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It's definitely interesting how it affects people so differently. We have to remember that this thing is only months old, and we really don't understand it yet. That's why we shouldn't scoff at the scientists and disease experts when they can't clearly explain something or some of the details aren't 100% accurate. The anti-mask conspiracy theorists want to throw the baby out with the bathwater if one data point doesn't make sense to them, but these scientists are the best we have, doing the best they can.

I'm pretty stoked that the wife is enjoying her retirement present.

We stay here: https://www.vrbo.com/390574?_branch_match_id=764187379070433996&adultsCount=1&oc=6uCTo2fTRSbBVj6gE~tmN&utm_campaign=earned%3Avrbo%3Ashare%3AXXX%3AUS%3Aios&utm_content=390574&utm_medium=social&utm_source=direct I think it's more than what you need, but great for a family or a bunch of dudes with bikes. 217 acres to ourselves. The house is a doublewide, but it's clean. The kids loved exploring the property, but we had cooler weather than you'd get in the summer. For the hikes, my wife downloaded an app that ranked the hikes in the area by distance and difficulty, which is nice because you can throw the State Park in the mix too. Sorry, I don't know what it was called, but the park's website is pretty good. https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/day_hikes.htm And here's the "scenic drive" page, although they are all scenic drives out there. https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/scenic_drives.htm We did Chisos Basin Loop Trail (plus the very short Window View Trail) and Balancing Rock one day with a picnic lunch in between. That was perfect for us. Bit off a little too much the next day with Crystal trail in the State Park so I had to piggyback one kid for a few miles. Although it was about the same total distance as the day before, those A/C breaks really seem to help. Then, we did Santa Elena Canyon Trail in the NP in the morning before going home. We all wished that we were staying longer.

This is where we stay when we wanna ball on a budget. A short drive required to get into town but the basics are all there and the food isnt bad either. The dark skies on the ranch at night......biblical. https://terlinguaranch.com/ Random ranch pics from my crap phone at the time

that wide BB shell is so large purely because that is what it takes to fish a one-piece crank through it. It was common for most BMX bikes to use that size probably because manufacturers could make one frame design cheaply and equip the bike with a one-piece crank and Ashtabula BB. to put a conventional BMX three-peice crankset in that frame, you need what's called an "american bottom bracket" with the right size spindle and bearings. the bearings sit inside an aluminum spacer that fills the gap between the shell and the smaller bearing. most of the spindles are 19mm (classic Profile BMX) but 20mm and 22mm (good old Primo Powerbites!) were also common. the sprockets could be made with a center bore to match the spindle size, but could also be made larger for the imperial Ashtabula standard and a top-hat shaped adapter would size it down for the spindle. the threaded bottom brackets we all know and love have been common on aluminum BMX race bikes for a long time before that and a few chromoly freestyle bikes adopted the design for a bit there, but it didn't stick for the freestyle world. I had a Premium street frame with a Profile BB for a minute there and it was quite fussy to get the bearing preload just right. it was easier once I faced the shell, but the spindle has to use a spacer stack that is just right. Race bikes traditionally used square taper spindles and I think those are still around, especially for bikes made for smaller riders. it looks like BMX race bikes for adults have adopted external cups and 24mm spindles like mtn and road bikes, but I don't pay much attention to that. As the market for BMX freestyle bikes matured in the late '90s(?), it became less and less common for bikes to come equipped with crappy one-piece cranks that kids would bend within the first week of ownership, the industry developed two alternative BB standards: "mid" and "Spanish". if I remember correctly, "mid" was a BB shell that allowed the bearings from an American BB to fit directly into the frame without the superfluous aluminum spacer (usually with the help of a block of wood and a hammer, because, BMX!) and the Spanish standard was a press-fit version of the Euro BB sans threads. Mid is probably the most common. something might have come out in recent years though. you can put a crankset with a threaded BB on a BMX bike and I am glad to see that adapter is only $20. I was expecting it to be a lot more expensive. it's good to fit oddball parts together. but if you want a strong crankset that is going to hold up to BMX abuse, I'd go for a BMX crankset that will use a press-fit "American" BB. keep in mind that if you take a crappy one-peice crank off a bmx bike, the pedals use a smaller 1/2" spindle, whereas all other cranks use a slightly larger 9/16" spindle. so the old pedals will not work in the new cranks unless you use some (sketchy, IMO) adpaters. @Big_papa_nutscan probably recall some of the details better than I can.

