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Believe it or not, this is only the second time I have rolled over to dumptruck. And I think the first picture of it. Yesterday's ride.

Rode past that on my 10-speed back when I was 16. Unbelievably my parents allowed me and my friends to ride ~100 miles to Michigan to spend the week at a friend's cabin. I don't know how a.) they ever agreed to that or b.) how I survived a century in blue jeans on a 10-speed with zero training.

I got a little of that this weekend too. Eerie how a little seasonal allergies suddenly turn into an existential crisis these days.

Pretty sure I've pulled over for all your mfer's. Lol

Not too long ago, I sat down with the idea of watching a lighthearted movie. I was scrolling through the various streaming services and came to one option that caught my eye. The cover showed Matthew McConaughey wearing a cowboy hat, smiling, with his arms wide open. The title sounded vaguely familiar so I didn’t bother to read the plot synopsis and just hit play. Long story short, Dallas Buyers Club is not a comedy.

Fred Schmidt, an 83-year-old mountain bike racer/cyclocross/gravel grinder guy, knocked out a century yesterday in the Waco area.

You might want to consider altering times to ride to miss the crowds. Sunrises are a nice way to start the day Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

At 12,000' in Colorado last summer

Beautiful day on SN!

Oh, and movies that are not necessarily available on any of the streaming services but would be worth a pay per view: 1. Sexy Beast - Ben Kingsley ain't no Ghandi 2. Snatch or Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels - Like Sexy Beast but funny, basically the same movie 3. Glengarry, Glenross - Best. Movie. Ever. Alec Baldwin is only in for 8 minutes but steals the show 4. Amelie - French, subtitles, worth it, especially if you have been to / want to go to Paris 5. Goodfellas - Yeah, I know, you saw it. Just shut up and watch it again 6. Office Space - Filmed here in Austin. Early tie in the movie to my Pickle comments on another thread. 7. Four Lions - The Alamo Drafthouse produced this one. Funny terrorist movie. Yeah, like a heartwarming slasher movie, right? 8. Fargo - The accents alone are worth it 9. This is Spinal Tap - This movie goes to 11 10. Trainspotting - It is Scottish, they are speaking English. It is OK to turn subtitles on.

Same here. I'm sure it's the oak pollen for most. For me it's the changes in atmospheric pressure, but also the actual physical particles in the air. I wake up with gunk in my eyes and congested. A benadryl seems to knock it out better than a zyrtec. Hopefully this rain knocks some of it out.

when I feel stressed, an episode or two of The Office always soothes my soul. simpler times.

If you like Stranger Things then watch "Dark" on Netflix. It's in German so go for the overdub, not the subtitles. There is so much going on and the cinematography is so incredible that you don't want to miss anything. I tired to do subtitles thinking I would be picking up a bunch of it anyway and realized how bad my German is. Even with context it was tough because of the situations. "Look Who's Back" (Er its wieder da) is a good movie on Netflix, keeping with the German theme. Did a little better with matching the dialogue with the subtitles on this one. Also recommend "Abducted in Plain Sight" on Netflix. Chilling. And if you just want mindless fun, "The Grand Tour" is a good way to kill time. Sarcasm is not dead.

Oak Liquor Cabinet has it. Southbound US183 access road just south of Spicewood Springs. Same shopping center as BB Rovers.

I'm really enjoying this as well. I've long been a fan of Alberta Distilleries (ADL) rye, and was super happy when WhistlePig released this 6 year version about a year ago. I was watching closely, but it didn't hit Texas until about 6 or 8 weeks ago--and now I'm 2 bottles in. If you haven't had it, I also suggest the 10 year version for about $70, which is significantly better still. And if you haven't had it double extra suggest you keep an eye out at Specs or TW for a cask strength store pick Single Barrel version for about $75-85, because that is about as good as whiskey gets, in my opinion. Interestingly, this is also same ADL distillate that I posted a couple of pages back of my real good cabinet, the 16 & 18 year Lock, Stock & Barrel from Cooper Spirits. Someone was whinging a couple of pages back about sourced whiskies, but I'd much rather a distillery put out sourced whisky while their own stuff ages, rather than rush out their over priced and underaged craft garbage. WhistlePig is now distilling, aging and selling their own, but it's still really young. Currently they blend it with both ADL and MGP (that big plant in Indiana) rye in their Farmstock offering, which I don't particularly recommend yet.

Today was a fantastic ride. Had my best run on deception today. Made it through 1/4 notch from the bottom to the top with 1 dab. Usually I can clear the whole thing pretty easily, but I rode from home so I was already about 4-5 miles into my ride. Then I figured the weather was good enough to punish myself a bit more and continued my way down double down (after a quick break, obviously). Made it to the bottom with only 3 quick dabs. Usually my foot goes down 5-6x. Felt great.

