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TRAIL KARMA IS ALVIE.... I was building today when along comes a guy slipping and sliding on every turn. I called out to him, but he ignored me. Then wham, a big stick or rock got stuck in his derailleur and snapped it clean off...ha ha. I still walked over to him and told him not to ride wet trails.

Heres my PSA to the kid I'm one of the Brushy Creek Trail Stewards. Please don't ride wet trails. It causes ruts that damage the trail and we have to spend our precious volunteer hours fixing the ruts instead of making the trails more fun. With so little topsoil in Central Texas we do everything we can to preserve it, please help us out and wait at least 2 days to ride after it rains. However, with the amount of rain we've had over the last two weeks and the lower temperatures the trails will take several days to dry out once the rain has stopped. A good indicator if the trail is to wet is if mud is "caking" on your tire.

There is not really a way to know that these things are frowned upon when one first gets into riding. 4 years ago, I was on my 250 dollar used hardtail with a walmart skater style brain bucket in the middle of august in my Gym shorts and minimalist running shoes. I occasionally forgot my helmet when I would first go into the GB but only 1-2 times ever. I rode an trail or two in the mud and had a blast until the bike clogged, I may have even nicely stacked a rock or two against a "gigantic" 20 inch ledge thinking I was doing a service to people who rode bikes. (I'd come back to find the rocks gone and got the point). Look at me now? I'm a lycra wearing fool telling everyone to put on a helmet, riding up walls, and tossing stacked rocks into the creek. Think of these folks as future mountain bikers who just dont know yet. There is so much about our sport which isnt publicly available knowledge, such as "which is better: riding through the puddle or around the puddle. " If you just tossed everyone the key to a car, how would they know what to do without signs and training classes?

If they continue to ride Deception without helmets on Walmart bikes, that problem is going to take care of itself.

Motopail is right except for one thing - spelling. It was Kapitol Katz. Kapitol Katz was a dirt biking group with few if any trials riders The trials riders quickly adopted the riding area in the 1970's because the terrain suited their type of riding. The trials riders almost NEVER used the trails we ride except to get to the "trials sections" (typically small areas of extremely difficult terrain). The trials sections were so difficult that the decision was made to NOT show them on maps available to non-trials riders. In the mid 1980's Cliff Turner took over as "Trail Steward" ( they called it Volunteer Trail Coordinator at that time). Cliff and his son both rode KDX200's (off-road enduro motorcycles when people still knew what the word "enduro" meant). Just for reference, I rode an RM125 (motocross bike) on that trail in the 1980 before I got a 1993(?) RMX250 enduro bike. I also rode a Nashbar mountain bike on the trail. Several people have spent a lot of time and effort to document the history of the Motorcycle Park at Emma Long. You can find a great summary at - http://www.felmp.org/documents/EmmaLongMotorcyclePark-SummaryAndDefense.pdf A large part of why the trails are in their current condition is because one user group wants to create berms on corners. They pitched fits if anything was done to drain water off the trail. Because most of the trail is solid rock there are only a few places berms can occur. Those would be the places that now hold water on the trail long after a rain. Due to a number of 'discussions', I am only dealing with downed trees on the official trail. Anything on the trail tread is left to others. I don't want to create anymore "wheel chair ramps".

I'm fortunate enough to be able to keep a bike in Colorado Springs. If I leave on the first DIA flight Friday morning, and take a late afternoon flight back on Monday (usually using miles), I get four awesome high altitude rides in. Don't get rid of your old bikes - make friends in Colorado!