I had a close friend get it, he's 55 average health and he had fever for 2 days, a cough for over a week and that was it. His wife never caught it. However, his parents live with them and they are both 84 yr old. His mom had a similar reaction to him, but his dad had a pretty tough case. He spent 2-3 days in the hospital (at 2 different hospitals). They went in first and the 1st location mis-diagnosed it and told them to go home. 24hr later that are at a different hospital being admitted and getting top-shelf care. He said the differences were dramatic. But the main reason I bring this up is that my buddy is a believer in the different affect blood types have with handling the disease. Both he and his mom are bot 0 types. His dad is A type. Just for another personal data point. Another friend of mine has 3 kids: 11, 9, 7 yr old. The oldest 2 are boys and both picked up the Covid. At the time my friend had his brother in law family over from houston and they were all in a relatively small house. They did their best to be conscientious, and the 2 boys were the only 2 to get it. The entire family was pretty shocked by this. Both he and his wife (along with the BIL family) ended up taking Covid tests for work and all came back negative. Now I'm in no way saying this isn't contagious, in fact, I kinda thinks its pretty darn contagious from the stuff I've read. But I do find these did bids interesting little points to how it has or has not spread. Later, CJB

Get this torque wrench. The HF one is good too for the price, but doing the conversion to in-lbs is kind of a pain. I use Siri to convert it for me though 🙂 I love my T-handle hex set from HF. My 3/8" torque wrench (HF) is for my crank bolt, bb cups, and fork top caps. The sharpened spoke is great, but my pick tool kit from HF has served me well. If you end up cutting carbon (handlebars, maybe road fork steerer tube?) use the correct hacksaw blade. I use this for a de-burring tool for steerer tubes and various files. Side cutting fingernail clippers or cuticle nippers like this are perfect for trimming things like the ends of zip-ties, or the corners off the shoulder blocks on your son's rear tire so that he can fit 2.4's...sorry that may be an extreme case 😛

My T Handle hex set are invaluable to me. I second the torque wrench. Chain whip. A good stand because crappy ones are no fun. Figure out what you need to pull apart your BB and get that specific tool since there are different kinds. Once you get rolling you will know what you actually need and not need. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

_mother_of_god_

He's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night.

Great post, mack_turtle... Thanks for taking the time to make it. And yeh... $20 surprised me too.

But there is also this: https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/bbnp-closed-2020-07-01.htm

Looks like bubbles are at least $250 per night. I'll stay with the Mining Company!

The family and I spent a few days in Terlingua during Spring Break. With a 6 and a 9 y/o, we were looking for the kid friendly hikes in the National Park. There are some good ones were you hike for an hour or so, see some cool shit, get in your air conditioned car, and cool off while taking a breathtaking drive to a different part of the park. This strategy worked well managing kids meltdowns but also could be a good game plan to manage the heat.

Terlinguia is awesome..... But I'd hold off till cooler weather

the sound of bottom bracket bearing cups flying off a bike and bouncing across the floor brings up conflicted memories. maybe I missed it, but did he push those cups in dry? arg! a lot of the time, I would have a hard time justifying the expense of putting a new crankset, adapter, and BB in a frame with an American size shell. those bikes are frequently junk. but if it's a nicer frame, or you it has nostalgic value, or you have the parts, go for it. if you're using a square taper BB, finding the correct length spindle to get the right chainline might be a challenge. this would be a really good way to make an old bike into a functional mutant klunker. think about it: put some strong, tubeless 26" rims on a coaster brake wheelset, bolt those to an old beach cruiser frame, put something like a Surly Sunrise bar on it... this is the kind of stupid idea I would be pursuing if YBP was open right now.

I doubt it. I read a quote from Gohmert where he basically blamed the mask for giving him covid. "I can't help but wonder if by keeping a mask on and keeping it in place, that if I might have put some germs or some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in,"

^GOOD LORD. ...his poor tires. Sounds like he went through at least one set filming this, worn down to the casing.

Is Bill Gates a health expert now?

Why don't you get the SWAT box that fits on your Epic frame? They are kind of pricey (I've seen used ones on eBay), but it keeps everything low and out of the way. I love the SWAT stuff.

If there is anything you don’t feel comfortable handling, I run a bike repair business on the side and will happily give you a “Austin Mountain Biking Forum” discount. Typical turn around time is 24 hours once you drop off the bike.

My wife actually taught his child back when she was a teacher. Great guy. Great family. Would love to ride one of his bikes.

I struggle with the new data now that dickstain has blocked reporting to the CDC. This virus is a cruel bitch for sure. Wife's best friends sister in Utah got it in early march while on vacation in mexico. She and her husband are early 50s, endurance athletes and bodybuilders. Full tilt redbull types. Both spent weeks in hospital, husband now has high blood pressure they are struggling to control and wife requires oxygen to walk around the block. Meanwhile FIL who's 78, lives in a nursing home , 60+ year smoker, came back from vietnam a full on drug addict, alcoholic and maintained a pill collection that'd put michael jackson to shame. He was diagnosed with covid two weeks ago. He had a mild fever and has now fully recovered. Oh, and he's also had two strokes in the past 12 months as well. WTF

Back on track... Who made the Hammerhead bashrings back in the day with the chain link bottle opener?