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I use my dropper constantly, even at places like walnut. Whenever there is a long sweeping turn that i know i won't be pedaling on, I lower the dropper to lower my center of gravity. I use it for low branches, i use it in tight technical sections, i use it dozens of times each ride.

In both cases the cyclist on display is in a poor position to attack the immediate upcoming terrain.

I sit next to 2 designers at my work. We discuss these things quite often as we've (semi) recently gone through this exercise for the project that I've been working on here at my job. Modern design "trends" have evolved to be much more clean and simple. An elegance that is accomplished with less. It could be somewhat thought of as the "Apple way" of design. There is no doubt that they have popularized it (and I happened to have worked there for 6 years and it gets ingrained in part of the corp culture too). Therefore, I keep coming back to the options and offered here as a bit kitchy and dated. I LOVE ME SOME TEXAS! But its really been over-used in standard basic ways. Same with chinrings and MTB silhouettes. Maybe it really doesn't matter for a new startup forum logo, but IMHO these kinds of things do matter when it begins to represent a brand, image or tribe. Al I say challenge your designer to stretch himself; do something that is UNIQUE....DIFFERENT. How would Apple design a MTB community logo? (and still be gritty and earthy?) Maybe something with a vintage nod to it: Clean and simple logo desgins https://99designs.com/blog/creative-inspiration/simple-logo-design/ Maybe something with a vintage nod to it: https://99designs.com/launch/logo-design/89ec0e85ae5e1235/visualbrief/designs (these are not all vintage but you can gather a variety of inspiration from many of these examples) This guy Aaron Draplin is a legend in the realm of retro and simple: https://goo.gl/images/MiiuUy Outdoorsy and earthy examples of his: https://goo.gl/images/JpJyRY I bet something like that could be done with a simple MTB'er logo, a simple thick-lined mountain, and RWB TX colors giving a nod to the state. Just ideas.... -CJB

Cleared out all the vines and trimmed the log down as much as I could with the help of a guy who stopped to help. Thanks dude! Definitely need a powered chainsaw and a couple of people to get this thing off the trail. Possibly a full-sized ax, as the tree was dead for a while and partially rotted. But a chainsaw is the best bet. It's at least 2 feet thick.

I do one long ride a weekend for 6-8 weeks leading up to the weekend before the ride. Like something between 6 and 9 hours. I don't do more than an hour or two the weekend before. During those weeks I'll ride once or twice during the week. EDIT: food I do infinite. I put 3 servings in a ziplock bag (six scoops) and take 2 bags with me dry. I mix those 6 in a bottle and pour that in an Osprey (not mixing in the bottle first creates protein cement in the camelback). Then I throw in water the rest of the way. I do one of those to start at Walnut, one on the way out of city park and then I do one on the way out of Thumper but I usually only drink ~1/3 of that one. I keep the remaining 2/3 around and drink it in between beers waiting to riders to roll in. It's basically 1 serving an hour and the ride usually breaks up that way for me. My infinit is w/o protein from the factory. I put in egg albumin (egg whites) after the fact b/c the soy and dairy they use doesn't sit well with me at all. I'll share my no-protein mix formula but, honestly, most folks wouldn't use it unless their body really responds well to egg (or doesn't respond well to soy or whey). Link to follow shortly - I'm getting it approved or whatever from Infinit for sharing. I tend to put some of the food info in the race reports I write after a race: http://www.sbtec.com/. Don't usually put much training info in there.

My advice...don't ask for advice. But since you did, I agree with everything CBaron said. I especially like this one from the 99designs article he posted. Something like this could easily be adapted for MTB.

Or one of our local billionaires to take such an interesting in bike trails.

Yeah, I think I've decided to keep my dropper. Ideally I'd upgrade to one of the KS Lev CI models, and take comfort knowing I have the lightest dropper I can have. But they are super f*cking expensive, especially when you start looking at the ones with longer drop. So I'll just keep my cheapie Brand-X Ascend 120mm that weighs 550g for now. BUT I am SERIOUSLY considering buying an e13 TRS+ 170mm dropper in the not-so-distant future. Maximum drop, the reliability/serviceability of a SPRING, and 10g lighter than my current dropper. Again, thanks for all the replies. -cls

Yeah I use the dropper constantly too, makes riding more fun for me. Great for jumping, turns and generally hooligan antics.