Year and Years on HBO. An ordinary English family navigates terrifyingly plausible technological changes, human migration, climate change effects, fascist government takeovers, panoptic surveillance, cultural shifts, etc, in this sci-fi / speculative fiction about the next decade of human history. It is about a year old now and some of the events in it are downright prophetic. We could only watch one episode at a time—only six for the first season. The intro music is enough to give you an ulcer. The English Game on Netflix. Julien Fellows (Downton Abbey) history-based story of English football in the 1880s. Strange Negotiations documentary about Pedro the Lion front man David Bazan. I've been following his music since I was a teenager and he's one of the few musicians I make a point to see live whenever I get the chance. I don't think it's streaming for free anywhere but worth paying a few bucks to download it if the indie music/ gen-x / American Evangelical experience resonates with you. The Leftovers on HBO. speculative fiction series. three seasons. bingeable. I won't spoil anything, but the subject matter is more relevant now than when it came out a few years ago.

I saw a reference to the Evil Chamois Hagar and thought "what a weird name for a bike" before I had the "Aha" moment. Sammy Hagar, y'all.

Does he have it in a pony tail? If so maybe you could reach forward far enough to yank him off his bike by his hair. I've seen that work a few times in the NFL.

Would be amazing to carry a really loud air horn for a situation like this. Just the thought of it makes me laugh.

YouTube channels worth watching: Seth's Bike Hacks / Berm Peak  Express (duh) Van Girl Kuka - Japanese women who lives out of a van and documents herself riding rad trails and learning new skills Dustin Klein - mostly gravel content. creative editing. Jeff Kendall-Weed - mtb pro BKCX - traveling mtb vlogger Path Less Pedaled lots of gravel/ bikepacking content Fingers Cross BMX Ruban Alcantera and Garrett Byrnes are building full-suspension 20" bmx bikes Hardtail Party dude rides hardtails and documents group rides sessioning technical trails Clint Gibbs - bike vlogger, mix of mtb and gravel content Jeff Lenosky - the Trail Boss AvE - some Canadian shop guy who tests machines with hilarious commentary. some bike content. Colin Furze - English mad engineer makes unsafe gadgets. hysterical! Chris Akrigg - absolutely my favorite cycling athlete. dude can ride anything

One of several McCarthy adaptations that didn't ruin the novel. Need to watch that again.

Yes! So much better (but very similar) to The Irishman. One more thing I forgot. I have NBC Sports Gold cycling subscription. It's totally worth it and right now they are allowing subscribers of one service to watch the other channels.

From WilCo , https://wcchd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/9ebebb5225a5458fa4a35fb39a3db7fd

I've been listening to Harry Potter books on tape. My kids are both super into it, so I'm trying to catch up. I didn't watch a ton of TV before, and when I did, I would usually just settle with the best live sport available. I sat down last week, turned on Netflix and scrolled for a while. I landed on Jim & Andy, a documentary about Jim Carrey filming Man on the Moon. It was way more depressing than I wanted a documentary about a comedian to be. Before the quarantine I watched Don't F@$# with Cats. Petty interesting documentary, but again (don't want to spoil it), it got pretty introspective. This is why I don't watch a lot of TV. I sit down to take my mind off things and end up watching something more depressing.

the short term deal for Starz is pretty good. you can binge Outlander.

Yea -- Good seeing you. I find it nice running into people I know on nearly every ride. I would chalk the throat up to the green stuff covering the cars now

What happened did you pass out? Oxygen deprivation? 😉

AB, Glad to hear the Pickle back gate is open! They do close it during non-working hours during the week, though, so be mindful of the time. Not sure what time they open it in the morning. Also, could you post the cut-through to the MoPac sidewalk again?

ATTENTION!!!! The Pickle is open! I repeat, the Pickle is open! Went for a ride up Shoal Creek today, shot over Gnarnia and was just going to roll around and see what was happening. The Pickle gates were wide open. I could get from my house up to the Domain easily with no issue whatsoever. Of course, the Domain was all shut down, but I digress. I have a nice 20 mile lap that goes through that area up to the NWCT and back. Now I know I can continue up Shoal Creek and not have to use the secret cut-through to the Mopac frontage. Literally, this is the highlight of my week. This and finding out what a shrub rake is. Clearly it is going to be a long 30 days...

I absolutely will. It looks like it would line up nicely with a Pedernales or Reimer's Ranch ride. And I'm pretty sure I can take it back that I haven't tried one of them. It was either at Whiskies of the World or one of the TX whisky festivals that Opal Divines used to put on. I can certainly recall the bottles, but at whisky festivals you drink so many different whiskies that it gets lost in the fog.

