AustinBike

Third week of October. I know Little Sugar has a lot of climbing, the guys I will be with are not fans of climbing, so that would not be on their list.

Heading up in October with some folks for a few days of riding. I'm planning to go up a day or two early and do some solo rides before they all arrive. Looking to ride something that I have never ridden before. Right now I have Kessler Mountain on the docket and am looking for a second trail that is not something I have ridden before, so NOT one of the following: Slaughter Pens Back 40 Blowing Springs Hobbs State Park Coler Mountain Lake Leatherwood Passion Play Is Little Sugar worth the ride? Any other options?

That would be nice. 12 miles could be a nice little double lap 🙂

It seems like everyone has construction or remodeling jobs going on these days. If you have that, be sure to let these guys know if you have leftover lumber or other building supplies. Don't let it end up in a landfill.

We saw that pop up. Pics look legit. It is on the list, hope to get there soon.

Anyone riding tomorrow? Have missed the last few because of temps and will miss the next few as well, was hoping to ride tomorrow night.

Ouch! Were you wearing full finger gloves?

I've generally found that after about a dozen rides your brain totally locks into the differences between bikes. I can walk into my garage and grab any bike and my brain knows "ok, it's the purple one, it will handle like this..." Basically, once I've dialed it in for the first time, muscle memory takes over. I can go from riding the FS carbon on BCGB on the weekends to my street bike on Monday and then my steel hardtail SS for the R&I and my brain runs on autopilot. But each of those needed about a dozen rides to lock it in.

We now have substantial wildfires in the general Austin area. This does not bode well for future riding. It is just a matter of time before the greenbelt has a major fire.

Pharma is totally helping. It's people who aren't. Here's a snapshot from Canada: And here's a snapshot of the US around the last wave: Hospitalization and death are what Pharma is focused on and they are nailing it. But it is even having an impact on overall infections. I think the issue is that a.) too many people thought that vaccinations would just wipe it all out and b.) too many people thought that if enough of the population got vaccinated, that would not need to. This is going to be endemic, like the flu. We'll have a yearly shot eventually, but it will always be with us.

Boosters are not really designed to prevent you from getting it. The boosters are designed to prevent serious infection, hospitalization and death. Be thankful you are boosted, that is probably one of the reasons that you are doing well so far. Early on the vaccine helped prevent infection on the OG strains but the stuff we are seeing today is incredibly transmissible. But hospitalization and death have stabilized, they are primarily in the unvaccinated ranks, vaxxed people are a tiny part of those numbers.

I did my second booster with Moderna (after 3 Pfizers). There was a lot of medical talk that the mix and match approach works well because it makes your immune system work in different ways.

Yeah, think about this, I'm sitting on a $22,000 property tax bill for a relatively standard house in Central Austin. With a 10% cap, in 5 years that bill will be $32,000. Ouch. Now, I can sell my house and buy something in CA where we are looking for the exact same amount as we could sell this house for. At the same price our property tax will be $15,000 per year. In 5 years, that bill will be $18,000. Relying only on property tax will be Texas' downfall. It is very possible that as this system collapses they will be forced into a state income tax as well.

Heading to NM in 2 weeks. Will definitely be restocking while we are there. As my wife put it, it's like having a glass of wine, takes the edge off the day.

Be careful on the paxlovid because there is a "rebound" for ~5-10% of the people. They basically get cured, they believe, and then on day 7 or so it comes back. If you are stopping it you may be more likely to get the rebound, so keep testing. There is talk that in the future they may do a 10-day regimen for paxlovid based on this because the 5-day regimen for some people. Anyway, take it easy and you will hopefully be fine.

There is little good news for people buying in Austin. Values went up 30-70% in the past year, so a $20-40K drop probably puts it way over where it should be. My assessment went up ~65%, I had a friend who had his assessment go up 75%. While tax increases are capped at 10% per year, this essentially says that I am guaranteed to get hit with 10% a year for the next 6 years or more. I am finding that suburban CA is actually about the same price as living here for me. Even with a state income tax and $6/gallon gas. It's crazy here.

The latest data on long covid is that it seems to hit both younger people and active people. The current thinking, for what it is worth, is that trying to jump back in and push yourself (which is something young people and athletes tend to do) is causing lots of downstream issues and long covid. Take it easy and do some reading. Trying to get back into it too early could be detrimental to your health.

That sounds like a good plan

Because it is just as much work as regular drinks, and the volumes are lower. It all makes sense to me. Decaf coffee takes extra steps, for instance.

I did that with Tivos back in the day. Typically it was the power supply and you could buy a replacement model on eBay cheap just to get the PS.

Bullshit. Plastics! The future is plastics.

That is the best way to tell me to buy a new lever. I don't need the hassle.

Thank you Garmin, I was not aware that this was an issue today.

Been struggling for more than 2 weeks with what I thought was a bad bleed. I hung my urban bike the other day and this morning the grip had fluid on it, so clearly my lever is leaking. Watched a video on YouTube and the repair looks to be a little more involved than I care to be. New levers are $55. Does any shop handle Shimano lever service or rebuilds? Knowing how cheap it is to replace that seems like an easy path but I'd rather not fill the earth with old parts if it makes sense to service it. What does the bike mind say? Pitch it or is there someone who can bring it back to life for a reasonable price. (Swapped the brakes from my hardtail so I am back in business but do need this addressed before the fall.)

Don't forget, if you are riding Winsor, ride it up, it makes the down that much more enjoyable. Shuttles are for pansies.