AustinBike

And we have a route that bypasses the few spots that need a little more rest. 

Also from someone else:

Quote

Charlie has also asked folks to stay off the fast down and up dip (I don’t know what it’s called) right after Marks Art in tangle. It is holding water at the bottom and people keep riding it, which is doing a lot of damage. It is digging it deeper. Charlie and crew are trying to fix that area.

And an innovation for dealing with scooters: https://www.scootscoop.com

Bet this comes to Austin soon.

Based on the weather and the impending R&I, I did a ride out at WC to assess the trail conditions. There were over 100 bikes out there today (MLK holiday) and the trails were packed. I found the trails to be ~98% good to go.

Exceptions:

Mark's Art is still too wet, creeks are not helping, steer clear.

Windy Loop is too wet, leave it for another week, it is taking a lot of time to dry out.

Main creek crossing is too muddy on the south side, use the concrete trail to get between north and south trails.

Trails that are in much better shape this week:

Church climb is good

Fence line along the church is good

Point 6 still has some mud on the bottoms of the berms but because 99% of the people ride on the tops of the berms (as they are built for that) there should be no issue.

I was able to piece together everything, leaving out Mark's, Windy and the main creek crossing and it was fine. No mud on my tires.

I'll be out there tomorrow night, another day of sunshine is always welcome to improve conditions.

21 hours ago, Shakey Start said:

So, are we to assume there is a 10mph speed limit to all forms of transportation on Ladybird Trail?

I would assume that. Since I ride it almost every day, I can say that my speed rarely gets over 10MPH for any length of time because of all of the walkers/joggers.

Yes, and based on the size of the device you'd need a huge seat tube. Mine is 30.9, not sure I have seen a bike with a seat tube larger than 100mm, but maybe they exist 😉

1 hour ago, Shinerider said:

Obviously from Europe - the brakes are "moto style"!

Yes, I found that out the hard way one time on a rental bike. WAY too much front brake going over a ledge. Let's just say it was the longest I have ever held a nose wheelie in my life.

That thing is pretty big, where would you put it, under the seat?

I have added proximity sensors on the garage lights, one in the main area and one in the bike workshop. This is primarily because every time I go in the garage I turn on the lights and half the time my hands are full. Especially when taking my bike into the back area to lock it up after riding in the evening. Both hands are on the handlebar as I wheel it on the back tire into the back of the garage. Nice to have lights turn on automatically so I can see what I am doing.

I am not aware of any that have temperature sensors, but if your system supports IfTTT then you should be able to create a routine.

OK, after asking about the wall fans I had an epiphany and fixed the problem myself by using a large hook to mount the floor fan on the wall. Then I bought a remote control outlet so that I can turn the fan on and off without having to get on a ladder. (Also I have 3 bikes that will be in the way.)

15 minutes of work and everything was mounted and ready to go:

Yes, I was just down there today. I rode down the shoal creek greenbelt and saw the scooter/e-bike signs. When I got to town lake the signs changed:

I would echo this, but I would add that point 6 is actually rideable. There are berms and as long as you stay on the berms (as you should be) then it is fine. The only real messy spots on point 6 were at the bottoms of the berms, where you should not be riding anyway. 

We were able to stitch together a good loop that only hit one spot that I would say was widened by riding (but this had been widened a long time ago, it is not new.)

Yes, if you have the choice, I would opt for not riding it, but if you are there and you are smart/adaptable, you will be ok. 

The biggest problem is not the riders who know what to do. We saw instances of people with fat bikes (3"+ tire tracks) that were riding in the mud at the bottom of the berms - this is just stupid.

Oscar Blues had $2 canned beer and starting there puts an extra 4 miles on your ride, which offsets the place at WC that we skipped.

That is a pretty good set of rules. Typically I don't have to deal with this because I'd rather ride urban than pack everything up, drive over there and find out it is too wet. I am lazy that way.

When I said to stay away from Church Climb it is the way up that is the problem. The areas right before the last ledge were muddy. I was able to get off, pick up my bike and get around it without widening the trail or causing any damage. Windy and BMX were different, in both cases I hit a wide mud patch and just turned around. I was going backwards on Windy; the limestone climb at the beginning was a mess when I passed by as well, but there is a trail section that lets you avoid it.

