June Bug

We had about an hour solid of heavy downpour. Right now, "the sun is shining, the weather is sweet, make you want to move your dancing feet..."

3 pm Friday: Very heavy downpour happening right now in the 78758 and Walnut Creek area.

...and rim brakes!

Was this the Turkey Springs trail system? If so, what did you think? I've heard it's great.

Building new trail at RHR ranch Sunday morning. Details posted on trail work forum.

Posted on facebook on the Austin Mountain Biking page, today, Friday, July 23:

Eeeesh, that bad bruise is right over your heart -- consider it a good outcome that you're still here.

Rode Inner and Outer Log and Mark's Art yesterday evening to take advantage of the overcast skies and slightly, very slightly cooler weather, which was balanced out with soul destroying humidity. Flat spots with deep shade are still damp, but should be pretty close to dry by today. A few of the crossings on Marks Art are wet and very muddy, but there is armoring under it all, if I'm remembering correctly. There is almost no gradient in that area, and as water stands, all the sediment drops out. Some remedial shoveling downstream of each problematic crossing will help.

A friend near Parmer and Metric intersection had 1.25" in his rain gauge from yesterday's rain event.

Monday, July 19: Heavy rain storm this afternoon in north Austin.

True. Before the first paved paths were built in Austin, I thought the 10' width was huge, when they need to be separated as you noted, or twice that width at least. I rode a paved rail trail in Atlanta near the old Sears headquarters. It was thronged on a weekend day with every kind of user -- bikes, strollers, dog walkers, families, runners, roller bladers. It had adequate width and could accommodate all of those users easily.

A friend linked this simple little video on face book for me: Julia & Williams 2021 Casita Camping and Mountain Biking Adventure. I looked up the Red Fleet and McCoy Flats trails near Vernal, Utah referenced in the video. The BLM page with the trail system description also has reference links to 20 BLM mountain bike trail systems on the left side of the page. The names will be familiar to most; it's a nice reference resource for planning trips. BLM UTAH MOUNTAIN BIKING OPPORTUNITIES: RED FLEET AND MCCOY FLATS TRAIL SYSTEMS

There are at least 3 bike shops in Santa Fe that do rentals, including mountain bikes. If Windsor is the outlier in terms of roots/rocks that would be more comfy w/ suspension, maybe rent a full sus for your Windsor day and not have to cover so many bases with the bike set up. Alternately, check to see if there's company that does bike rental + shuttle.

It's been done as a bikepacking trip trying to use as much natural surface trail as possible. San Antonio Puffy Taco Bikepacking Trek Day 1 Ride with GPS Day 2 Ride with GPS Day 3 Ride with GPS Day 4 Ride with GPS

This would be epic if ever completed. San Antonio already has an amazing network of paved trails. HOWARD W. PEAK GREENWAY TRAILS SYSTEM

Pretty sure WC totally missed the rain event yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.

I've been one day off all week! Corrected in my post.

Southies, a mountain lion has been spotted in two different places in the Circle C area. This was posted on FB 5 hours ago (it's Thursday, July 14) If you spot one, let it be and notify the wildlife biologists at Texas Parks & Wildlife.

We got a very brief shower south of the park maybe 45 minutes ago. Things still look a little unsettled but the big stuff now seems to be to the east.

Yellow Bike Project may be your friend. 1216 Webberville Road, Austin, TX 78721 austinyellowbike.org/ 512-524-5299 austinyellowbike@gmail.com I just called; they do have frames. Call first to see if you need to make an appointment to shop. No idea on prices. Perhaps they could check inventory for size and type of frame.

Could of been! Sorry I missed waving hello. I'll bet! We got home around 1:15 -- and were glad to be done. We did our regular Tuesday morning social ride on Southern Walnut Creek path this morning and it was quite pleasant. So relieved to have the traffic light operational at the Decker Lane crossing. The pedestrian crossing button isn't installed yet, but it's still so much safer.

The coolest July I can remember of all the years I've lived in Austin. This morning we rode from Braker Lane/Parkfield over to (no longer) Gnarnia, down Shoal Creek to downtown, across the little bridge and had a snack at Mellow Johnnies. My wholesome pro biotic laced orange soda (20 calories) was completely cancelled out by a large purple rice crispie treat with sprinkles. Weather was overcast and pleasant. We headed back up Shoal Creek 11:30-ish and cranked right along until we got close to Anderson Lane and the sun came out. Stopped to drink some cold water and finish off the rice crispy treat and got going again, but barely. Then a nice cloud bank to the north brought some welcome relief, it cooled down a bit and made the rest of the ride almost pleasant. I'm not seeing any highs over 93 degrees in the 10 day forecast. It is hotter in Durango than it is in Austin.

Where do you source your Smoove? It's on Amazon for $16 a bottle. Sounds like it works if you start with a CLEAN (degreased/dewaxed) chain. Get Smooved: "To make up for all the foolish things I said, tomorrow night, I will escort you to my crib, where I will prepare for you a romantic meal comprised of succulent lobster from the finest sea. We will both eat the lobster and enjoy a side dish of rice with it. There will also be a baked potato waiting for you, and some butter for you to place upon that potato. In addition, there will be sour cream, which you may also put on the potato if you so desire." Rice + potato = complementary starch perfection

Just stumbled on this fascinating 6-part series on bicycles used in military applications. The Swiss did not disband their elite bike corps until 2003. This is on the CampFire.com web site -- they are a bricks and mortar shop in Tucson that is focused on bikepacking. I'll link the first article - there are links to the other articles at the top of each page. A Brief, Illustrated History of the Bicycle at War, Part 1: Boers on Bikes These are the subsequent topics Part 2 The Great War Part 3 The Bikes of WWII Part 4 How the Bicycle Won the Vietnam War Part 5 The Swiss Army Bicycle Part 6 Bikes in the Cold War and Beyond

Thursday evening, July 9. It's raining. Like raining raining. Not pouring, not drizzling, just a nice steady rain.