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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/28/2023 in Posts

  1. We have a trip to Bentonville coming up and my wife has been looking around for a new bike and fell in love with the 27.5" Trek Fuel EX 9.8 she test rode. Got a decent clearance deal since it's a 2021 Gen 5 so I pulled the trigger. Going to surprise her with it when she gets home today.
    13 points
  2. We just finished an amazing seven-day family ride from Teluride to Moab. When I get home I hope to post a ride report.
    11 points
  3. Down under in Coogee Australia. Nothing better than the first ride with your 2 1/2 yr old grandson.
    9 points
  4. The mesa you're viewing is the north facing escarpment of the Mesa Verde cuesta. This section is the Ute Mountain Tribal Park, further east is Mesa Verde National Park. Foreground is a trail at Hawkins Preserve, right outside my door. Bike is set up for zipping about town, to go to the library, grocery store, farmer's market and other errancs. Also ready for bikepacking and riding around at Hawkins Preserve.
    9 points
  5. Spent a couple of days camping on the North Rim. We mostly hiked and gawked at the geologic awesomeness, but I did a little bit of riding on a portion of the Arizona Trail.
    9 points
  6. Old thread but I thought I would add one more to the “don’t ignore it if things feel off” crowd. I started feeling like my heart was racing while riding around Christmas, and thought it was probably because I was getting over being sick around Thanksgiving. It didn’t really improve so I got a 24hr monitor from the cardiologist my Dr. referred me to. I went out for a ride with the monitor which showed my heart rate peaked at 262 with several arrhythmias. Cardiologist freaked out a little, additional tests (stress test and echo) were normal so I was sent to an electrophysiologist who thought I either had an an extra electrical pathway (Wolff Parkinson White syndrome) or more general atrial fibrillation. I had an ablation on Thursday which hopefully treated atrial fibrillation (no evidence of WPW was found). If it worked I should be back to normal shortly. It has been a strange few months though- I’m not super fit but I’ve always been fairly active and reasonably healthy, so this wasn’t an area I was expecting to have problems with.
    9 points
  7. 8 points
  8. Hit the foothills trail in Franklin state park with the Mrs on Sunday. Man that place has gotta be the best TX State park when it comes to MTB trails. Climbing back out is so steep, but the vistas are totally worth it! https://www.trailforks.com/trails/lower-foothills-4626/
    8 points
  9. Brown mountain outside of saguaro national park, west of Tucson.
    8 points
  10. Enjoying the weather in Tucson
    8 points
  11. Today’s ride was quite a bit chillier. Friday was Lindsey Park and today was Tyler State Park.
    8 points
  12. Finally got out for a ride yesterday and felt like i was back in Virginia. Almost 500ft of climbing in 1 mile to get to the main connector. Views of El Paso, Juarez and New Mexico were worth it though.
    8 points
  13. On our way to the Telluride-to-Moab adventure we did a fun ride at Phil’s World. It was my first time there and it was great fun!
    8 points
  14. 8 points
  15. Hooky Day ride for me. Monarch Crest, a tad under 12K feet.
    8 points
  16. Getting ready for a big shuttle run descent from the franklins to the houses in the valley below. Hooked up with some locals and found the gnarly stuff. Definitely some Chihuahuan desert freeride going on out here.
    7 points
  17. Early Spring color on trails we don’t mention
    7 points
  18. Another hard lesson learned about listening to your body, and another lucky outcome. Earlier this month I started experiencing a dull pain in my chest that got slightly worse when I exercised. I sort of wrote it off to aging and angina, since I wasn't feeling any other symptoms, such as shortness of breath, lightheadedness, weakness, etc. The one real oddity was a ride on Jan 7, where I was having to stop after every climb to catch my breath and where my max HR far exceeded the norm for me (and for any 65yr old dude for that matter) at 190. I wrote that off too, to lack of sleep and alcohol consumption the day prior, aka "low body battery". Still, I did make an appointment with my Cardiologist but the earliest available was in mid-Feb. Fast forward to Jan 28 (this past Sun) - woke up excited to pick up my buddy and head out to RPR for some much needed riding before settling in for an afternoon / evening of NFL action. I started feeling some sharper pains in my chest though, that would come and go as I was just going through my morning routine. Finally my better judgement kicked in and I let my friend know what was going on and that I didn't want to chance it, especially knowing the medical response at RPR would be less than ideal for anything life threatening. I woke up my wife and let her know that I was going to just run over to the BS&W Emergency Hospital in Cedar Park so that I could get checked out and back home for the NFL games. The EKG was perfectly normal, but given my past history of pulmonary embolism, they did a CT Scan, even though my D-Dimer (blood indicator of clotting) was only slightly elevated. Good thing they did as multiple clots were discovered across both lungs. Needless to say, instead of enjoying some ice-cold beer that afternoon, I was treated to a steady drip of Heparin while watching football on a hospital-grade (small) flatscreen TV. They found no DVT this time, and surmised that the clots may be the residual effect of stuff that's been going on for the past few weeks. In any case, I'll be on Eliquis indefinitely now given this second episode of pulmonary emboli. Moral of story, listen to your body and don't fear the dreaded "false alarm at the ER", as I've had a few of those myself as well. In retrospect, I should have gone much earlier and just got lucky this time, again. SIMILAR MTB RIDES DEC 30-JAN 13