I was listening to a Leadville prep podcast that I thought I thought about sharing here, but it gets a little too far into the weeds perhaps. A great take away though went something like this. [Its a long enough race you can feel good, then feel really bad, but later feel good again]. I think this is really important for anyone to realize. Constant stops can make your legs feel heavy, but sometimes if you stop for a lengthy break and have some food, Some caffeine, and a salty snack, you feel ready to go again and not like the world is going to end.

I mean are they really even mountains? Isn't it relative to to the silhouette rider? In that case why is Texas so small? Is he a giant? My life is a lie. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

If I have to make a choice then I say #2 for sure. What point is it to have the state on there.....but then have half of it cut-off? Especially the part that makes Texas so identifiable? But to give some additional feedback, if this is Austin Mountainbiking, then is Texas even needed? Just something to think about. Additionally, I can't say that I dig the MTB rider silhouette all that much either. Seems a bit outa the 90's. And because any strong criticism should come with something constructive: Here is a link to the 175 yr commemorative Austin logo that was designed back in 2014. I have a suspicion that this may be able to be used open-source, but I get I'd check on that for sure. If nothing else it could be used as inspiration for something clean, current, Austin & Texas. (maybe substitute MTB where the 175 is on the banner). http://austin.culturemap.com/news/home-design/12-23-14-austin-texas-175th-anniversary-gsdm-logo-t-shirt/#slide=0 https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_city_of_austins_175th_anniversary_by_gsdm.php https://goo.gl/images/UGZn1e

I use my Timex Wristwatch set to a 50 min repeating countdown. I skip the 1st time if goes off and then begin consumption at the 2nd alarm. 1hr 20m is a good place for me to begin. I found that with 40-45 min it was too quick and I had to FORCE the food down. But with an hour, it was too long and depending on my efforts/pacing, I could begin to feel the hunger. YMMV -CJB

The missing part of the state may as well be Oklahoma anyway.

To make up for clearing the trees off the trail, we have installed more rocks.

I heard the trail builders have maps, but they're all drawn in crayons with a Dora the Explorer maps

The other good use for it is when/if you stop you can comfortably chill on the bike with the saddle slammed. That’s what I miss.

The answer is obvious - you don't weigh enough. Says the old fat guy.

A cheeseburger!!! I have done a PB&J sandwich in the CamelBak for long (usually over five hours) rides before. PB&J tastes incredible after you've been riding for hours. 😄

It's nice meeting good people, and getting a bike at the same time. Ahhh, life is good sometimes!

I'd like to join you in the morning. I could meet you guys is 8:00am. Is there a point I could meet you guys at along your route?

ummmmmmm. I'd like to dropper checkered flag if you nomasay. About seatposts my ks eten was like $120. Works fine when I remember it's there.

Cleaned my brakes so you wont have to hear that horrid sound again

I'm enjoying reading the feedback. I may not agree with all of it, but many good points have been raised so far. This was a first pass at a logo, and we'll make another.k I'd prefer to get it right the first time, as I don't want to spend time adjusting it later. And I want to use it not just for this site, but for social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) as well as stickers and such. ..Al

I'm not doubting that there are great trails to ride outside of Bentonville, but if you are taking a trip to Bentonville why not just ride the stuff in Bentonville?

The Walton Family Foundation just donated 3,9 million a couple days ago for another 50 miles of trail before the end of 2019. We need a bullet train from Austin to Bentonville.

Looks great in my garage, gonna take it to Walnut tomorrow some time.

I have a 125mm on one bike and a 100mm on another bike and have always wondered why so many people want 150mm or 170mm. On my 125mm even if I drop it all the way down, my bad knees can barely get me back up.

I thought Gumdrop was the other direction. Strava lied to me. I live very close to there and have a large axe, chainsaw, wedge, etc... I may be able to go right after work today for an hour or so. I'll DM you.

I voted #1 but I want to vote #2. I like the clarity of #1 but with a few changes #2 would be better. Agree with most of the comments above.

