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That would be a dumb question. because a cyclist is putting out .7-1 hp on peddlers pass, while a bike may be putting out 20+, which is enough to dig a hole with one braapp. A cyclist couldn't intentionally dig a hole on flat terrain if they tried, while a motorcycle is one slip of the clutch away from a hole being dug. Technically, we all leave an imprint every pass we make. a motorcycle can ruin a path with one errant effort.

I bought a new Yeti 5.5 from BSS a few months ago. Ernest Borgniner works at the Lamar store and took extremely good care of me throughout the whole experience. Set up a demo, helped me spec it out, dialed it in, even helped me sell the stock aluminum wheels that I switched out for better hubs and carbon rims. And the love kept coming post-sale. Bike was 2 weeks old and I kicked up a loose jagged rock at Emma that damaged my front carbon rim. They set me up on the same wheel for a loaner and convinced Trek to do a full warranty replacement. Can’t say enough how satisfied I am with their level of service. These Yeti bikes are expensive for sure, but dayum...they pay it back. I still love my Santa Cruz Tallboy XTC but this Yeti makes everything seem easier. Climbs much better, descends like a beast and handles hucks like butter. Definitely the right bike for me. The only way to find out if it’s right for you is to go ride one.

I've installed a dark theme for the forum, for those who prefer that over a white or light background. You can select it at the bottom of the page by clicking the "Theme" link, which will result in a popup being displayed. Pick "Deflection - Dark" to try it out.

Dirt bike tire tracks are very easy to distinguish from fatbike tracks; the width is about all they have in common. Dirt bike tires have much larger, deeper knobs, usually in patterns that don't come on common bicycle tires of any kind. There are other tell-tale signs of a motor too, like roost/wheelspin, especially on up-hill sections and obstacles, and tighter turns. It looks different than a slide or skid. A few years ago, there was someone riding a moto on Deception, but they appeared to have stopped a while back.

A+++++ EBAYER WOULD BUY FROM DARK DEFLECTION AGAIN !!!11!!!!JUAN!!111

Forum name change suggestion Austin Mountainbike Forum Reunited ... aka; those Austin MFRs just thinking out loud, move along, nothing to see here

Hmmmmm.... Once again, just my own personal opinion, but that is a $500 bike max. The simple fact that its just a hardtail drops the value considerably. Yes, for that period in time it was a quality level C-Dale. But dang, I bet that bike is 15-18 yrs old. The best part about this bike is that the front fork has been gone through by Mendon Cyclesmith. That guy is a wiz with Leftys and HeadShox. Have you considered trying to locate something around here and shipping it to him? I wonder if a better solution could be had that way? But here's another philosophical point I like to tell "new riders": By being the family-neighborhood-friend's "bike guy" people always ask me what I think about the price of this bike or that bike. Of course, I'll give them feedback and my opinion, however, I also tell them another way to think about it. Example: if your bro talks this C-Dale guy down to $400, buys it and then it sits in your bro's garage un-ridden for a year....then he paid WAY TOO much for that bike. But if he went over there and paid $750 for that bike ($50 over asking price), and he spent the next year or so riding the wheels off of it. Then he got a GREAT deal on the bike! Matt, I know you understand these things, so this isn't really directed towards you. But I do think about it when I end up giving people my opinions of bike values. Especially those people who are sorta getting started in the 'good bike' realm. Cheers -CJB

Not to mention a collision between a dirt bike and a hiker or mountain biker is going to greatly favor the person on the dirt bike. Although you probably will hear them coming.

My thoughts are that Bicycle Blue Book is a joke. I consider it nearly completely irrelevant. I've bought and sold many (used) bikes and they never follow (up or down) the bike blue book formula. ESPECIALLY, here in Austin where there is a much healthier bicycle market and things tend to go for higher priced. I have no idea the bike market in Ohio. But selling anything is not unlike going fishing. What kind of bait are you fishing with, what size fish do you want to catch, and how long do you want to wait? Obviously, your not the kind of fish they are hoping to catch. If you want my less philosophical thoughts on these adds...beside the fact that they are the antiquated 26" wheeled steeds, they both seem like pretty nice bikes. The C-Dale has some fancy parts on it, but then you have to buy into all their singular C-Dale standards. The Specy looks newer and less used. I think thats the one that is a better deal. I'd pay $6-750 for it. Later -CJB

So, I was a late to the dropper deal.... really don't use it that much. but I did find a use for it... wheelies...!!!

I demo'd and purchased mine from Peddlers

Everyone knows reading crap on the internet and buying expensive stuff makes you a better rider.

