JRIDER

Rear - Bontrager se4 29*2.4 23psi

Front - Specialized Eliminator black diamond 29×2.6 20 psi

2019 Trek Fuel 130 travel, 235# riding weight. 

Mostly ride brushy creek and lake Georgetown. 

I rarely have rim strikes with that setup and thinking lowering the front because the sidewalls are pretty stiff. 

Unsolicited ride report. 

Started about 40 minutes late and the bottom bracket started acting up around mile 30.  Decided start loop 2 hoping I could at least finish Courtyard and City Park before bailing.  But the BB got worse with each hill and I decided to bail at mile 62 instead of risking complete BB failure and needing a ride.

 I may give it another shot during Thanksgiving or Christmas break.  I

Das Hugel is this weekend.  Get a good road ride in while the trails are too wet to ride.  Planning to ride it, just not sure how many miles though..

Is there a link to the new 30 mile loop?  I remember there a thread discussing it, but couldn't find it.  Thanks in advance.

I've done 2 partials before and this was my third.  This year's group definitely had more of a business like atmosphere compared to the previous two I participated  in.  There weren't any social groups on this ride.  I expected to run into some folks resting along BCGB or at the end of the HOL, but I was all alone for the most part.   After the HOL, I turned on my headphones (Trekz so I can still hear) and did my own relaxed paced ride. 

Think I was the last one to leave City Park and there was no water left when I got out.  I stopped at the fire station and filled up my camelback with ice water and washed my face.  

First extended break was at the bottom of Jester.  Took a 20 minute power nap under a tree to get a break before the next big climb.   Traded spots with 2 riders between Jester and Thumper.  I finished Thumper ahead of them and never saw them again.  I'm guessing they were the last of the finishers.

Thumper was much better this time around.  The preride with Cody and the work he put into marking the trail helped a bunch.   

I was in pretty decent shape once I got to Walnut,  but my truck was right there.   My overall time was 11:45 which was about 2 hours slower than I was hoping for at that point.  I wasn't planning to be out that long and it was time to go home. 

I don't ride any these trails much, so I didn't have a good feeling for setting pace and effort.  Also, I was riding solo without anyone to push me and settled for a relaxed pace.

I decided to bring my Procaliber hardtail instead of my Fuel which might have been a mistake.   The biggest issues with Procaliber were lack of a dropper post and 100mm fork were causing me to walk more ledges than usual (City park).  I'm less down on the procaliber today, but I need a different fork so I can run some bigger tires up front (maybe 29×2.6).

Another setback was I smeared my front tire in a massive pile of dogshit on the BCGB and had to slow roll for a mile or so to prevent shit from flying on me.  I could smell the shit everytime it rolled up towards me.

Moral Victories:

I wasn't dropped on the slow roll to BCGB which was a first for me.  Maybe this year's roll was slower.

No walking on any of the hills.  I was determined to ride all of the big climbs. 

I was able to successfully navigate through Thumper, a first for me.

No cramps or serious wrecks.   Just one minor fall when I got overzealous on Thumper and tried to power down for a climb.

I'll definitely go again next year if scheduling allows.  Probably need to preride these trails beforehand.  

Thanks to everyone who put this together!!

5 hours ago, CBaron said:

Once the rain started getting a bit heavier, we decided to move on.  Glad it all worked out.  

Do you have an idea as to where your fiskars ended up?  There's a small chance I may be back out this weekend doing trail maintenance.  Additionally, the trail is so lightly traveled that they could very well sit there for a few weeks (and lastly, I know my way around there well enough that I could prolly easily short-cut directly to them if needed).

Later,
CJB

Fiskars were probably dropped somewhere between mile 2 - 3 of the trail when my camelback hit some low hanging trees.   Feel free to use them them if you find them!

I'm tempted to go out there sometime over the next week and give that trail another shot.  

I fell behind and opted to bail out when I noticed I was near the trailhead.  It was starting to get dark and I wasn't super excited about riding that trail in the dark.  It started raining soon after I got off the trail.  

I could see you guys when I stopped and was yelling out to you to try and let you know.   Hopefully you weren't waiting long.

Also realized that my fiskars did not make it out of the trail.  Hopefully they are put to good trail maintenance use by the new owners.

Thanks for posting this ride.

I'm planning to go.   About how many miles of trail are we riding?  I've riden this trail a few times but have not been able to navigate though it very well.  Looking forward to riding with folks who are familiar with this trail.  

I'll bring my portable fiskars with me as well. 

I started off with a niterider 750 mounted on my helmet and I felt it on my head with every bump.  Now I ride with an upgraded niterider 950 on my handlebar and a Serfas light (1000 lumens I think) on the helmet with the battery on the frame.  The niterider 750 stays in my camelback as a  backup.  

