How do our So cal members Fare?

[kiwi]

an overdue call perhaps...how are you guys doin???

[Old Proflexer]

Kiwi, old friend - nice of you to ask

Cough! Cough! Cough!    Hack! Hack! Hack!  Spit, wipe the eyes.

Some of this is literally right in my back yard  - the Santiago fire is where I hike and mtn bike in the mountains - many people have lost their homes and a substantial amount of So Cal style forest is up in smoke -

I can't understand why an individual would stay to 'protect their home' when an army of fire fighters (a lot of good brave young men) order them to leave all the while they can see a wall of fire heading at them - you can't stop that stuff with a garden hose - some of the walls of flames in those tinder dry canyons are hundreds of feet across and 30, 50 - 70 feet high - they start their own mini tornados of flames and smoke!!!

The good part of it for those of us in the community, the hiking and biking trails, created and maintained by the Hiking and Biking communities (Warriors Society etc.) are the routes that the firefighters take to get in and out of those remote areas.

I did get out and pedal around a few days ago in the early AM - by the time I was headed back, the wind had shifted and you couldn't see more than 5-600 yards from all the smoke.  Fortunately I was near home by that time and could give my eyes, nose and lungs a rest.

http://www.ocfa.org/

- Emergency Info
- Breaking News
- Santiago Incident
- Map of Area

Dawn is breaking my friend - going to go out to the archery range, the fire burned just up to the edge of the property before the wind shifted and fire fighters could knock it down.  It did drive a lot of the rattlesnakes into action and I was able to get one for the skin and my 'MAN CHILI !!!" I'm making for my church chili cook off.

Take care.

OP

[jeffhop]

mmm sorry to hear about that op, sometimes makes you realise the good ol uk isnt so bad.   take care all of you!

[shovelon]

OP said it all. The fires are under control now, but we still have some smoke in the air. My area, somewhat north of OP caught us between the Malibu Fires and the Canyon fires. Most of Canyon country was closed early part of last week due to insane amounts of smoke. Simi valley and parts of Chastworth closed schools because of smoke, where I ride. A lot of deer ran south towards the ocean, and I thought that was clever.

The wife and I ran off to the beach camping to get away from the Castiac fire smoke for the weekend, and it too seems to be knocked down. Even had a touch of rain yesterday.

We took PCH back thru Malibu fire area today, and were amazed at the very little damage that the press made such a big deal over. We saw that Castle home just north of Pepperdine University, no great loss.

The Arrowhead, and San Diego fires look so devasting. Both of which may have been arson started.

Anyway, thanks for asking. Back to the normal grind now.

Terry

[kiwi]

idle curiosity you two....Op how far(SE?) are you from from the "central city" and Terry how far north of OP are you???Are you in an opposite direction(NE) ifrom from the "central city"Use some other well known spot if you like for a reference?just trying to get my head around the distances involved in these fires

[Scott]

Glad to hear your homes and lives are intact guys though a lot of great riding has no doubt changed into wide open looking moonscapes.  We lived in Reno for a time and coming from New England where 70+ inches of moisture's the norm, it took a long while to get used to the constant threat of fire.  I remember clearing away the heavy growth of bitter brush and thistle the original owner had allowed to grow right up to the siding and then burning it during the short burning season allowed-the stuff would just explode into HUGE flames!  It seemed to have evolved intentionally into ideal fire fuel.

Scott

[shovelon]

idle curiosity you two....Op how far(SE?) are you from from the "central city" and Terry how far north of OP are you???Are you in an opposite direction(NE) ifrom from the "central city"Use some other well known spot if you like for a reference?just trying to get my head around the distances involved in these fires

I am a stone's throw above Los Angeles.Actually Hollyweird is just on the other side of the hill from me. If you picture the Hollyweird sign, then you can get an idea of the brush and terrain of the hillsides that surround the area.

I am still in Los Angeles county, which is where the Malibu, Castiac, Arrowhead, Acton, and Stevenson ranch fires were.

Los Angeles is north of San Diego, which is right on the Mexican Border and about 3 hours drive from Los Angeles. The fires in San Diego burned to the border and killed some migrants(border crossers).

I would guess that I am about 2 hours drive north of OP or less.

