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Great news! Today I went to see what was going on in the Meridian Bowl. I was pleased (?) to see that the new "trail" was actually just the powerline where the power company cut a wide swath and mulched all the cuttings. And now a line has developed along it. Yes, there are three manmade jumps. One using a pallet. I am not fond of wooden jumps anyway and pallets are the worst. They don't last long and then they become hazardous. But I digress. I then emailed the trails committee chairman to ask him about all this and if we could do anything. Reiterating that we in the MTB community are working hard to maintain the area as is. He replied they knew about that line AND the jumps and do not have a problem with it. He even said, "We very much appreciate the respect the community has given the area, no complaints here." So they have walked around and seen everything there is to see and are good with it. So we are good to go! So nice to get a win every now and then. And such a good win. There are at least 10 good manmade jumps there now. That's not counting all the ledges. The ledges there present an "all you can do" challenge to any level of jumper I think. I know I'll never huck some of them! Roll'em sure, but no air. I am still reluctant to publicize how great an area this is. Or run big group rides through. I just don't want to push our luck.

Starting to get the kids out more on the smooth sections of the SATN. The Pay it Forward Epic I snagged from @Shinerider is also helping get the whole family out on the trails, which is great for me. We’re definitely adding excitement for anyone trying to share the same patch of trail as us.

Hit #1 multiple times today - nicely done! Stuck to the middle section of the wall but hope to go higher once I get off blood thinners. Still like #2 as well, especially when coming out of the adjacent trail and hucking off the ramp leading into it. What's funny is that I finally graduated to the taller of the two OG drops and see now what @Morris has been telling me all along. The taller drop is actually more mellow than the lower one. They're both fun though. Did #5 twice and couldn't get enough speed to clear that table top. Repetition will be the key for me there, but that is definitely a fun line that I'll hit again and again. Great work guys! I am truly blessed to have all of this in my "backyard".

Back before I lived here, like 94/95, that was the shop closest to my in-laws when we’d come to visit. Went to that location several times on visits. That was when they were changing that stretch of 183 from hwy to expressway. Got to be a nightmare to get to which is probably what killed that location. The whole area was different by 98 so never could remember exactly where it was. Like many my first encounter with Hill was he and Laura dressed as the Clause’s on their tandem while awaiting the start of the Jingle Bell Ride from the Toomey location. Did it every year from 98 when we first moved here til they stopped. The last few dragging my kid in a trailer. Jingle Bell, poker runs, kids bike rodeo, women’s ride clinics, as well as being title sponsor of TMBRA’s paydirt program for nearly 20 years and sponsoring sanctioned races in every form of cycling that came along. That’s a big hole in the community a corporate store just isn’t going to fill. That’s also the reason I tended to buy and service my bikes there. Most of my work for 30+ years has been for small local businesses and I try my best to give my money to people that put their time and money back into the community. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Speaking of those dual drops they are in terrible shape. Been meaning to re build them. Just been patching for years. May post up a work day soon and knock it out Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Purchased new from Peddler. My son has outgrown it pretty quickly. Good shape, could use new grips. 24x2.6 wheels/tires. $250 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, that's over my pay grade. Jumping was never my thing, but I have gotten okay at smaller tabletops like Walnut's inner BMX pumptrack, or the ones behind RedHorn, or the wood-lipped jumps at ChristChurch. I was having a ton of fun clearing those ChristChurch jumps on Chamois Hagar on Sunday!

http://www.austintexas.gov/page/battery-drop-locations I have been picking up hold items from my local library for a few months now. You can still put items on hold and pick them up outside at some locations. at the Hampton branch, you can park your car in a numbered spot and call them, or call from the front door. it could not hurt to call and ask if they'll take your batteries the same way. I just asked COA to clarify if these locations accept all sorts of batteries or if any of them are limited to rechargeables. agreed on the remoteness of the RRC. very few items are worth the time and fuel spent driving to that place. I wish they'd make a few more drop off spots or work with waste haulers to take more to MRFs. on that note, I see a lot of things in my neighbors' blue bins on recycling pickup day. not that I go around peaking in them, but if the lid is open or styrofoam, plastic bags, and cartons are sticking out the top, I can tell that people don't read. they just wish-cycle and hope the magic recycling fairies will figure out what to do with all their non-recyclable milk cartons.