https://goo.gl/maps/uwHN4LvnRsE2 https://www.mtbproject.com/directory/8011502/greater-bentonville-and-fayetteville "You're in for a treat. If I only had 2 days, then this is prolly what I would do. (1/2 day prologue)- Some portions of Slaughter Pen [phase 2?] Day 1- Coler Park in the morning- Eat Lunch; Then Lake Atalanta (w/Railyard) in afternoon Day 2- Back 40. The Back 40 was superb. Any and all of these trails will be a highlight of your trip Here are my Strava files from my 3 days there. I covered a lot of ground. There's brief descriptions and photos in all the files https://www.strava.com/activities/1206451536 https://www.strava.com/activities/1207861306 https://www.strava.com/activities/1209486997 I stayed in Bentonville & road everywhere)" ~ CBaron "I did the back 40 clockwise and agree that it would probably be better ccw. Honestly, there is enough flow on that system that either way is worth it. Coler was awesome if you like gravity fed lines. Slaughter pen was ok but not epic like the back 40. Super cool place to ride. They have it figured out up there." ~ Tree magnet "+1 on your assessment, except Coler also has (at the time) an 'unpublished' loop west of the creek valley that runs along the park they called the NICA loop. It was very good stuff. So I'd recommend going over to Coler and playing on the gravity fed stuff, then explore over to the NICA trail and make a loop(s). If you look closely it can be found in my Strava file above (day #1)" ~ CBaron How much time would you allocate to ride the back 40? "I would budget 3:30. You Can ride it XC marathon pace in about 2:30 with a couple of casual stops. If you will be stopping a lot or with a group of 3-4 strong riders I would budget 3:30-4. Weekend warriors will get smoked out there by the climbing, so 5ish? I would also do the recommended route and ride from the end of the Blowing springs parking lot, ride in CCW with "ledges" included. If you are feeling good when you get back to the truck, roll straight into a ~ 7 mile lap of Blowing springs. I've ridden it both directions. My clockwise direction was plenty of fun as well. We rode out from crystal bridges that day which was about a 40 mile out and back. I also recommend checking your brake lines to make sure they are tight before going out on this journey." ~ FJsnoozer "If you have several days, I think the Back 40 and Blowing Springs is worth a full day. Some of the best runs are in the middle of the system, so if you just do the outer loop, you are missing some really good stuff. Some of it is one way downhill goodness. Of course in order to hit all of it you need to hit some sections twice. I ended up riding 50 miles of singletrack (parking at Blowing Springs) and still didn't hit every section." ~ Shredhead "All trail recommendations are spot on. I would add Bike Rack Brewery>Pedaler's Pub. Their pizza is fantastic. Air BnB is cheap as hell there. From where we stayed we could hit the downhill flow trail at the middle school at the end of the street and ride up All American into downtown. We did that with lights the first night and rode in to have dinner then rode trails back home. No car needed." ~ Browndog "Kessler in Fayetteville is pretty amazing too. About 45 miles south of Bentonville. Plenty of climbing, some rock gardens as well as some huge boulders to ride through, and some swoopy bermy downhill stuff too." ~ Kpomtb "So we stayed in Rogers about 40 min from Bentonville and 9 miles from Hobbs State Park. Because of unforeseen circumstances and time crunches we didn't get to spend a lot of time in Bentonville like we wanted but we did get in a solid 9 mile ride in at slaughter pen last night before dark. It was a blast. I have to say Hobbs State Park seems to be completely underrated in my opinion. Total XC course but man is it FLOWY. I was locked out the whole time but I had some serious fun. I think if you stay in Rogers or ever get enough of Bentonville, Hobbs State Park Little Clifty Loop is a must. It's like Rocky Hill on steroids and the descents are definitely smile inducing. https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/7001770 We also took the kids to Lost Valley for cave exploring and it was really neat. Best of all, all of this stuff is free. Slaughter, Hobbs, and lost valley were all free. It's been an awesome trip." ~ Afrothund3r "Speaking of free, You got to go to crystal bridges museum!" ~ FJsnoozer "We were up in Bentonville for Spring Break. It was amazing. Here is my take on it all: Take a couple of extra tires. Our group had at least 4 sidewall tears. If you plan on arriving Thursday afternoon, plan to ride the trails that are located in the city. There is a fun downhill starting from Crystal Bridges that will feed you into the rest of the trail system there in town (Slaughter Pen and whatnot.) The gravity lines at Coler Park are well worth the climb and they have multiple lines depending upon skill level. You could do both Coler and Slaughter Pen in the same day. If you are not in super good riding shape, I would recommend you save the Back 40 for your last day as your legs will be spent when you are done. Go counter-clockwise. Members of our group rode it both directions and said that ccw was much more