The Royce Files

Less than 1 month until the start of the umpteenth Fargo Marathon and Fargo welcomes an early spring snow storm. I ran in it this morn. Sort of a soft and wet mix. Beats running in the rain. Snow accumulates on April 27 Not sure of the Fargo accumulations but looks like it will melt up by the weekend as temperatures start to rise above 30s. Still this is a bit of a surprise after having some pleasant days above touching the 60s and 70s in previous weeks. Participants need not to worry about running in the snow. Only once in the history of the race has it snowed- that being the first year - and there was hardly a trace. This is not to say it will not be cool come race time. I expect starting line temperatures on May 20 to be in the low to mid 40s warming up quickly into the early afternoon. No flood impacts this year too. Very little to report at this time concerning the marathon and all its related events. Registrations were reportedly done a bit but that is not strange consid...

I was on my 2 wheels most of last weekend spinning around town. Occasionally I needed to lift and carry my wheels through the banks of impassable snow which keepers of the sidewalks failed to clear enough. This time of year the snow rots- meaning it does not stick together and melts. Rotting snow is hard to ride on with 2 inch tires. But not 4 inch tires.   The Pugsley I stopped at the local mall and lo and behold, I see a Pug out at the rack locked securely. This ride not only had the big tires but it had big spiky tires. The Pug would ride well in this weather but I'd be a bit cautious of the random ice slick. Another disdain I did not add to the winter biking post a few weeks ago is the snow piles at the corners. If you are riding the streets this stuff is piled up so high you need to literally be in the intersection to see cross traffic. These piles also make the rideable road space much smaller at that point. For those who utilize the sidew...

I t is New Year's Eve and I am at home, forced to sit out the normal festivities by 2 blizzards. And these are really blizzards, not just some snow flakes and a little wind. The 2 interstates were shut. The roads were horrible. The weather was and continues to be dreadful. There have been wind chill temperatures of -49 Fahrenheit in places. Funny how it was nearly 30 a few days ago. The first storm arrived on Wednesday. I got stuck at work because there was no way to pass through the drifts on the sidewalks or streets with the ice bike. I went out between storms today. Most places were closed. I needed to get the food for a New Year's Day evening meal. Indeed it was a difficult jaunt. Well, I got home, I ripped my down vest, realized my camera was broken, then discovered the New Year's Eve party was postponed until the next day- the day I would be inviting many of the same people over for a dinner. So far 2011 is looking to be a real challenge and it hasn't even star...

I've ranted on here before on inconsistent snow removal in my town. Of which Lileks says in an indirect manner:"Rant on." The Twin Towns have it a bit worse than Go. More traffic brings those things on. I couldn't imagine biking in winter in the Twin Towns unless I lived at the very least 3 miles from work. A near impossibility there with the expanse of space that exists to put up buildings clear out to the edges of St. Cloud and still call it the Twin Cities. Here, things don't get much more than 5 miles out and then you are on the tundra, alone, drifting. I've been on 4 wheels for most of the last 2 weeks. This is mostly due to trying to ward off a cold and arctic temps. But it is also due to the dumpage of great amounts of snow which typically takes 2 days to adequately move. Yet it snowed for a few days in a row. That's when shovels and plows relax a little. Traffic compacts the snow but it also creates this light ...

G oodbye 2009 with all its problems and recession or depression. So long to all its murky moments and deaths Obama-rama thriller killer seeker flooded tiger cheater balloon boy hoaxionage bailout fallout health care messes economic recesses Farewell aughts, we've been good friends mostly Now the twenty-teen days are fast upon In with the retro and out with the new- I don't know which to eschew Let's go back to those much better days When we knew there would be- well, better days W ith that Royce Files say "Adeiu" to 2009 but not before I make rememberance of the wall of snow which plagued my return. At left you see the neighboring garage but it looks similar yet mine was a bit higher by right of exaggeration. Highlights of 2009 as the Royce Files saw it- The Great Flood had the most attention for the year and help propel the blog to historic entry levels after a slow start to the year. Not much Obama coverage. Others could do much better at praising o...

Over the Christmas holiday the Midwest found itself in a deluge of snow. I made it home all right but many others were stranded or unable to be with family and loved ones on Christmas. A stretch of the venerable I-94 was shut off from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day (December 26th) afternoon. The large snow accumulation kept plows busy. Unfortunately for me, when I return home to the Go ( best place to find a job as noted by CNN), a 7 foot by 3 foot high wall of snow prevented me from entering the garage. The parking lot was no better- 3 feet in most spots. Let the snow removal begin! The next morning I got ready to challenge the snow with the winter bike. Private sidewalks were pretty well cleared. The streets were decent but compacted snow was beginning to form in places and I have not put on the studded tires yet. Public walkways I use were largely disregarded. With the city planning on putting into effect sidewalk shoveling ordinances, it would be wise if the city also did its part...