If we are throwing out suggestions than I say we head to Bentonville! Shorter drive, plenty of resources, great variety of riding. The only thing that it really falls short on is being "remote". -CJB

Yes. I like beer. I like beer a lot.

Just can't imagine going back after riding with a dropper for the last 5 years. Some rides, I rarely use it. Other rides, I drop that thing often. Just depends on the terrain, the conditions, the speed, the vibe.......or any combination of those. Don't even think about it anymore. Whenever I need it, push a button and it's there. Just like my Eagle chainring. Mountain biking should be fun and my dropper makes it more fun for me. It's easy to admit that many riders on this forum are stronger and more skilled than I am. Perhaps they are able to stay well centered over the bottom bracket when railing a corner, hucking a drop or descending multiple ledges at speed and ride out of those situations in a perfectly balanced position ready for the next obstacle without a dropper post. I can't. The very first time I used one, it made so much sense. Never looked back.

you actually have something like 1500 calories worth of glycogen in your muscles and another 400 or so in your liver. I personally like around 100-150 calories per every 50 minutes, with a couple of small meals with probably 400 calories all at once. An hour is generally too long for some reason. For electrolytes I like 50% gatorade/water, but for the really long rides the sugar is too much and there arent enough electrolytes. I keep tums with mg for cramp emergencies. I can get hit the wall cramps and tums will clear them up in about 15 minutes.

That fall had nothing to do with a dropper. If you look at the video, the body position is wrong, and primarily the foot position is whacky. The feet and toes are pointed down. Your elbows are also straight in and down vs out and in attach position (think military push up vs standard or wide grip). When the front wheel hits the last and final small drop there is nothing to push against to keep your body back and therefore you you get slung forward. you basically had no arm force or leg force capable of stopping your momentum. My best approach to this drop is not to jump off it, but to ride off with heels dropped while pushing the bike forward and dropping your ass back and down. Almost a manual maneuver. Plenty of speed helps. The slower you go, the more rough this drop gets and the more opportunity for you to do things like this and get knocked off of your form. Speed really helps at brushy.

Lots of good info in this thread. I've got so much to say that I don't even know where to begin. I will say this...if you are not acutely working towards becoming fat-adapted via a Ketogenic way of eating, then you should primarily be focused on eating/consuming/fueling yourself the traditional way via glucose/carbs/sugars. Its simply how its done: your body needs it, requires it and wants to burn it. Figuring out the exact combo for yourself can take time but the basic formulas can be followed and tweaked with good results. I liked to go on super long rides and listen to my body's needs. I found that after consuming gels & gu bloks for a long portion of the ride, I liked to actually have something solid. It could be a PB&H(honey), or ideally a 7-11 personal size pecan pie. Love those things! Hydration-wise, I would run 1 bottle of water, and 1 bottle of overly saturated self-mixed gatoraid powder that I'd keep adding water to through the ride. If I was going deep into pain cave then at some point I'd top the gatoraid off with mtn dew. During races, I set my watch to do a 50 min countdown timer. I then skip the 1st alarm (at 50 min) and beginning with the 2nd alarm, I use it as a reminder to eat a gel about every 50 min. It took a good bit of experimentation to end up at this number. Don't let yourself get to "feeling hungry". If you end up there, you just went too long! The information below is from the point of view of someone who has actively and aggressively been working towards being a fat-adapted athlete: All that being said, I've been eating a Ketogenic style ever since January (with a 2 week break in July). On a daily basis, I regularly consume about only 25-35 net carbs a day (of which about 12-15 grams of those are sugars). On days before a big(ger) event, I do eat a small sweet potato the night before as a low-glycemic carb-up. This was my method for these 2 laps out at LGT and I did a door-to-door time of 6hr flat. https://www.strava.com/activities/1449950329 All of this ride was done consuming no more than 400 calories, of which only 150 of them came from the Stinger Waffle. The other 250 calories came from MCT oil. Likewise, I used this same methodology 2 weeks later at the Ouachita Challenge with good results. https://www.strava.com/activities/1471935804 At the OC I only consumed about 600 calories total, but 3/4 of them came from Hammergel. I've been doing this the first 1/2 of this year as a physiological experiment of sorts. Just to see how it all works. I REALLY like the day to day result of eating like this. Now on to the downsides: During my time as a Keto athlete (cyclist), I find that I regularly have a 'dead legs' sensation. My legs feel a little bit flat. But I can perform and get results even with this sensation. I find myself having PB/PRs and occasional KOM's. But I regularly don't feel fresh. So the most recent time of my Keto experiment has been trying to add in some targeted carbs just prior to my rides to see if this could help. Yes, yes it does. I've found that 1 Hammergel about 30-45 min prior to a ride can pretty much completely remove by dead-leg syndrome. Last week I did what amounted to a 2.4 mile 6 lap circuit race with a bunch of roadies. https://www.strava.com/activities/1788820876 I'm still experimenting with how to best harness this in combination with my endurance riding and events. But as the experiment goes forward, I'm still trying to find out what can work best for me. In closing, I will say that its not all be great either. This weekend I attempted a to ride my concept of an EB LGT-Parmer-Deception Prologue and crashed & burned badly. It was possibly one of the single worst days I've ever had on a bike. https://www.strava.com/activities/1797161605 I'm still trying to analyze what happened. But I can't deny that nutrition could have played a part in it of some sorts. And the heat...and my fitness...and my pride... In summary, I think you have to find what works best for you. And in order to do that you have to put in the time (on the bike) to have successes and failures. Most of my pre-Keto methodology had been pretty finely honed through much training/practice/racing. And to be honest, I'm not sold-out to Keto. I'm very willing to go back to that way of eating. I somewhat foresee a possible combo where I race on a glucose source and then live day-to-day on a low-carb lifestyle. But if I end up there, in retrospect it could have taken nearly a year to figure that out. Later -CJB