I just booked the house yesterday. That's actually how I found out about the race. There wasn't a whole lot available in town, but I still found a pretty nice 3 bedroom house for $99/night.

Picking #2 just modernize the rider and colors/art a bit. Maybe direct mount crank...lol....also, there are no mountains in austin .....

New wood feature? Thanks for all your hard work!

Brainfart part 2. You can move the name to the top, slide the rider further down and do the standard star marking Austin’s location, then do the mountain squiggle to break up the RWB lines of the flag. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I like the mountain line, but yeah, kinda defeats using the shape of TX in the lower half. If you want to keep the shape of TX, you can do the RWB Texas flag colors and make the mountain shape as the color break vs. the standard straight line. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm in.

2

If I had to pick between just the two of those, I would pick #2 because thou shall not mess with the state of Texas. I would have a negative of it though. I prefer the look of the first one with the state remaining whole.

I agree with some of the comments posted above (where's the rest of Texas, black rider, date bike, etc). I'd also like to see the ride sporting a mountain bike helmet with a visor. No squid lid. I also think that maybe there should be less emphasis on the mountains in the first one. We have plenty of biking but not much in the way of mountains.

I might try to make it but I'll be on foot since my bikes are in the shop.

I don't have any kind of alarm set. On endurance rides I'm highly focused on keeping track of the ride, by hour, and by certain intervals, like 1/6 done, 1/4 done, 1/2 done. So it's easy for me to remind myself. But there are people that set reminders on their watches or bike computers.

Are there any maps available for this new single track at brushy creek? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm a newb on a Specialized Rockhopper. I ride Brushy Creek daily. I would love to meet some people to learn from and try to keep up with. I live right across the road from the Twin Lakes YMCA so I can hop on the trails fast. I have been riding Peddler's Pass and Mulligan a lot since I started in July. I'm trying to build up to riding the more difficult trails. I haven't made any mountain biking friends yet and my coworkers are sick of hearing about my fun, so let's ride together. Teach me some stuff!

Not a problem in my opinion, and I would consider doing the event if i were you, if you can ride that far. There will be a neutral roll out from Downtown I think near the peddlers pub. This will sort out Racers from "accomplishment riders" pretty easily. This organization encourages both. Marathon races have a totally different vibe. I am sure but you have looked into the event, but epic rides usually has 3 loops that people can do based upon fitness. I recommend looking at that loop and seeing where to ride during that event. If you are riding the back 40, I would just time it so you are riding after they have started their loop. Afternoon should be perfectly fin and weather should be fantastic. Go in the direction they go. One side of blowing springs looks to be unused, Medusa, tamaguche, schroene train, downhill trail and the park stuff around Slaughter pen looks unused, so basically, there is all kinds of good riding for you to do the day of the race. Unfortunately, Ozone gets used and could have traffic, but its deep in the race, so you could ride ozone early in the morning. You can hotlap tiger trail, panther prowl, and Ozone for some big time fun. Their events are awesome, and the atmosphere of that many riders is pretty awesome. Call ahead and make reservations for all of your restaurants ahead of time. Oven and Tap, Preachers Son, etc

I really dig the first one. I don't know why it just stuck out to me. I think it's because of the black rider with the white background.

One little thing if it's easy to change. When you click on the little speech bubbles icon on a thread, it takes you to the first unread post (awesome). When you click on the exact same looking icon next to a forum, it marks all topics as "read". This action is not reversible and is basically the opposite of taking you to the first unread because after doing so, you have no reference which thread you have read and which posts are new. Is it possible to remove the "mark as read" icon or at least make it look different?

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.

Partly snakey in the morning with a 40% chance of heatstroke in the afternoon.

Has anyone investigated the feasibility of constructing some tasty singletrack along the Brushy Creek Regional Trail? I've started looking into it officially since there is a severe shortage of singletrack up there. The main trail is nice, but it does not offer much in the way of challenge and/or riding experience. I was wondering if anyone had officially looked into having legal singletrack built and what his/her experience has been? (Was the proposal met with complete opposition, open-mindedness, reservation)?? I personally, along with some riders I have talked to along the trail, would LOVE to see some nice singletrack up that way....the land is PERFECT for building sustainable, flowy singletrack from what I can see.