fun. Blowing Springs is a good place to start. The Back 40 has incredible flow (except for the trail called Flo-Ride---it sucked balls, not because it is technical, mainly because the first half actually lacks flo) and you will enjoy it quite a bit. Much of the trail crosses roads, which is fine as drivers are very mtb friendly there. However, plan on making bitch climbs up to almost every crossing (thus the spent legs at the end.) Fortunately, those climbs are rewarded with some pretty sick downhill. Whoever said that if you just do the outer loop you will have a great time is right. The only two inner trails I rode were Flo-Ride and Rago. Rago is super fun going East to West (outside in, I guess). Going the other way would suck, I think. On your way home, I suggest you stop in at Mt. Kessler in Fayetteville. You can ride for an hour or 2 and have a great time. There is climbing, but it is well designed and well rewarded. Egg Beater is fun if you like rocks (reminded me of the easier portions of the BCGB). We started down Crazy Mary, but somehow wound up on Chinkapin Oak, which was amazing. We had so much fun that Hoss and I have already booked some days for a return visit on our way to Michigan this summer. I can't wait to check out some of the other trails that Cody mentioned in his post. Oh, and if you want to try out the local beer, Bentonville Brewing Company was our favorite." ~ Moc 5 "Bentonville definitely lived up to the hype as far as trails go. Even though the weather wasn't great, we still got to ride every day (although maybe not as much as I would have liked). I could have easily spent a week there riding new trail and then going back to hit the stuff I liked again. We rode pretty much all of Slaughter Pen, all of Blowing Springs, and a little bit of the Back 40 loop. I may post a more comprehensive write-up at some point, but I have to say Slaughter Pen was amazing. Miles and miles of professionally built and maintained trails with a lot of variety and fun features sprinkled throughout. We also ran across a couple of sections where they were building seriously big, gnarly features that made me clinch involuntarily just looking at them. Blowing Springs was fun, with lots of gradual climbs and some fun, swoopy downhill sections. One stretch was a bit more technical with some rock gardens and off-camber stuff, and the section that goes under the rock ledges was fun to see (although not that fun to ride, in my opinion). We only did part of the Back 40 loop which included a trail called Rago. Rago was a weird mix of pretty miserable climbs, boring sections where you are riding right next to and across streets, and unbelievably fast, fun downhill sections. We barely scratched the surface of the Back 40, but we got the sense it was more XC oriented. Everyone we ran into on the trails was super nice and Bentonville seems like a nice little town, although everything seems to shut down by 8 or 9 in the evening during the week. We had a great trip and are already talking about when we can go back again." ~ Olddbrider "Just back from a Bentonville trip with a very diverse group. Myself (cat 2 roadie who rides on dirt alright),a friend similar although perhaps less adept on dirt to me. my younger brother with no fitness who loves doing trials stuff, and lastly a friend who had never ridden a mtb and has a propensity for crashing on the road. I can say we all had fun and my brothers legs are destroyed (shoot my legs hurt from lots of 1-2 minute climbs). We didn't get to checkout Coler due to weather and trail conditions, but did do Back 40/Blowing Springs and Slaughter Pen. Slaughter Pen: It's great crowd pleaser stuff, I feel like anyone can have fun here no matter how good or how suck they are. The "downhill trail" is pretty much all tables, no gaps no drops. You can roll over the jumps just as well as send it over them. There is some blue stuff in the first "phase", choo choo is a sinewing group of berms, it's fun. It's not hard to ride at all but it is simply fun. Boo boo has some jumps, and a 2.5ish foot "drop" that you can ride fast enough to drop just roll down slowly. These and the downhill flow trail were the most impeccably groomed and built of the trails in the system that we found. None of the jumps were huge, I could clear about most of them, it was fun. In phase 2 east there is a pretty fun looking but too intimidating for me free ride section consisting of multiple 5 foot drops and then a bigger drop at the end. I think all but the last (which there was a B line around) is probably rollable (but I didn't ride it so I can't confirm). The "play area" is pretty fun but pretty small and pretty beat up, from what I heard go to Coler if this is what you are looking for. The whole slaughter pen area was super packed on the weekend, our first day out was friday and it was dead. I didn't get to see all of the back 40 due to a slashed sidewall, but what we saw was pretty fun. It's not a perfectly groomed downhill track, there are sections more perfect than others (Brakes were used to make many turns, speed moderation is necessary at least for me). We rode a smaller loop CW one day (Back 40 to Summit School to pinion creek to ledges). The next day we went out with intention