So I guess naming every single feature , hump and bump and jump is not too much to ask for, Ohhhhh and please make sure that there is a map with all this info on it. Also if it isn't too much to ask-- Lets not name the features anything obscene,, I'd sure hate to explain to my kid what a Rim Job is ,, OR why is Eric carrying dicks in a bag Also I'll need a guided tour as well -- Complete with history and explanations of the of it. Yea,,,, Thats all. And If i think of anything else ,, can I have the OG trail builders personal cell , so I can call ? Great,, Thanks

Well, you know me and my diet. I am pretty much fat adapted, meaning my body gets its energy from fat and not carbs. I can do a 3-4 standard ride (15-20 miles) without touching anything other than water. On my 50 mile EB training rides I can usually get by without any nutrition either. When I did the EB last year I bonked because I had been in Portugal for 2+ weeks and was only back in Austin for a few days and my body was out of whack. I ran out of energy ~25 miles in and had only planned for fat/protein - and that takes too long to convert. Luckily I found some cliff shots in my pack and those carbs gave me enough power to get to the CP stop. There I carbo loaded and continued on. With protein you can sustain longer periods of time and with carbs you can "jolt the system" with instant energy. It is best to understand the two and use them appropriately. The idea of carbo loading the day before is stupid because your body has consumed all of the carbs, used what it needed and converted the rest to fat. Your body will not store carbs, so a pizza the night before will not help you. Other than it is tasty. Especially if it is real pizza.

Yeah, do we go with dad who has a new sports car and a condo or do we stick with mom who got to keep the house that kind of smells like old Korean food.

That's exactly what happens, and is what should have happened a few years ago when a bunch of outtatowners came through town to show us how it's done. No one gets accused of cheating, but you need have 83.5 miles on your GPS (or whatever it happens to be), AND no one protesting that they passed you multiple times, yadda yadda, to be in the clear.

I said earlier in the thread that I’ve done it 2.3 times. That’s because my third time was when I had a 6 month old and didn’t feel like I could be gone all day (takes me 12hrs to finish). So I did what I call the breakfast platter. I rode to Walnut from home, rolled out with everyone and did the BCGB portion. Then I rode the route towards City Park, but I stopped at the shopping center at Bee Caves rd where I had left my car the night before. Yeah I could’ve gone farther of course, but I got in a good ride and enjoyed the camaraderie. The year before I trained some beforehand and set the goal of completing it in 12hrs and riding every climb (HOL, Courtyard, City Park, Jester, St. Ed’s, Youpon, and even the last awful climb out of Thumper). I did it. Came in around 11hrs 50ish min. But I’ve never felt closer to death than I did while finishing Walnut. I bonked so hard. I couldn’t eat anything, felt nauseous, and my calves and thighs would immediately cramp up if I pointed my feet down. I rolled in to mulch island, got my photo with the plate and pink fork and then promptly was driven home by my wife before having some soup and going to bed. Totally worth it! Refusing to quit or planning ahead to quit. Either one works. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice.

So do people carry a tent or do you just bivy overnight for two or three nights? where does everyone sleep?

Tip - MapMyRide and ridewithgps.com are excellent ways to create routes from scratch. They won't have many of the Southie/SATN trails since they're not on Google Maps but you can manually create them, but that takes time to draw out. Dropping a GPX ride file into these types of programs provides more detail upfront w/ less editing on the back end. Let's sync-up and I'll show you.

Albert is a bit of a nut.

Or the great King Tubby with Horace Andy on vocals.

Talking reggae's finest... Classic Uhuru... With Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare... None better...