Monday, June 11, 2012

Wondering about deserts.


The first thing I think of is the spelling.  The way I pronounce them, I believe that desert and dessert should be reversed as far as spelling goes, but who am I to say.  OK, back to what I was planning to talk about, deserts.  We talk about Earth as being “the blue planet” as seen from space.  This gives the impression that it must be a water world, but the blue color does not come from water but from the atmosphere.  Actually about one third of the planet is partially or totally desert (that is a lot since almost 70 percent is ocean) and the largest of these is Antarctica.  (Somehow the numbers don’t add up, but that is what happens when you get info from different sources)   It doesn’t have to be hot to be dry.    Did you know that there are parts of a desert in Chile where no rain as ever been recorded.  Now, I wonder if that means it never rained or that no one ever recorded it.

Hey Barney, this one is for you.  Last year a record was set for the fastest that any one has ever crossed the Sahara on a bicycle.  I asked you one time what size tires you use for sand since you spend a lot of time in arid areas or beaches.  You should be all set now to break the record for that 1084 mile hot trip.  It took 13 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes, and 14 seconds.  Of course you would have to enlist a lot of help.  Someone has to supply you with all the food and water that you will need for that long of bike ride.  If you do it then I guess I should give it try, too.  Of course I am going to wait until they complete the paved highway that will cross it.  Yep, they are working on it and it is almost done.  It is going to bump a hundred here today so it is not a good day for a long bike ride.  You all have a great Monday now, you hear?

8 comments:

  1. My "bike" had a motor on it,,,lololol.

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  2. Trouble, that is the best kind. I will have to get a picture of my son's new Harley. I think you will like it.

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  3. I'm hoping this week isn't going to be as dry as the last one!

    Had no idea that there were places that had NO recorded rain fall! That's pretty scary!

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  4. You'd be better off I still say with a stationary bike hooked to a generator to provide electric for the little things, like running a pump to keep the pond full. or at the very least keep the batteries changed on the Castle on wheels.

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  5. I've discovered that I don't do very well in that dry an envoirnment. I agree with you on the spelling. English often doesn't make any sort of sense.

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  6. HJ, yep, it is something like it was around here last summer (grin).

    Ben, I prefere a motor driven generator and no, I ain't going to get a bike right now. My wife says "No more motorcycles.)

    Sixbears, me neither. When i have gone out to Arizona gold prospecting, it takes months for my skin to recover.

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  7. DD, I do not remember you asking, but in response I do not ride on loose sand or gravel. Those who do use a minimum tire size of 2 inches going up to about a 4 inch.

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  8. Barney, I believe you told me you normally ride on pavement and use standard tires, if my memory serves me, which it usually doesn't. If I remembered wrong, please accept my apology.

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