to do all of back 40 CCW but I slashed a sidewall not too far in, what little we did ride was better CCW. Not sure if ledges would be better one way or the other. It rained half of saturday most of sunday. We consulted a local about what would be rideable when (the Back 40 was in pretty good condition only 6 hrs after a rain storm (didn't pick up anything on tires, didn't leave an ruts), most of the more built up stuff with berms and such seems to be built with hauled in clay type soil so we avoided anything like that. My friend with no previous MTB experience walked a good amount, especially when we rode ledges but still had fun. He has fitness so was able to do the climbs. At the end of the trip group had 5 crashes total, and no broken bones so it was solid. We rented two bikes from Phat Tire, they were pretty decent (Fuel EX 27.5+ Aluminum Frames) a little on the pricey side (75/day). My Fuel Ex 29 was pretty perfect for the trails I thought, my friend with a Top Fuel would have liked more suspension in places. I greatly enjoyed the use of dropper post for all days of riding." ~ Joroshiba "Ok, I just got back from Bentonville. This was my 60th birthday present from me, to me. I didn't disappoint myself We drove up on Thursday and I rode Friday and Saturday. We headed down to Fayetteville on Sunday, which I planned on riding, but I was just too trashed from the previous two days of riding to feel like getting back on the bike again. Drove back to Austin on Monday. Friday - I started at Crystal Bridges at All American. Great starter/warm up trail with a taste of what's to come. Note: They are currently building more trail extending All American towards town, and it looks awesome. I was disappointed that Choo Choo and Boo Boo were closed, but they were building more trail on that section, and some crazy looking drops at the bottom of Boo Boo. I did the end of Rim Trail, and then continued over to Black Apple Creek, Tiger Trail and part of Apple Turnover. All great, but don't miss Leopards loop (I did it twice just to make sure). I kind of got mixed up in the Urban Trail, but a local pointed me towards The BoneYard, just to check out the crazy shit they built. A must see! Some of you crazy fawks will probably do it, but it's worth seeing none the less. Played a little at the dog park, then headed up to Medusa and Talamagouche, followed by the Downhill flow trail. Holy shit that was fun! I did and out and back on Armadillos Last Stand, and then continued out to the beginning of Blowing Springs. After all the messing around I was into the ride for about 4 hours, and decided to head back to Crystal Bridges (our AirBNB was 2 blocks away) so I could have something left for Saturday. Saturday - I started the ride again at All American with the goal of hitting Blowing Springs and parts of the Back 40. On the way out, I jumped across the road and hit Schroen Train and Free Time. Free Time was above my pay grade with all the skinnies and drops, but there's a pussy line around everything so I was good. Don't miss those two! I continued on my way out and hit Blowing Springs Loops. My face hurt from smiling while riding that damn trail! Nothing tech, but so much flow!! I could hear other riders hooting as they rode it. Once I made my way to the trail head for Back 40, I decided I would just make a loop that included Rago. You guys weren't kidding about all the road crossings, but all the drivers I encountered were very conscious of bike traffic, and I had no issues on any of those crossings. The first 1/3 of Rago, pretty much follows along the road, and I was starting to question my decision to take that route until I got to the Bike Skills Park. From there, Rago goes into some amazing machine cut flow trails. By the time I got to the end of the Back 40, I was pretty much toast and slowly rode back to Crystal Bridges. Downtown Bentonville was pretty lively on Friday and Saturday night. We ate at the following: Peddlers Pub - Good Burger and Beer selection All American - Good hearty breakfast (but this weekend was their last time at that location, not sure where they are moving to, but it's still in Bentonville). Oven and Tap - Excellent pizza and large beer selection. Press Room - Breakfast was good, with a slightly upscale menu. Crepes Paulette - Awesome huge Crepes. There was a ton of MTB'rs there, but the service was slow, so plan on post ride maybe. My wife really enjoyed the Crystal Bridges Art Museum (plus they have a happy hour), and the Walmart Museum is a must! The local riders were really nice and helpful with trail advice. The visiting riders seemed to be having as much fun as I was. Whenever I mentioned I was from Austin, most of the locals noted that they see a lot of folks from here. Also, I met three groups of riders that were from Springfield MO, and they hit Bentonville on a regular basis. Several of them talked about the trails that are being built in Springfield by the O'Reilly (Auto Parts) family similar to what's going on in Bentonville. It's about 2 1/2 hour drive North, but might be worth checking out if someone had and extra day. I ended up with about 40+ miles of riding trails over two days. For this busted up old drunk, that's good for me!!" ~ Yosmithy