    7 points
  19. Sneaking out before the rain arrives.
    7 points
  20. Better half enjoying some of those sunny Chihuahuan desert trails.
    7 points
  21. It is always fun to ride in East Texas.
    7 points
  22. Father son project. 1990 Smurf Miata restoration: clutch, clutch hydraulics, shocks, shock mounts, rear main seal (as you should if you do the clutch), cam angle sensor I-ring (super common top end source for oil leaks), shifter bushings, paint touch up, seat upholstery change. Yes in this heat with no AC in the garage. We took this past weekend off.
    7 points
  23. Neuhaus Metal Works Hummingbird in size M+. Ride report coming soon. Nick Neuhaus is a good dude, and you should buy a bike from him.
    7 points
  24. If you haven’t been to Muleshoe this Spring check it out soon! The bluebonnets are peaking and amazing.
    7 points
  25. The festival itself was fun. I had some good times watching the events like the bunny hop contest, the whip off, the last man standing contest where you can't go outside the circle or dab, and the Big Wheel race. The best part was the demos and chatting with people I follow on YouTube. Lenosky was super nice, Jeff Kendal-Weed sat down at my table and ate lunch with me. He was very friendly and down to earth. Mo and Hannah were friendly but having to deal with having to talk to everyone there. Understandable. Heather Munive was getting hit on by every dude there. I felt bad for her. Normal Mountain biking guy (300+lb) was really fast, he passed me on a trail ride like I was standing still. I wasn't there to meet those people, I could care less about that aspect, it was just a small venue and you almost didn't have a choice about it. The bike demos were great and kind of surprised me as a bunch of the big names were conspicuous in their abscence. Both Trek and Specialized were not there. Giant was there but stuck in a back corner. Revel was up front and probably the most popular at the festival. I got to ride the Rascal and it didn't dissapoint. The rear end rode the fine line between short and just long enough to provide some stability at speed. The Gates Belt Drive crew had a booth they shared with Zerode and I got to ride one of those. It worked absolutely amazing but was heavy as hell. There was a bit of drag from the drivetrain when coasting, but not enough to make a real difference. The biggest drawback was the weight. The Haniwha Trail I rode was right around 38 pounds with only about 150mm travel and not that burly of a build. The Pivot Trail 429 was awesome. Great on climbs and going downhill. The biggest surprise for me was the Polygon Siskiu T8. It's just over $2,000 and kept up quality wise with bikes over triple it's price. Climbed very well, stable on high speed descents and would do very well here in Austin. It handled square edge hits better than the Zerode and as well as the Pivot. It was a bit heavy(35 lbs) and the Tektro brakes sucked. It comes with tubes so going tubeless will take some weight off right off the bat. The brakes were the only thing I would have immediately changed component wise besides contact point things like saddles and grips. The trails themselves were crazy good. The best trail marking I've seen. World class views around every corner. I rode three different trail systems, Adobe Jack, Mescal and the Scorpion to Pyramid loop. The Mescal to Canyon of Fools loop was so freaking good. Loads of janky off camber slickrock on Mescal to a killer descent through Canyon of Fools that went through a 6-7 foot deep ditch where there were a ton of wall rides, whoops and g-outs. My next favorite was the Scorpion to Pyramid loop. Do this one counter clock wise. Scorpion was a solid blue trail that basically loops around to the backside of Pyramid mountain and joins up with the Pyramid trail. Nothing too crazy tech wise and has a bit of climbing as it loops around to Pyramid proper. Once you get on Pyramid, the easy going blue very quickly changes to a gnarly black descending trail. Holy crap this was fun. I spent a solid two hours sessioning a steep maybe 3-400 foot descent. There were some parts of it I still couldn't clean. Adobe Jack was a trail loop/system that was rideable from the festival itself. Solid blue with a few black parts. It reminded me of a red rock version of the Lakeway and Steiner Ranch areas here with less flow killing switchbacks and more slickrock. This is where the guy from the Norml Mountain Bike youtube channel passed me on a climb like I was standing still. Here I also got to meet an (former now based in Flagstaff) Austin guy named Hojo. I had met him a few times years ago on trail work days and he recognised me as I was pulling a stick out of my wheel next to the trail. Nice guy. All in all I think it was well worth going to. Bring a bike as the demos may be all out when you get there. When the festival opens, there's a mad dash to all the bike tents and you may not get one in the size you need. After that it's a crap shoot depending on when the riders before you return their bikes. The food was fine, there was a good mix of band and all the vendors had a bunch of stuff to give away. The trails themselves were world class. It's also much higher in elevation than I realized. Most of the trails were over 5,000 feet which is on par with Denver. I was super gassed that first day with headaches that night. Nothing an asprin and a trip to the dispensary can't solve. The next day was fine. Food there was fine but overpriced outside of a few places. The pizza at Pisa Lisa was good, the tortas and burritos at Tortas Del Fuego right across from Thunder Mountain Bikes were killer. Cheap too. The Coffee Pot was a good breakfast diner.