[shovelon]

Kiwi, old friend - nice of you to ask

Cough! Cough! Cough!    Hack! Hack! Hack!  Spit, wipe the eyes.

Some of this is literally right in my back yard  - the Santiago fire is where I hike and mtn bike in the mountains - many people have lost their homes and a substantial amount of So Cal style forest is up in smoke -

I can't understand why an individual would stay to 'protect their home' when an army of fire fighters (a lot of good brave young men) order them to leave all the while they can see a wall of fire heading at them - you can't stop that stuff with a garden hose - some of the walls of flames in those tinder dry canyons are hundreds of feet across and 30, 50 - 70 feet high - they start their own mini tornados of flames and smoke!!!

The good part of it for those of us in the community, the hiking and biking trails, created and maintained by the Hiking and Biking communities (Warriors Society etc.) are the routes that the firefighters take to get in and out of those remote areas.

I did get out and pedal around a few days ago in the early AM - by the time I was headed back, the wind had shifted and you couldn't see more than 5-600 yards from all the smoke.  Fortunately I was near home by that time and could give my eyes, nose and lungs a rest.

http://www.ocfa.org/

- Emergency Info
- Breaking News
- Santiago Incident
- Map of Area

Dawn is breaking my friend - going to go out to the archery range, the fire burned just up to the edge of the property before the wind shifted and fire fighters could knock it down.  It did drive a lot of the rattlesnakes into action and I was able to get one for the skin and my 'MAN CHILI !!!" I'm making for my church chili cook off.

Take care.

OP

OP, are you close to Whiting Ranch, the area where the mountain biker was killed by the mountain lion? I think that wilderness area was burned, or the fire got close.

Terry

[kiwi]

Two hours?In 15 minutes I can be out of Wellington and in two hours I can be at Manfield Raceway,160 km away..mostly only one lane each way and our speed limit is 100 km hr

[Old Proflexer]

I ride my bike over to the Whiting Ranch area and bike as well - it's just a couple of miles from home.

I have a row of homes between me and some baseball fields, behind the fields is O'neil park and thats all oak, grass and more dead brush.  The wild fires can sweep thru that stuff faster than you can ride a bike away from it, (or if it's a mountain lion chasing you).  When the winds are howling, nothing is safe.  

I'd venture to say this main fire burned to about 8+ miles from home.  Doesn't seem too close but remember, O'neil park down my stretch is about a mile wide across the canyon and the canyon runs in the direction of the normal Santa Ana's.  If a fire consumes +25,000 acres and a square mile is say, 640 acres?  That's 39 square miles, 8 miles away, 40 mile per hour winds - given the right circumstances, could be here in a few minutes - but it's burning away towards the east right now and things are quite calm.  We've had a couple of smaller fires, in the canyon below the house and they had tanker planes on them in a few minutes.

I have to ride over to Whiting to see the burn area, not sure if it got in there.

[K23K]

I'm still riding the channel down to Seal Beach & Back (12miles a day and 6 of it against the wind) on my K23K. Its set up for Pavement Cross (slicks & compact road gears), that thing can fly in-and-out of intersections, off curbs & driveways.

I get a lot of folks asking me where I got it, I just tell-em it's a limited edition rig that is no-longer in production.

I just bought a Zipp 3001 in mint condition that was part of a Veladrome Racing Teams collection. Zipp Disc's front & back, Vuca TT bars, Dura Ace 180mm Cranks, CeramicSpeed Bearings, Tufo jett tires @ 120psi, 56 tooth chainring.

I was drafting a bus over the weekend on my way down to PCH and I saw 43mph on the Speedo! The Zipp discs whine like little turbines.

Anyway the fires are out, so the sky is clear again, oh and the freakin gas prices are going thru the roof. All the more reason to ride bikes.

[kiwi]

, oh and the freakin gas prices are going thru the roof.

dont start that ...the poms will let us know how well of we really are.......but for the record $50 bought me 29.6 L of 91 RON unleaded.

[orange]

you're right - you do have it good!! We pay about £1/litre which is about $US 2 per litre or $US 9 per gallon!

[willem]

Good time for euro bearers and pound spenders to come over for a visit!
$2.65/gallon of fuel and $0.12/kwH for juice are killing me...