Once you factor in the construction-traffic-rape between austin and dallas, fuel and food, its easily a 10hr drive. My last visit was may of last year so it (might) be better. Fall would be killer. Dont forget about outerbike https://www.outerbike.com/bentonville-2018/ The drive up 49 is nice though.

I just wanted to stop by and give a shoutout and big thank you to my good friend Krys Brown, owner of Cracked Carbon Repair in Austin, Texas for fixing the multiple carbon failures on my evil wreckoning before the the angel fire 5 race, and the Pajarito DH Race happened last weekend. If any of you other guys have been left high and dry with a broken frame like I was, or happened to smash it into something on accident, save yourselves lots of headache and cash and contact Krys Brown directly, or through me, and we can get your broken carbon fixed for great pricing and awesome quality work. My wreckoning had 3 cracks, (one in top tube and 2 in rear triangle) and 2 chips. All fixed and holding up great after a rowdy DH race in Angelfire two weekends ago, immediately followed by the party in pajarito DH race this last weekend! This is the real evil undead. Brought back from the grave. I got a kick winning my class and showing off my Carbon patched up P.O.S wreckoning. 🤣 thanks evil 🤘💩🤘🤘💩🤘

This right here just made my afternoon. Peddlers Pass got some revenge!

Yeah, there are assholes everywhere, unfortunately. ..Al

Well, I always know where it is now!!

The one time I've met you was on Peddler's right after you lost your wallet. I see now how you solved that problem.

"A smear of silicone grease will facilitate entry" - from a British manual on replacing a "valve" (tube) on an ancient piece of navigation equipment I once maintained. Somehow this seemed appropriate at this juncture.

It's a good idea to keep some Chamois Butter stashed somewhere too. Good for both saddle sores and re-inserting your tool roll.

Those meddling youthworks kids ruin everything! (Sarcasm if you dont know)

Angel Fire..leave after work, take turns driving

I think this is going to get worse - not better. The last few weekend rides I've taken on Brushy I've seen multiple people riding Deception without shirts, without helmets, and on Walmart bikes. These were all "twenty-somethings" who unfortunately are riding, I believe, not because they hope for this to become a passionate, life-long endeavor, but simply because it is one of the "cool" things for them to do right now. I'm confident that those same joy riders would view wet, muddy trails as being even more enticing. I did plenty of careless, reckless things myself growing up; so it's hard for me to be too judgmental. Still, it's a dilemma that impacts all of us who are trying to preserve the integrity of the sport and the trails. I agree that signs specifically may not help, but ongoing education in various forms will have a positive impact, just like HB taking the time to give feedback to this individual. As another example, I met up and rode with some youngsters a few weeks ago who were riding as part of the Peddler's Wed. night group. They were clearly very interested in the sport and not just the activity, and they were getting great guidance from an experienced rider who was with them. The more of the young people who we can take under our wings and grow into the sport, the fewer will be left to ride recklessly and carelessly.