    6 points
  26. I've been off the bike since January 1 this year with a shoulder injury. Riding any bike in any configuration is agony... until now. As I'm working my way through rehab, this is my new ride. Built around a Univega beach cruiser I found at Yellow Bike, I ditched most of the parts and started over. I had to buy the bottom bracket adapter cups and a shim for the handlebar, so I've spent less than $25 on it.
    6 points
  27. The new trail at Brushy is open. It's called Billy Goat in memory of Rob Paulk. He helped build a lot of the original trails at Brushyand and did countless hours of volunteering in the mtb community. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/billy-goat-729615/?fbclid=IwAR2yEYQWcl9eWK_brERaFADb_XYKmrbcYCy_uNFe0IelGgyagpi1oKunrkE
    6 points
  28. After some convincing, got the wife up into the franklin mtn foothills today. She was far from stoked with some of the steep climbs, but the scenery and feeling of accomplishment was worth it. Plus the weather was killer today.
    6 points
  29. I looked up and January is almost over and I’ve barely been on my bike. Uncool. So today I rode.
    6 points
  30. Finally replaced my broken mountain bike yesterday. Revel Rascal bought at Velorangutan. A week ago I made a joke to the wife about a brand new car (she shot it down). So then I joked about a brand new bike (and I was very specific). I didn't think she would actually order a bike for me. I went into Velo to check on Rascals. They said they have to check on inventory and get back to me. They connected the dots and realized my wife had just ordered a bike. They tried to help make it a surprise. They were trying to go out of their way on this Christmas surprise. This shop is a good find.
    6 points
  31. Something about the Hummingbird makes me so happy. That, and riding in temperatures in the 70s.
    6 points
  32. Emerging from summer hibernation today but trails were muddy. Put together a 15-mile "gravel" route to kick off the non-suck weather.
    6 points
  33. puntos = dots, he's translating puntos to points. I had guessed he meant fisheyes. "what's your point?" = "cual es to punto?" punto/a also means point as in the point of a spear. "mi bici tiene puntos" = "my bike has dots"
    6 points
  34. We have arrived. Time to plan. Have a golf cart to deal with now, too, because who would live in Salado without a golf cart.
    6 points
  35. RPR littered with wildflowers!
    6 points
  36. Finally made it to Barkley Meadows Park at the intersection of 71 and 130 along Onion Creek. It's an obscure spot that turned out to be quite interesting. There's a small network of concrete paths, some fully shaded and some not, that ultimately lead...nowhere. One path crosses under 130 and parallels a pond and what I think is an immense borrow pit for construction of 130. It just dead ends, although the park map shows a loop. The other path dead ends at Hwy 71, very close to where the highway crosses Onion Creek. Had conditions been drier, we would have gone under the bridge and connected up to SE Metropolitan Park. There is a bulldozed road that goes from the side of 71 down to Onion Creek. But, there are some amazing pecan trees, shaded picnic tables with a shaded playscape, Berdoll pond to fish for catch and release, a bridge along the Old Bastrop highway on a "closed" trail, an interpretive sign for an archaeological site, and a bazillion signs in large lettering that note to watch for SNAKES ON TRAIL. We did see a snowy egret, a caracara and a hawk. The interpretive sign for the Old Bastrop Highway bridge notes that Fort Comanche (1849) was located nearby, but I can find no references to an historic fort or camp by that name, even on this quite extensive list on the Texas Forts website. It would be a great spot to spend an hour or two with small children able to ride a bike on the paths, picnic and play.
    6 points
  37. Way too humid out there but there are rewards!
    6 points
  38. Not entirely garage related. But the new digs didn't have a really great bike wash option. No conveniently placed trees or whatnot. So this dedicated wash stand had to happen. Because why not slap a Park bench stand on an 8×8 cedar post? I just had to remove and replace a single sod tile. My original idea was to put a swivel plate between the post and the stand so I can spin it around and wash both sides while standing on the laneway. But damnit all if I can't find a freakin' swivel plate with a 4.25" bolt pattern.
    6 points
  39. 6 points
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