There was a light discussion on the old Mojo forum and that may have been where I got my 1,500 total lumens rule from.  A second handlebar light would help you get closer to 1,500 lumens.  But if your helmet\handlebar lights combine for 1,500 then I don't think you need a second handlebar light.   A backup light isn't a bad idea, but I wouldn't ride with an extra light that is mounted and turned off, because you won't have munch luck finding if it falls off while riding in the dark.  

I try to make an overlapping 'figure 8' light beams with the 2 lights which seems to work better for me.  

No worries.  And thanks for the thread bump early on.  Good luck with your bike search\build!

Sold!!

On 9/14/2019 at 1:06 PM, bestbike85 said:

It’s dry and g2g. First time out there. Went out from cedar breaks at 7:30. Pretty wild from there to Tejas Camp. One large down tree that made us get off the bikes. Made it to Russell park with cramps and a busted/burning leg from taking a really nasty pedal strike that drew blood when I went OTB earlier in the ride. Ended up calling it off and getting a ride back to cedar breaks. It was hot, leg was hurting, and cramps were happening. Just wasn’t right to finish it off. 

 

How some of you people do 3 laps of that is beyond me. Seriously. It’s hard to fathom that type of strength. I’ll go do a complete lap here in a month or two when it’s cooler out so I can say I accomplished it. 

I failed several times at doing the full loop before I was able to complete it.  Now a full loop not too bad for me. 

I would suggest doing an out and back the first time on this trail.  Probably start from Russel to Jim Hogg or from Jim Hogg to the dam.   Those sections are some or the harder sections of the loop (Cedar Breaks is the hardest IMO).  You can always turn around once you've had enough.

Price drop to $1,000.  I'll also throw in a pair of Maxis Minion DHR II that have about 60% life left.  

Better shoes with stiffer souls and/or inserts that will displace the pressure more evenly across the foot.  The shoes can also wear out over time and start to flex more which leads to more pressure up front.

Those glued rocks were right over the line I take when the middle is wet.  I probably wouldn't have seen the rocks until it was too late.  Thank you for removing them.

Any opinions on what the trail status will be around 5pm today?

And one of the best ways to become a better mountain biker is to to road ride (or put some miles on pavement).   I have a lot more power on the climbs and better endurance since I started road riding regularly.

My truck in high school (Canal Zone, Panama).

1986 Nissan Patrol.  3.3 liter I-6 turbo diesel. 

I almost always see these snakes while crossing the dam at Brushy Creek when riding at night.  This is one of the snakes I saw 2 nights ago. 

They are usually on the rock which puts them at waist height when I pass them.  I now stay on the opposite end of the wall after having a close encounter with a larger version of this snake.

Any idea kind of snake this is? 

Are these heavy duty trucks being stolen?   

A DPS trooper once told me that heavy duty trucks with brush guards\replacement bumpers are the preferred vehicles for smugglers in south Texas.  He said that smugglers will drive these trucks through fencelines to get away from law enforcement knowing that in most instances,  officers won't destroy their vehicle by trying to follow.  The trucks will eventually breakdown from getting tangled up in the barbed wire, but they are usually able to put enough distance between them and law enforcement before they have to ditch the truck.   The heavier trucks with protection in the front have a better chance of breaking though the barbed wire fences. 

This sucks for me since my truck fits that profile.   Might be time for a bike rack for my car.

Just got a set of bontrager line comp 30 aluminum rims from rei for $260 (sale price) to try on my hard tail.   I have these rims on my fuel and they've handled a few hundred miles of Lake Georgetown,  Deception and RPR without any issues.   They aren't light but they're strong.  My riding weight is about 230 so weight isn't much of a factor for me.   Might be a good backup set to have around. 

Also tried out the new Specialized Eliminator Black Diamond 2.6 as a front tire.  It's got a really thick sidewall so I'm thinking I'll need to lower the pressure to maybe about 20-21 psi. Noticeably heavier than my 2.4 xr4, but I dont mind.  Lake Georgetown slashed my xr4 so I was looking for tougher sidewalls. 

Found some clear glasses on Rim Loop around 8:45 tonight.  PM me if if they're yours and I'll let you know where I left them.

Trail status?  Would like to ride tonight if possible. 

Going next week.  Will do the Franklin Mountains loop on day 1 and try something else on day 2.

I was just talking to my brother about riding Flat Rock tomorrow.   But I have to fire up the grill by 2pm  tomorrow and that's a little too far of a drive for me (from Leander).  

Guess I'll be at RPR tomorrow morning.