CBaron

Me and a friend lead a (young) men's Bible study at my house on Monday nights. We often have 20-30 guys attending and this summer Rhett came over a few times. We chatted MTB'ing but I didn't fully understand the scope of what he was actually doing. Seems to be a solid kid. Cheers, CJB

Figured it out! LOL

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Yep, I lived through all of this and attended many meetings trying to do my part in representing the community and helping to make a difference. No Such Luck. The bureaucratic minds had already been made up long before hand. The Ft Hood study was powerful and compelling. The birds litterally flourished in a war-lick simulation setting. FYI- half dozen years ago me and @cxagent did a deep dive trying to locate the report with no success. IMHO DK Ranch trails were some of the best single track I'd ever ridden at the time. Back in early 2000's it had everything you could ever ask for in Cen-Tex trail. Fun off-camber less traveled miles of trail with some TTTF that were rare features back then. The trail system was not easy at all...but it wasn't so hard that it seemed impossible. It was a rowdy goldilocks level. I truly miss what it had to offer. Back on the Forest Ridge topic... At the public meeting where they made the formal annoucment to close the trail (99'?), they said that they would revisit the habitat in 10 yrs to see if things had improved/changed enough to re-open. 10 yrs later at THAT meeting, they said they didn't have enough funding or resources to do the new updated study! Thus needed to keep it closed. (this was the one where they Ft Hood study was offered up as a proxy study for FR). Cheers, CJB

I ebb and flow with regard to riding to the trail(s). I'd say my primary determinant is fitness. Once I get a base of fitness I prolly ride to the ride about 75% of the time. The times where I don't are usually because the trail system is a bit further than the OVERALL time alotment I have for the day. All that said, every place we've lived (or bought a house) in Austin over the passed 25 yrs. we have factored in road & mtn bike routes from home (to the trails or group rides). Its not the #1 factor, but its in the top 5 for sure. Later, CJB

This question feels like the same type of "what would be your dream car if money was no object"? I simply don't enjoy playing in those kind of (mind) spaces, its just not real. So my reply is going to be based in reality (of which, my 'dream answer' would lie around there too). I absolutly love the BCBC type of trail riding. I love tight techy narrow off-camber single track that makes you stay focused. The stuff that you have to thread together 2-3-4 moves in a row so that you can keep progressing down the trail. In this same category, I have to give Thumper the nod also. When the weather is really nice, the trail bed is perfectly tacky, and the canopy is clear...I luv, love, LOVE, riding Thumper. There I said it!!.... LOL It'w worth noting though, when I go to Bentonville and ride some of the fun, machine-built, fast and flowing stuff (ex: deep into Little Sugar)...I find myself getting to the bottom to pause and laugh out loud at how much fun those sections of trail can be. Simply put, good single track is good signle track. Cheers, CJB

Back in the HH days, some customers (who were friends of mine), would have occasional gear-gatherings. They'd show up to the shop (which sat on a 1/2 acre) with their bike loaded down with their setup. It was a show and tell of sorts to help newbs and each other with ideas and best practices. Addtionally, I know that frequently their shake down rides would consist of heading out 'into the wild' of Austin trails and simply spending the night somewhere...CP, BCGB, etc.. I've not really done legit bikepacking (even though I followed the sport closely), but on a few occasions my teen son and I would throw a hammock into our pack, grab a burrito and muffin and ride off into some of the 'unmentionables' to spend the night on the side of the trail in some obscure spot. We'd setup hammocks, eat burrito, talk about stuff, sleep, wake up, eat muffin, and then take the scenic route home....it was essentially a basic S24O with my son. @sherpaxc @Mattlikesbikes@GFisher

Yes, It was a first gen Titus RacerX 29er (in red). And correct it was a chain of halflinks. He loved that you could change(dump) gears up and down under pedlaing load. That was not Huckleberry. I can't recall the customer's name but I bumped into Tallboy/carbon crown guy at BCGB a few years back. The Tallboy you referenced was actually fitted with a carbon lefty and he found some eastern Eurpoean company that manufactured a carbon steerer for the lefty. He brought it in to the shop for us to intall and we politely declined. Scetched both me and the mechanic out a bit. I beleve his goal was to get the bike under 22 (maybe 21??) pounds. Cheers, CJB

Back in the HH days, I'd bet we did more Rohloff builds than any other shop in TX. We prolly had 6-7 under our belt. The reliabilty of those things was off the charts. They were German (over) engineered and supposably capable of running 10k miles before needing servicing of any kind. Back then one of our best "use-cases" for building them were actually all-mtn/enduro type bikes. These bike owners care less about weight, wanted something durable that could take a beating, and when crashed or thrashed didn't have any dangly bits to get messed up. Anybody remember Huckleberry from Mojo? The 2nd one we built was for him because: 1) he was an engineer that loved the geekery of the concept, 2) he often tore stuff up. He was one of our bigger advocates. IMHO the primary downside (besides weight and price), was that in 1 of the ratios you could sense some friction drag in t he drivetrain and that would bug ME as an owner/user. Later, CJB

