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You're 100% right that the power system was not ready for this cold. Of the ~54% capacity that was lost 17% was due to wind turbines were frozen. The rest was Natural Gas and Coal plants. They could not keep the supply of NG going due to the cold. This happened about 15 years ago when we moved here and then again about 10 years ago. At that point they said they mitigated the issues. Yesterday a power company exec said the systems here are not designed for this cold and after looking into it they said it was too costly. For me that is neglect. I pay for a product that comes from a monopoly regulated by the government. They should be held liable for any death of someone who was not able to (physically or mentally) that died. They should be held liable to a degree for all the damage caused by them not providing power. On the flip side - people need to take care of their own issues when it comes to staying warm. A company or government cannot take care of you better than you can. They cannot manage your situation better than you can. I believe if you did not do this and it was not extenuating circumstances then you are responsible. For example, we had a pipe break in our water heater. We had made arrangements for neighbors to check on our house during this since we were not going to be home. They came over a couple of times a day. They found the broken pipe and shut off the water main to the house. They had no power and still were checking on our house. There are people in our neighborhood that were home and didn't even know where to turn off the water to their house when needed. That's on them.

I took a look at the calendar and see that the weekend of July 23 to 25 is open. It can be hot and a little muggy, We have some nice big shade trees to set under or I do know of some nice shady roads to take a ride on. It will be good to have some old friends here and some new ones. We didnt get to have a get together last year. And sure missed it. Orlin

I have found a good, modern day touring jacket, like something our friend @VentureFar has written about for Ultimate, pretty much covers all the rain gear needs for those folks who require rain protection cause their region of riding does not offer warm summer rains that are actually a cooling off treat to the naked skin. I also like the multiple layering idea in prepping for cooler climates and always carried a few hooded sweatshirts in Tippy's clothing dept (trunk) roll up tightly and easily accessable. For sleeping quarters our 2 minute motel (tent) rolled up with 1" pad, sleeping bags laid out inside, and change of clothes for each (pillows) and then wrapped in a HF tarp to keep the rain out of our belongins worked awesome.. One really nice thing about tenting = NO TRAILER EVER, and ride till we were done (many +16 hour days of riding) and within a couple minutes we were sleeping,, behind a dumpster, under an abandoned gas station over hang, on the beaches of the Atlantic or Pacific coast, in a Cemetary, church parking lot, Walmart parking lot ect ect..

Putting this out there, Not sure how this virus stuff is going to play out, We missed getting to have a get together last summer. It will be here at our place and will put a ride or two together and have a cookout and a bonfire for one of the evenings. Want to see if there is any interest for June or July. We have plenty room if you want to camp and there are motels in Viroqua. Orlin

I live in a hurricane zone actually part of Wilmington NC but not officially within the city limits. Snow is a rare event. When a hurricane strikes the east coast, it almost always comes to Wilmington. So, we have to deal with those storms. being close to the city, the power lines are underground. that combined with the fact that priority is given to the cities with their concentration of people and traffic lights the power is restored within a day or two when a storm comes our way. But, I also bought a generator to power the lights and refrigerator and I use my propane camp stove to cook food. People who live in the country where the power lines are above ground often go without power for a couple of weeks. I would definitely have a larger back up power system if I lived in the country cuz I'm getting old and I don't like to be inconvenienced. Okay, I'm a crabby old coot! LOL!

Menards sells 25' 2 inch plastic flexible drain pipe CHEAP!! Have used it for years as exhaust extension while working in our basement.. If you decide to go that route it is a really good idea to take some thin wall conduit and extend the ends of your pipes on the bike a couple feet to allow the exhaust to cool off before it gets to the plastic.

I know we’re laughing and joking about the weather, taking it in stride but I feel for those in Texas and areas that have no resources to deal with it. I told my wife this morning we come and go as we want, have power and water, along with backup generators and a freezer full of food. We’re on a well and have backup heat so we don’t depend on anybody else. Whenever we have an extended power outage the neighbors know there’ll be running water at the hydrant in my yard. In other words we don’t have the right to complain about it. We’re short handed at work right now so I’ve been pulling some 48 hour shifts and gone for long hours, knowing the wife has everything she needs while I’m gone means a lot.

When snow reaches all the way down in Alabama what do engineering students do? Fill the quad with 8’ snowmen.

Thats a scary looking wreck Bob, glad to hear the kids are on the mend 👍

The carbs were dirty and had 1 diaphragm that was misaligned causing the machine to run very lean. that’s where the heat was coming from. thanks to all. Mike