When all this chaos settles, take a trip out there. Distillery & tasting room are great and staff/owners were really friendly and helpful. Also, worth a stop at Real Ale while you're out there as it looks like they're releasing a new rye.😎 Speaking of rye, has anyone tried the new rye gin from still in austin? DAMN good contender for one of our favorites.

I've been riding more of the lesser used gravel/trails in the area. Only did a brief stint on brushy last week to connect to something else. I can PM you the route I did if you want.

Counterpat (feels and sounds like a Fringe knock off but slightly different enough and I loved Fringe anyway) Westworld Ozark

Whirlpool is another Michigan company. If you ride the west coast of the state the route will take you right past their headquarters. Fun fact. But back to supporting your LBS. First, be patient. They are getting hammered with bikes that have been disused for years because people are treating this like a vacation. Second don't just go to shop. Be deliberate. They are trying to protect themselves so in a lot of cases are trying to keep people out of the store. If you need something consider calling ahead so they can put it aside, or even take payment, before you arrive. Special orders are a nice bonus right now too. Again call ahead to work out the details. Third, stock up now. There is a good chance smaller shops will have to close down because they are going to catch this thing (because they are still dealing with the public), and MOST of them don't have the capital to make it through that. Consider going to a smaller shop, if you like them, that might be farther away or that may not always have what you need (see special orders above-mentioned) because they don't have the resources of some of the larger chain stores.

I hope they can then manufacture that vaccine faster than they can manufacture masks or toilet paper!

This morning's numbers were flatter. When I say flatten out I mean starting the process. But it will be like turning an oil tanker. The "flattening" may take a month, so we will be into May before we really know what is going on. My fear is not an all clear now (or Easter as trump had originally suggested) but my fear is an all clear in May where people who have been cooped up for 6 weeks suddenly believe that it is literally back to life as normal and that we don't need to take precautions. Honestly speaking, until we have a vaccine (12-18 months) there will be some degree of managing unnecessary trips. Yes, you'll be able to go out, but any time you need a widget you'll be weighing running down to Home Depot vs. waiting. Restaurants will be open, but probably way more space (i.e. fewer tables) and more carry out than eat in. I'm no expert but I see this in phases: 1. Lockdown (today) 2. Easing lockdown - new rules, not back to normal (for 12-18 months) 3. Back to normal because we have a vaccine (probably 2 years from now) During phase 2 you'll see outbreaks and mini lockdowns. Someone in the neighborhood or at work gets sick and this whole thing starts all over again. If you have someone sick at work there will be a 1-week lockdown at the office while they send in a disinfecting team. Church services still banned, no concerts, lots of restrictions on bars and other gathering places. Still tons of disruption.

The are fun for me and everyone else I ride with. There are plenty other loops in walnut to make remain fun for “everyone “

For those of you with Netflix, “Tiger King” is binge worthy. And season 3 of Ozark is out.

I disagree. I find that the walnut additions are fine. You may need to change your lines or your approach to truly take advantage of them. I'm sure in some cases there may be natural limitations to what they can do but I've been happy with the work that they have done.

It is an amazing phenomenon to me. They are EVERYWHERE. It's not like our trails are hidden but I'll see the family and think, "Where did you come from? How did you get on THIS trail?!" Yup, assume someone is around that blind curve. I'm not use to having to ride with my head up so much. And once again I implore the mountain bike community to be pleasant to the hikers.

I was thinking about this as I rode around the 'hood yesterday and saw people walking around everywhere. I think that one reason we see so many people out in parks and walking around is that they don't want to feel alone. Not being around other people isn't natural for most. When you're outside and you see other people, you start to think "...well, at least we're all in this together." It prevents the onset of phobias and enforces the idea that this is a community problem that will take a community solution. Interesting case study. I'm sure there will be more than one paper submitted on this topic if for no other reason that a lot of people are at home in front of computers with nothing to do.

MoJo Fest, for those who don't know, was a get together at Canyon Lake of MoJos from all over. There were poker runs, stupid bike tricks, a movie night, camping, skinny dipping, pot luck, pedicures, dancing in speedos, kegs, etc. Oh, we also rode the trails. Sorry for the video quality. Life was grainier back then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MywccVA_CJs Edit: I couldn't figure out how to embed the video. :-/

I miss people. And I am an introvert.

Made it.

That guys been riding Peddlers for years. He's a grumpy sour puss. Never says hello and comes riding through our build area without slowing down. I haven't had the pleasure of riding behind him yet. I wonder what would happen if someone got around him and slowed down to a snail's pace?