lot of the UP. It's melted off already but it continues windy and cold. No bike work or riding.
 
Yesterday, had an outdoor visit with maternal unit. It snowed on us. On Maternal Unit Day minus one. Grrrr. Haven't had snow on this date since 1995, if memory serves me correctly
 
MattiThundrrr said:
Yesterday, had an outdoor visit with maternal unit. It snowed on us. On Maternal Unit Day minus one. Grrrr. Haven't had snow on this date since 1995, if memory serves me correctly
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Wow, isn’t that something. I could see it if it happened once this late, but every day, now that’s something. I went out to the bush and cut a truck load of firewood this afternoon and it started snowing again.
 
us56456712 said:
Yeah, we are in the area called the “Chain of Lakes” 5 lakes with channels that people take catamarans through. The whole chain empties into the Indian River of the UP, which, empties into Lake Michigan. Great canoeing and kayaking as the Indian has been designated a wild and scenic river and I hardly ever see anyone on it. No development on the river. One of the Chain of Lakes, Corner Lake, has a spot in it where 3 counties meet. Makes for a lot of confusion for people unfamiliar with the area.
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Cool. I just looked it up on the map, awesome area, and wedged between two of the largest freshwater bodies in the world.
 
I woke up this morning to a howling north wind, white caps an our lake, still. It got up to 41 F according to our high - low thermometer but I never saw it. Every time I looked it was in the 30s F. Today I cut wood in the woods again. It’s too cold for bugs and with a logging crash helmet, kevlar chaps and gloves, steel toed boots and a flannel shirt you are plenty warm as the exercise makes you hot. There is still snow in the woods, widespread here but only in the holes in the ground or in shaded areas. My yard still has one snow bank on the north side of our house. if it ever touches 50 F it will be all gone. It’s predicted to be in the 50s beginning on May 14th. No bike work as it is not active enough to stay warm and you still need gloves. Going mountain biking tomorrow on the East side Bruno’s Run, which my riding buddy has cleared. It was really chocked with dead falls From the heavy ice storm we got in early December and again in May. It’s going to be nicer tomorrow, high of 39 F, partly sunny and a north wind at 10 mph, yeah.
 
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The cold has broken. It’s sunny and it’s going to be in the 50s F, even two days in the 60s F for the next two weeks. One day the high will be 49 but that is OK. Now to build before the black fly hatch, which might be as soon as tomorrow. In that case I won’t be able to build for another 3 weeks until the hatch is over. I hope to get a start. Tomorrow. Wood cutting today.
 
us56456712 said:
The cold has broken. It’s sunny and it’s going to be in the 50s F, even two days in the 60s F for the next two weeks. One day the high will be 49 but that is OK. Now to build before the black fly hatch, which might be as soon as tomorrow. In that case I won’t be able to build for another 3 weeks until the hatch is over. I hope to get a start. Tomorrow. Wood cutting today.
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We get love bugs ( May fly's ) this time of year . What a life they have , there hatched , make love for 24 hrs then they die . But there so many they make a mess of your cars front end .
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sandman said:
We get love bugs ( May fly's ) this time of year . What a life they have , there hatched , make love for 24 hrs then they die . But there so many they make a mess of your cars front end .
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I didn’t know they were that far south. It will be awhile before ours hatch. I always wondered why they were called May flies when they hatch in July. A common name here is Canadian Soldiers. They can make the road greasy. The Saint Mary’s River is loaded with their cocoons when they hatch. Good fishing bait, put them in a paper bag in the refrigerator. The nats were hatching so bad on Lake Michigan today that we didn’t get out of our car. They don’t bite but can cover you as they like the warmth. By tomorrow all the snow in my yard will be gone. There is still paved roads that were unplowed that you have to ride on snow and over and around downed trees. With the covert virus the clearing is done on a volunteer basis. ATVs and trucks just ride over it but I’m sawing out the bigger dead falls so I can ride. I’m riding on Saturday and I’ll try and post pictures of the snow and devastation from the very windy winter and spring we just had.
 
I tried to go for a gravel ride Friday evening but the snow was too deep to ride through. By 11 am. Saturday you could ride through the snow patches and zig zag around the downed trees so 4 of us went almost 30 miles. It was a lactic acid threshold training ride with uphill drag races. This is how they used to train before all the heart monitors and science. Take your pulse, find your target heart rate and max for your age. Phooey to all that pencil necked geek technology. It always breaks or fails anyway. Three of us on this ride were in our 70s and really won’t benefit from that technology. Our training bible is a1970s cross country ski training book. It calls for three lactic acid burners a week, with slower rides the other days. Good enough. On Sunday we all went 14 miles on the same gravel and the only patches of snow were banks on the roadside. Three days ago the last snow bank melted away in my yard on the north side of our house. Unfortunately, the black flies are out. We were eating them it spitting them out when riding. You can’t stop, you get eaten alive. In about two more weeks the mosquitoes invade my shop, but by then the black flies have tapered off. I can deal with mosquitos so give me about two more weeks to start the build. I can hardly wait.
 
It got to 80 F for a few days last weekend. There was still snow in the Woods last Saturday. It’s gone now. Now 30s F at night, 40s during the day. Summer is over, now it’s fall. I better hurry and start my build, winter is just around the corner. Only 23 more days until the daylight starts to get shorter.
 
After Second Winter, we went straight to summer. Freezing one week, 95 degrees the next. The mosquitoes were sweating in their Little toques, poor buggers couldn't keep up!
Can't wait to see how the Silver Maggot copes
 

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