Even if there were, people would cross out the "not". If they are going to flip the damn direction arrows, I would not put anything past these heathens.

How about another section under Mountain Biking called MTB Destinations? I've started compiling input from this thread and the old Mojo thread to create sort of an MTB destination guide, specific to travel from Austin. Each new thread would represent a destination, starting with a post showing the google travel map and driving hours, along with some general information on the area trails. Once a Destination thread is posted with the standard opening structure, then it could be opened up for further input / insights based on specific experiences of the ATMB audience. If this is something you think is worthwhile, I'm happy to spend some time getting it started. There has been an abundance of great info posted on various destinations, but because it is strewn across multiple general threads (mostly still on Mojo), it requires extensive digging and searching to go back and find the relevant pieces when you are thinking about taking a trip. By organizing in the manner I'm suggesting, a simple visit to the MTB Destination section would deliver easy access to organized information regarding the various destinations. We can start with everything that is within a day's drive of Austin since that has been a hot topic, but can also expand to include ALL MTB destinations that have been visited going forward.

Nope.... CP was built by the Capital Cats.... so they could ride in the wet conditions... on dirt bikes....not trials bikes as you stated.

so, Dennis at C6 Carbon repair is actually the one who initially repaired the top tube crack on the evil wreckoning. it unintentionally became a collaboration repair between C6 and Cracked, and it all kind of perfectly ties together on how I ended up finding someone else to finish the job so I'll give my review and short story - when I first started talking to Dennis, it was actually before I had any immediate carbon repair work needed. I had just heard about his local company, and wanted to reach out and ask a few general questions and what not via facebook messenger. Dennis seemed nice and polite, and was enthusiastic about carbon fiber repair. He started talking about pricing and said that he likes to keep his repair jobs affordable, and it would almost always be under $200 for most jobs, and that he warranties his work, etc etc. it was a good conversation and I looked forward to using his services if/when I ever needed in the future. well surprise, surprise, fast forward I dunno, 6-8 months maybe? I had broken the evil wreckoning a second time after the initial front triangle debacle, which Evil finally replaced under warranty. I contacted Dennis, and brought him the bike to his home in south Austin. he assured me it was an easy fix, and not to worry, and he would start to do the sanding and assessment and basically get the repair job on its way. like a week later or something he messaged me through facebook messenger and says the Job would be $300, and that he had also found an additional crack in the rear triangle, which he offered to fix for an additional $100. Even though his quote to fix the top tube was 50% higher than the expectation of >$200, he already had the bike and I said go ahead and fix it and agreed to pay the $300. I told him to hold off on the additional $100 rear triangle repair because I wanted to send it into evil for warranty repair/assessment which they had requested once I reported the crack. one other thing I'll mention - so he offered to take the rear triangle off of the frame for me and box it up in preparation to ship it to evil for an additional fee of $30, which I declined and said I was happy to do myself (because the whole point of me repairing the carbon instead of crash replacement was to save money, and the job was already costing $100 more than anticipated). once I told him that, he said that well, he had already done it, which made a little bit of an awkward situation after I told him I didnt want to pay it. I thanked him for boxing it up and offered to tip him or something on a future job or whatever. so ya'll already know the story with evil - I sent in the rear triangle, they gave me another empty-ass explanation of why they were denying the warranty, then fell back on the excuse that it was painted thus voiding the warranty even though they already knew it was painted before I sent it in and instructed me to send it in for warranty review anyway. dealing with that dumpster fire I paid for shipping both ways, basically just flushing $50-60 down the toilet, and I got my cracked rear triangle back. Per my and Dennis' conversation about him fixing the rear triangle for the additional $100 before I decided to send it into evil for warranty replacement, I messaged Dennis on Facebook messenger and let him know I received the rear triangle back and would like to take him up on his offer to fix it for the additional $100. Then he told me that that offer no longer stood, and that he wanted $400 (YES FOUR HUNDRED) to fix what he originally quoted me $100 for. like what in the actual fuck? Crash replacement was only $450 for a brand new rear triangle, and I had already paid him $300 for the front triangle. That wouldve put me at $750 for a single frame being repaired. and then I had already wasted the $60 on shipping with the rear triangle. that wouldve put me at $810 spent. Had I known it was going to lead up to this, I probably wouldnt have ever agreed to pay the $300 for the front triangle. at this point I had already spent $360 and still had a broken, unrideable bike. Im assuming he was salty about me not wanting to pay him the $30 for boxing up the rear triangle, so decided to just out-price me with the additional $400 quote and not have to work with me anymore or something. that or greed actually made him want $400 for an additional carbon repair job on the same bike. I declined, and he actually dropped off the bike unassembled (minus the rear triangle) in multiple pieces at a bike shop in north Austin where I picked it all up, after we agreed that would be a convenient option for both of us. some time after, after already being buddies with Krys Brown, I learned that Krys had extensive experience with carbon repair and was wanting to start offering the repair service. I had no idea one of my riding buddies was already involved in that. of course that was great news for me, lol. he repaired my rear triangle in no time and has since done numerous repair jobs for various friends. all with great success. so dont get the wrong idea, im not just wanting to bash this guy and his company and not tell the good stuff too. I will tell/show anyone that Dennis does nice clean quality work. the finished carbon repair jobs from him are super smooth and look fantastic. with paint you would never be able to tell the bike was repaired, and his repair jobs match perfectly the original contour lines of the frame as it came from the factory. very impressive work. my main complaints were his repeated inconsistencies and surprises with pricing, which ultimately lead to a shitty experience for me after I had paid almost $400 and the bike still had a long way to go. If I had to put a label on it, I'd probably say a little money hungry or something. And for whatever its worth, for those of you who dont know, the overhead on a carbon repair job is probably about $5-$10. The materials cost next to nothing. The profit margins are huge. Its all about the knowledge, not materials. Not trying to be ole Cathy Complainer over here, but I just call it like I see it and give honest, forthcoming reviews. great quality work, but bad pricing and setting customer expectation