Most of us knew this could not go on for ever. Winter needed to make an appearance. December 1- No snow. Rather warm with some NW winds foreshadowing the next days' events. The winter bikes were ready and I just got winter bike #1 a major overhaul. Riding home on the 2nd of December would be the last day in 2009 the C-200 would be out. It was pretty crazy on the ride home. Dakotans did the typical thing in snow storms- they avoid the main roads and take side streeets. Never ceases to amaze me how the traffic jams on these days are within residence neighborhoods and not on Main or University or 25th. I brought out the m-200 (snow bike #2) to take on the snow since I want to put a pannier rack on #1. It is really unusual to think just a few weeks ago I was out running in shorts. The mild November afforded many such runs. However, running in the cold especially just after a light snow is very scenic. Especially when going through neighborhoods decked out with lights. With the temp...

W inter weather returned to the Fargo Moorhead area this afternoon creating a lack of visibility. No snow removal is planned to my knowledge. Its a very wet and sticky snow that could be compacted fast to make for slippery roads. I did a grocery run this afternoon and this is certainly a powerful storm. Picture to the left is at a grocery store on the corner of 13th Ave and 42nd St. The electronic sign in the distance says "Thanks Volunteers." Sandbagging re-started in Dilworth and Moorhead today shortly Fargo ceased its operations at the Fargo Dome. Travel advisories have been issued for the region plus at the Fargo city briefing it officials advised that only emergency travel should be done. Also at the afternoon meeting, the use of the Predator drone data collection was demonstrated.

I am part of an unofficial organization that I call the Icebikers. We bike through most of the winter. It is a sometimes treacherous but mostly satisfying endeavor. However there is certainly on thing that irks me most when biking in winter- inadequate snow removal. For the icebiker, staying in the saddle is the ideal. I don't like to "portage" through sections of road or sidewalk every quarter mile. The icebiker appreciates a shoveled nearly to the concrete sidewalk and dispises a "snow hump" where the sidewalk and street meet. Typically I find the streets to be more maneuverable than sidewalks due in large part the inconstancy of shoveling given to the sidewalks. The other day I made my first icebike appearance of 2009. With the addition of a studded tire, I was able to make it to work on time. On the way back I took a different route and regretted it. A whole block of sidewalk on a busy street wasn't even shoveled. In the Go the last snowflake fell on Sa...

I knew about it the night before but for some reason I assumed it would only be 3 inches and some wind. Therefore I removed my studded snow tire the night before thinking that I would hit more pavement than snow pack. I was wrong. Crazy wrong. I looked out the window in the morning and saw no snow. I must have imagined I saw no snow because when I leave the apartment there is a good 4 inch cover of snow and no plowing has been done. I battle my way to work falling once but almost falling again numerous occasions. I regret removing the snow tire. I have hardly any traction. I try not to turn green and take out my rage on the city, who has lifted not a finger to remove snow in the streets much less any sidewalks. (At the time of the writing of this I have yet to notice a plow beyond the private contractors.) So it's April and spring has been with us for about 2 weeks. Blizzards like this should only happen in March not April. However, I have no hard facts as to the probability of ...

I began to to think that there would be no snow cover before the end of the year. On Thursday evening I ran and it was clear but overnight flurries developed. They stopped but eventually another spat of flurry arrived on Saturday morning and later turned to wet sticky snow. Conditions apparently worsened elsewhere and on the tele stations scrolled church closings. I found it quite funny that it mostly Lutheran churches closed. I guess Lutherans are not as rugged as Garrison Keillor makes them out. This is certainly not blizzard weather. This type of storm only slows people down because of the perceived (possibly real) slipperiness. I saw no cars in the ditch today although I noticed one with a blown out tire. I saw more cars on the side of the road returning home from Christmas and then no snow existed. The weather did not prevent me from going out to do something I wanted to do for weeks. In fact I had a craving and using some self control contained it until today: Chinese food calls...

I t's the third day of Christmas and we are still without snow. Why do we need snow for Christmas? Phil would have a good answer but unfortunately he is out doing other things (i.e. drinking more beer). I will proffer an explanation- it's cultural and western centric idea. Most of the nations that celebrate Christmas as extravagant as us are in the Northern Hemisphere. It usually snows during the period when Christmas comes. Our Southern Hemisphere counterparts must suffice with dreaming about white Christmas since it is highly improbably that the Almighty would bless them with snow in Hawaii or Australia or India. Not that snow does not exist in those places somewhere. Probably in moutainous terrain there is plenty of snow in the Southern Hemisphere. So Christmas revelers head to the mountains to get in the mood for Christmas. Maybe Go Tell It On the Mountain is a more popular Christmas tune down there.