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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/10/2019 in all areas

  1. @GreenMTBrider and I spent several hours this morning at Brushy with the Brush Hog cutting away the tall grass along the entire length of Picnic, the beginning of 1/4 Notch, and whatever that trail is called that intersects with the 1/4 Notch entrance and runs along a field for some distance (I'd never been on it before, but walked its length twice today!!) Saw lots of people riding the trails while it was relatively cooler (that is, instead of hot as hell, it was just hot). A few photos: Some before shots of Picnic: Picnic during and after mowing: That other trail whose name I do not know: I look forward to riding Picnic again and being able to actually see oncoming riders and not having dirty nature rubbing constantly on my legs! ..Al
    11 points
  2. I'm going to try and keep using it after the race.
    5 points
  3. Chumba Bicycles and Wanderlust bikepacking gear (their house brand?) sponsored a talk last night at the Patagonia store on Congress Ave. They showed some Chumba videos and then Alexandera Houchin, the first woman finisher for the 2018 Tour Divide and a sponsored Chumba rider, gave a talk. I had a lot of assumptions about what she'd be like and how the talk would go and all that got turned upside down. She's a member of the Ojibwa tribe and that identity is strongly part of who she is. Her talk was a story teller simply telling the story of her life in the third person, and how she came to discover bikes and riding everywhere, slowly discovering her city, her county and expanding out from that. She weighed almost 300 pounds in high school, lost half her body weight at some point, was 20 years old the first time she rode a bike; she's 28 now. She's not a hard body. She doesn't do lycra shorts. She goes to college full time for nine months out of the year (double major in chemistry and Indian Studies) and is focused on getting into dental school. She does train in the winter, going to the gym, riding fat bikes and doing fat bike events. Some running. She was raised mostly by her grandmother. She lived out of her Honda Element for awhile relatively recently when the living situation with her grandmother was no longer viable. While going to school. In the winter. In Minnesota. She said that was kind of like bike packing. And her bike set up for the race is....minimal. This year she's taking an 18 degree sleeping bag and a tarp. Not a high tech Dyneema tarp. This is a brown 6' by 8' tarp that you can buy at Home Depot for about $8. I didn't see a sleeping pad on her set up. She said if it's raining she'll find a sheltered place to sleep...like under a bridge... and noted that when you've been riding for 150 miles, you just lie down and you're out. She carries a little speaker attached to the shoulder strap of her backpack and listens to music, podcasts and audio books as she pedals along. Her bike for this year's Tour Divide is a Chumba titanium hardtail Stella with a dropper seat post (!), with Industry 9 wheels, Crossmark 2.1 tires, flat handlebars. The front wheel has a generator hub to keep electronics charged up. She talked about how you resist the siren call of towns by stopping before you hit a town and eating up the last of your food and drinking lots of water. While you're wolfing down the potato salad you bought at the deli of the grocery store, you start making sandwiches out of the cheese, salami and bagels that you just bought, knock back a Mountain Dew and then just get the hell out of there STAT, because it's so easy to lose time in a town. I hope the ride goes well for her. Snowpack in the west is simply epic this year. It was still snowing in Telluride and other areas as recently as a week or two ago. I don't know how many streams riders will have to ford, but like the snowpack, the runoff will also be epic, so that might be a daunting challenge. During the question and answer session, someone asked her how one could train if they don't have mountains or time to do long distances. She suggested riding to the event -- that you'd be in pretty good shape after riding all day for four or five days. Anyway, I'm still pretty blown away by this woman and will be following her progress on the Tour Divide. A bit more about her: Local Duluth paper: Cloquet woman wins Tour Divide From the Chumba website, she's the first rider: chumbausa.com/riders Outside Online: She Learned to Bike at 20. Now She's a Champion Her blog: alexandherrastro.wordpress.com/ (She has a post up about her drive to Austin this week.) Edited to add: Her bike is rigid single speed for this year's Tour Divide -- no suspension, no gears.
    3 points
  4. Peddlers Pass: G2G 1/4 Notch is G2G. Watch for remaining low wet spots. Walking to Picnic now. *Update* Picnic: Almost okay. Number of soft spots that result in caking. I’d recommend to give it until tomorrow. Other trails: Unable to check. Snow White will be okay, while trails like Gum Drop may be too soft. USE CAUTION
    3 points
  5. 3 points
  6. Double Down is double delicious
    2 points
  7. Open areas may be okay, but we got quite a bit of rain last night. I’m about 300 ft from the 1/4 Entrance and my yard was a swamp this morning. Additionally, the east entrance is guarantee to be slimy. Im about to leave work and will check when I get home, but to be honest I’d be surprised if it’s good to go.
    2 points
  8. Unfortunately that ONE chain will only stop a few. IMO We need to build a fence at a few spots. Particularly at the ridgeline access area. It's so wide open and people came in and out there. It would be hard to setup a chain there. We could do Cedar posts but with that area so wide people will just go around it. If there was a fence eliminating that area as an access point it would help. You can even post a map on tje fence with where the trailhead is etc. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    2 points
  9. I have ridden out at spider a half dozen times and the most recent one I decided to take my Honzo ST out there just to try it. Man was it freaking fun and now I will be hard pressed to decide on a bike to bring out there. Ill be honest and say I was a bit nervous about riding the double black on it, but it rode just fine. It was certainly very different than my squish, but I would almost venture to say that the blue was even more fun on the HT. I do not think there is a perfect bike for that place now. Does FS make the chunk a bit easier? Maybe, but it is def not going to make it any more or less fun.