That is a pretty cool demo service. Don't forget that you'll have to deal with the crown race for your headset, hopefully they are taking that into consideration.

If there was an 18-24" secondary path alongside the puddle they'd probably tell you to ride on that.

11 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

What will you do when you get to a non-rideable part? Levitate over it??? Walking around it or riding gingerly around it ain't much better than splashing right through.

Honestly, if you skip Windy, BMX and Church, the other areas are all rideable.

Point 6 had patches of mud, but those were typically down at the bottom of the berm, so if you are riding on the top of the berm (where you should be) you are fine. If you are riding a berm at the bottom I have better questions to be asking.

One of the few points where I got off to walk s here:

If I were riding slower I would have seen the puddle and taken the line on the left. Instead I was not paying attention and ended up stopping, getting off the bike and walking over to the other line. If you look you can see the a dry solid trail on the left.  This was the only standing water that I saw on the primary trails (other than the 3 mentioned above).

If people are not hammering they should be fine. The biggest problem will be people riding too fast that don't see mud until it is too late. All of it is avoidable if people are being smart.

37 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

I know this is crazy sounding...but has anyone ever considered making an R&I a "TW&I". We have quite the crew that is regularly able to clear their Tuesday nights to be out at WC. If we have a crew that size, I bet a lot of work could be done to address all those poorly draining areas. On nights too damp to ride, why not still show up to throw a shovel around for a bit and then imbibe as usual?

 

 

*I am not suggesting tonight to do this as it is quasi-ridable for y'all and I've thrown my back out again 😞 But I have done this before and it worked well.

I would be up for this one night instead of riding.

Any R&I this evening should assume:

1. There will be some dismounting if we get to non-rideable parts

2. We'll be riding slower than usual so that we have more control over the lines taken. 

90% of what I rode last week was totally rideable with no mud. There was 10% where we had to be careful. Church Hill, Windy and BMX are all off limits. Within the rest of the trail there were non-muddy lines anywhere that there was mud. I think I had to get off and walk twice in the normal "core" race route.

Yeah, it was a mess when I rode it on Thursday.

I would be in for that.  Not expecting any wetness in the next 48 hours and the sun is out now. Windy and BMX should be off limits, the rest of the trail is probably in OK enough shape. Should things go south on the trails we could still hit the concrete trail out to Mopac just to spin the wheels and get some mileage.

On 1/12/2019 at 1:29 PM, cxagent said:

For some strange reason, I think there should be trails for riders of all preferences.

Like Lady Bird Lake kind of trails? It is there, go for it!

Like Red Bull Rampage kind of trails? There are not many places like that around here but you should have some trails too. The trouble is getting permission to build or even allow that level of trail. If you find that kind of trail - don't tell anybody!!!

Like something in between? That is most of what is available around CTX. And some really good stuff too.

I ride town lake ~4-5 times a week on my urban bike. I ride the greenbelt at least 4 times a month, usually closer to 8. Not a month goes past that I have not been to Brushy, Pace Bend or somewhere else. I need to do more at Muleshoe  and even find some new trails I have never ridden before. Today I rode some sketchy things that most don't know about and we won't discuss here. Yesterday I was on pavement because things were wet.

There is no one type of trail nor one single place to ride.

4 hours ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

REI actually has a pair on their "used gear" site right now that I'd be all over if they weren't charging more then they did when they sold the new ones on clearance.

That's creepy.

I have standardized on Pearl Izumi shorts. My primary recommendation is that when you find that pair, that short that is so comfortable that you can wear it all day - buy several. Because next year they will change the model and it will never be the same. Spend the money, get a few, it will be cheaper in the long run.

8 hours ago, Cafeend said:

Or they have engineered really good birth control

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

Actually, that could be part of the situation. Out of wedlock birth rates are in the low single digits in Japan. In the US? North of 40% or so.

Yeah, this is a pic of the trail at one flat spot. Normally I would have ridden right where the path was, but because I was going a little slower, I saw the other track, to the left, around the tree, that was dry enough to ride on.

My estimation is that with the rain coming, it is going to be like that friend that starts to sober up but has "one more beer", instantly making the situation just as bad as it was.