Saw on Twitter that reports have ranged from 50-120 acres burned with about 50% containment. It jumped 1431...but I don't know which side it began on. At least 1 appartment building a total loss. -CJB

Once again...EXACT SAME THING! My Honda Accord I had for 17 yrs finally had its AC go out in 2010 and I too went thru the 2011 ATX furnace without AC. My wife doesn't see things (TX weather) the same way I do and that summer of 2011 W/O AC caused me to conceed to her that it was in-fact pretty damn hot and miserable. Last summer (22') wasn't quite on that same level but I was having flashbacks to that brutal summer of 2011. Cheers, CJB

Funny, I came here to say nearly this exact same stuff. ^^^ I too grew up in South TX. My first car didn't have AC and I owned it for 3 yrs and drove it all over TX without giving it much thought. More recently, I had a job that allowed me to bike commute to work. I found that if I road year-round, I could pretty much ride in any weather...blazing heat and freezing cold. Although I like the heat MUCH more than the cold. I will say that as I get older (50's), I find myself a bit less tolerant of each extreme. But I sorta think thats a product of me getting 'softer' over the years....I coudn't imagine have a car without AC for 3 yrs now. 🙂 Additionally, I do think our attitude towards (things) and our mental state about (most anything really) riding plays a strong factor into stuff. Anyone here familiar with David Goggins? I find his story facinating and try to use his philosphies to steer my own thinking a bit about riding, life and such. I do think there are limits to certain aspects of riding (and life), but I tend to think we ease up LOOOONG before we ever really brush up against those limits. YMMV.

My little Amazon light is back in stock after about 6 months of being unavailable. I just ordered 2. Cheers, CJB

I've got a 4 bike Thule T2 that I'd swap you during the month of July. But I may need it in August. -Cody 512-694-1319

There's a chance I could be missunderstanding your statement here, but I have woodchippers on my gravel bike (back when WC firt debuted). I've got them setup nearly like 'road bars' with a great hood position and a quality drop position for my bike. Its late, but I'll try to get a photo to show this tomorrow. I dig them. Cheers, CJB

Well it seems my beloved Shenkey light is no longer avaialble at Amazon. I bought a few of these over the yrs and really grown to love them. Recently dropped one on the tile and it no longer works. The other has been lost somewhere (prolly on a camping trip). Thus I'm out light shopping currently... If anyone out there has a recommendation for a low cost, light weight, rechargeable, compact LED light that I could run on top of my helmet....and use as an around-the-house flashlight, then I'm all ears. Likewise, if any of you own this model Shenkey and do not use it much, I'd pay full retail price for yours. 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IHIMJRS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Cheers, CJB

Just saw a video that REI is closing their only location in Portland. -CJB

Lots of good info here. The conventional wisdom up there is to plan for the sharp shale bits & scree you'll encounter. In general the trails seem to be a bit smoother and faster than our stuff here. The machine cut nature of how they are formed makes the terrain less like the "worn in chunky goat trails" we ride in Austin. But sidewall slashes and embedded shards are a real thing up there. I've been there about 10x and I'm averaing a flat 1x per 3 trips. I rarely ever get flats here in ATX....and I don't change my tire choice when I go to B'ville. Cheers, CJB

Thats a good deal for a full carbon frame & DA components. -CJB

That Surly Corner Bar is genius. -CJB

Needs more work. Here is a recent map I've been updating as the cleanup progresses. It may look like more work is done that what really is. Even the areas marked "known clear" still have some stuff hear & there that needs attention. "Known Clear" actually means that you can now easily traverse this area on foot; its still not rideable. Cheers, CJB

Just bumping this again as a reminder that some of us will be out at Thumper tomorrow doing some trail work. Hope to see you there. Thanks CJB

Workday posted in the Trail Work section of the forum and also on my Strava Post. https://www.strava.com/athletes/6529929/posts/23459540

Hello my cycling friends, I wanted to get this post out in hopes of getting a medium sized crew out to Thumper this Saturday for a morning of trail work. Ideally, it would be great to have 5-6 groups of 2-3ppl to be able to send off to locations of the trail that need work. And there are plenty of locations. In each of these 5 or 6 groups I'd like to have 1 person who is familiar with the trail and thats why you all are on this email. If you have any tools please bring them: chainsaw, bandsaw, loppers have proven very useful. Likewise, bring appropriate PPE along with water and a snack. Thumper Work Day- Saturday Feb 25th 9AM - Park on Fittonia Dr (or along Yaupon). Meet under the tree in the park that is used for EB rest stop. 9:15 AM - Saws down 3hr duration? Bring- chainsaw, bandsaw, loppers, PPE Water-Snack If you have any questions or comments post them up. Thumper needs your help. Thanks, Cody 512-6nine4- 1three1nine

Looks like we are going to plan a Thumper workday this coming Saturday. I'll post up details later this week. Thanks CJB