AKA "mountain money"

We stopped there this summer. Spent the night in canyon and hit palo Duro on the way back from CO. Yep. Darn good coffee. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I will vouch for Palo Duro (unfortunately lived in Amarillo for 3yrs of my life I will never get back). It’s definitely scenic terrain but if you’re only going to make one trip there in your life time, go in the spring when the wildflowers are blooming. It’s amazing!

I guess it depends on how relaxed of a trip you want... do you have a maximum drive time? For me, 23 hours qualifies as "less than a full days drive" 😀; I've driven straight through to Phoenix (16+) just to spend a day on South Mountain... If less than 10 hours is the criteria, then I think Palo Duro is the ticket; it's different, scenic, and the riding, while not challenging, is fun. I've spent some time in the Big Bend/Terlingua/BB Ranch SP on a street legal dirtbike as well as hiking and back packing, and while I love that place, I really don't have much of a desire to mtb there. Most singletrack trails are either off-limits to bikes, or on private property, limited to events. Another option is El Paso, but I haven't ridden there yet. Ruidoso has some good flow stuff, if you like that sort of thing. If you are willing to push to the 10 hour limit, the Santa Fe area is amazing, and the Aspens will be turning/falling... there is something special about flying through falling aspen leaves...

So, you CAN have your cake and Strava too(l)?

Until just recently I didn't realize you could connect trailforks to your strava. Should be interesting...although I haven't really ridden my bike since July did someone say Cake?

Aren't many of those using Strava already considered a tool?

I carry a "Tool Roll" by https://www.etsy.com/shop/EHWORKS .. and angst.

Yuup!! Sometimes in the jersey, depending on where I'm riding.

What I'm licensed for.

My first mountain bike ride. Circa 1998. I think this is Muleshoe Bend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, carrying a kid in the hydration backpack might be frowned upon by some of those more sensitive folks.