I hadn't been out there since the summer, so there were certainly a few changes I noticed. But the literal biggest change was all the jump lines going in near the end of the "new" Flow Trail ending, where it finishes at the concert venue. "They" have built some Whistler A-line sized tabletops. Way bigger than anything you'll find at Spider MTN. And then I was scrolling though Instagram and noticed this: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDSbunhsWO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I was out earlier. Few sprinkles earlier today but trails are still good to go.

@throet finally the drops! Awesome to hear about that 😎. You have been ready for those for so long and it makes that whole line very fun. Congrats on the progression!

Thanks for being such a great ambassador for mountain bikers!

Looks right to me. As I say, there never were many markings up there - some paint to indicate the 'entrance', I'm sure that's long gone.

I'll second the G-forms. They're pretty decent to pedal in and they're enough to take the edge off a crash.

Damn this stuff looks good. I just attempted to spray some silver Velocity 24" rims black and they look like crap. Gotta strip them and try again. Fortunately his frame looks good as is, but that early 2000's Fox fork is going to need a good paint job at some point soon...

I spent 7 years riding without pads and finally decided to protect my knees. These have been great - lightweight, cheap, and ample protection. Fortunately I haven't had an opportunity to see how well they actually protect against a direct impact, but believe they will be adequate. Kali Mission Knee Guards | Jenson USA

Too impatient, pulled all of the plugs tonight, looks like they did their job.

How can we get this guy and his committee to become our poster child for how mountain bikers can work with communities to create amenities that drive up the home value and prevent the encroachment of things they don't want? This is so great. Excellent work out there!

For the most part, the slickrock sections of the Inner Loop are fine. But in a few spots the trail goes into a wooded area. It's those spots that are nearly impassable with down trees and overgrowth.

No, I sprayed ~1/2 the can and let dry for 2 hours and finished off the can, per their website. With my lack of paint skills and steady wind I got semi-gloss on most of bike and matte on some. For my first go and a kids bike I'm happy with the result. I pulled off the BB and seat tube plugs last night and they worked great at protecting the inners. If I don't freeze in my garage this weekend I hope to remove the rest and assemble it with my daughter.

Down south

Good post @AntonioGG, I agree that the Corroza Trial has confused the shit out of several of the other trails. I have a buddy who was riding there a bunch a few years ago, and he created a segment called, "doesn't get anymore confusing than this." But since Strava reports that I've done that segment 25 times (just this direction!) in the last 3 years, I reckon I don't get very confused... But since I rode the peak loop both ways and Corroza, and the Trail Party line (yes, three trails go though a largely unmarked rock slab here), you can see why the segment name makes sense: Although the good news is that the Corroza trail has largely (and finally) reverted to wide corridor, beginner level fast singletrack. And it also has a ton of off-trail rock crawls and rollers to play on if you're so inclined (and I am). It's fun to randomly hit a rock spine or slab and then ride it to see if you can connect it back up to the trail...or if you're SOL and have to walk it out because you're not Danny Mac. And I'll add that the concert venue also made for some confusing gaps in the trails, particularly on Race Loop and somewhat on BEG. I'm also bummed at the state of the Inner Loop. Looking that the Inner Loop segment, only 4 Strava individuals have ridden it since the Corroza trail cluster-fuck in 2017...including me, and I led 2 of the others through it...and the 4th individual is a follower of mine and likely was using my route to navigate! So yeah, it's just me, and my activity hasn't been able to keep nature from recovering this trail. So it's a total loss unless they organize a work day to clean it up and re-route some bits. It's a shame, because it has some really nice slickrock spots.

Truly timeless.

Are you sure it was a beaver?

Yes, there's a bunch of trash around there. Surprisingly no beer cans, just soda cans, which is disappointing to me on a mischievous level.