    2 points
  10. I'd really like to use it on Suburban Ninja. When I rode it a week ago only two-thirds of the southern section (leading to the trees) was cut, and it also needs to be trimmed beyond that under the tree cover for a ways.. The hog would make quick work of that. Would need to touch base with whoever is maintaining the trail to make sure they are okay with doing that.
    2 points
  11. I hate when nature touches me. Thanks for doing that. I'll have that hog a little longer if you get the urge again. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    2 points
  12. Our intent was to clear the pine limbs and others that were right around the house. We knocked most of that out and set our sights on beautiful pecan smoking wood and some big chunks for my father-in-law to work his woodworking magic on. Good news: Ridenfool’s house and TMW-approved grill was saved and now accessible. Best news: hanging out with and helping a great friend I made through mountain biking.
    2 points
  13. We're in the process of building a new intermediate trail that is planned to have six wooden features: a step-up roller with a rollable jump at the end (pictured,) a multi-tiered wall ride that will end in an optional drop, a wooden drop to dirt transition, and three wooden tabletop jumps. You can see the first wooden feature from the lift and from the first mountain road intersection with Viper's Den. Trail length is estimated to be about 1'000 feet, and it'll exit on the second mountain road at Viper's Den. Scheduled completion time is six weeks.
    1 point
  14. Same for me. It's been a while but I used to take roughly that route to 5 mile and back. I think we used to go down twin creeks road but I would not recommend that anymore. I rode the the livestrong challenge last year and did a lot of that same road to get out of Austin. It all seemed reasonable. There are a few people I follow on Strava that do that route at least down to San Marcos regularly. https://www.strava.com/activities/2415493641 (not me) I'm sure you could call and get advice from Buda Bike Co. They do a Saturday ride that I've been wanting to check out and I think they typically ride south starting in Buda. https://www.strava.com/clubs/budabikeco
    1 point
  15. screw it, it's only 80 degrees...I'm goin
    1 point
  16. I've dabbled in bike shoe repair. As others have said, not the same as when they were new.
    1 point
  17. It was a fire tool before it was a trail tool.
    1 point
  18. The gravel and sand naturally occurs.
    1 point
  19. To add to the trailbuilding aspect, a McCloud is a handy tool for fire tending. I made a few trips out last night and this morning to drag logs and push coals, getting everything to burn completely. Last night before heading to bed there was 3/100's of an inch on the rain gauge at the house. Just enough to let me sleep a little more soundly without worry of the pasture catching fire. If it were a trail it would be hero ash today as the last few large pieces burn.
    1 point
  20. Is there anyone that can hang the chain across the entrance to Peddlers Pass this morning? I can't get to it until later today. With all the rain last night anyone that rides the trail will create ruts. With only 5 more building days before the race, the last thing we need is to spend our time fixing ruts. Thanks. *Endurarace is taking care of hanging the chain. Thanks
    1 point
  21. Five Ten used to sell Stealth rubber resole kits but stopped for some reason. I have a feeling that reason has something to do with greed and disregard for the environment. You might have some luck with a company that resoles climbing shoes, but I don't know if there are any locals for that.
    1 point
  22. I paid almost $800 for this, and worth every penny.
    1 point
  23. I agree. Take the plunge and rent or buy a full face helmet. It took me a while to adjust to the higher speeds attainable at Spider Mountain vs typical local trails. Quick reaction times are crucial. Unless you’re on the double black, there’s really no feature that’s super technical (my opinion), but crashes can get gnarly fast at warp speed. “A full face for the day keeps the oral surgeon away!”
    1 point
  24. Thank you both. Really badass you guys did that
    1 point
  25. I can help next weekend. If you want to shingle it, we can be done in a few hours. Happy to help. Let me know. I can start early in the morning.
    1 point
  26. Finished wall ride! We have three more wooden features planned after this.
    1 point
  27. It was perfect this morning!
    1 point
  28. Yes. I just got back from cutting grass on the 1/4 Notch entrance and Picnic. I think tomorrow 1/4 Notch and some of the other trails will be good to go. Peddlers will be closed tomorrow morning and afternoon and may open in the evening depending on conditions. I plan to check the trails before 7AM tomorrow and will post an update. Just FYI, here at 1/4 Notch we received about 2.5” of rain
    1 point
  29. No wrist strain necessary, you just hulk-smash your fist down on one of the levers. The modulation sucks, but the bike will stop.
    1 point
  30. This is your first strike Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    1 point
  31. My "it all just worked out somehow" stories all end with a box arriving at my porch.
    1 point
  32. No one will notice. Probably. https://www.ebay.com/i/152647449982?chn=ps
    1 point
  33. Just pedal uphill really fast! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  34. As a side bar comment...I've always found it curious (for myself) that I ride the same trail (CP/Emma Long) on both a MTB and a MX bike. When I'm there on the MX, I'm geared up like a football player with knee-shin, elbow, chest protection, boots, long sleeves and FF helmet. But when I go out there to ride my MTB, I'm out there only riding in spandex, and XC helmet and my silky smooth shaved legs. -CJB
    1 point
  35. Some guy overshot one of the jumps out there on Monday and had to get choppered out. Saw another lady who had endo'ed off a drop with normal all mountain gear and was banged up a bit but she would be fine because she was riding within her limit. Her wreck wasn't any worse than if she'd been on the greenbelt.
    1 point
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