June Bug

Love that area. I went to a Methodist summer camp years ago near Glen Rose and we went to at least one TMBRA race at a private venue in the area. Pretty country.

Did someone's camp burn down?

BSS also had quite a few Salsa bikes.

I have fond memories of that store. Before we were married, John and I went to a night spin class there one winter -- we'd push aside the wheeled racks of bike clothes to create space, everyone brought and set up their own trainer, and the spin instructor was Ramsay Wall, who was racing road bikes at the time. Awesome group. One guy brought rollers and usually fell off about halfway through the class. After the big crash, he'd get back up, put his bike back on the rollers and just keep going. Good times. I just googled Ramsay Wall. I had no idea she was a doctoral student in English at UT at the time. She's teaching dance fitness now.

The original BSS building is still there at 1426 Toomey Road. Google street view shows it as gray now, with some broad green horizontal accents. I just can't remember if they ever had a very early presence on Jessie. In my experience, Hill is a fantastic guy. What most people don't get is that he started BSS before the cut-rate internet sales era, and just stayed steady, survived and thrived with great bikes and excellent customer service and many employees who have stayed on for years. Hill has been a wonderful advocate for mountain biking, served as president of IMBA and (IIRC) moved to DC for a year in that role. He's still a relatively young guy, so there will most likely be a 2nd act for him. I wish he and his family the best. So...who will have the Specialized franchise in Austin now? How this will affect Mellow Johnnie's Bike Shop, since they are TREK as well? That said, MJ's does have the coffee shop. At least pre-COVID it was always busy.

Users of the Southern Walnut Creek Multi-Use Path ride on a sidewalk along Daffan Lane before crossing Decker Lane to get to the final stretch of the paved path by Lake Walter E Long. Decker Lane is not a benign little street, it's a major highway with traffic at highway speeds. Traffic coming from one direction crests a hill with limited sight line. A traffic light is currently being installed at the Daffan and Decker Lanes T intersection. A warning light at the crest of the hill on Decker Ln will let drivers know there is a traffic light coming up. Not sure of a completion date...but will update when there is one.

Sad news: Phil of Phil's World passed away in his sleep this winter from a heart attack. RIP Phil Vigil 1956 - 2020 Beautiful obituary essay here: The World of Phil Friends, family remember the life and times of a reluctant legend

Go to Suburban Ninja!

According to a facebook post today (Monday) TREK > BSS is now open. LOTS of bikes in stock which are rapidly selling out, but if a new TREK is on your wish list... Also, the fb post did not clarify if the stores are OPEN open, if they are doing business in the parking lot or what exactly.

Monday morning, Jan 25: heavy showers in the northern Walnut Creek hood around 4 and 5 am; showers and sprinkles continued for an hour or two. Skies currently clearing @ 7:30 am Long stretch of no rain in the 10-day forecast.

This works well in colder weather; when it's hot those bags get RANK if they've been in the sun for a bit. I'd put the poop bag in another poop bag and then put it in the ziplock bag. You may also want to carry disposable gloves for doody bag duty, or maybe some tongs to pick up the bags. Thank you in advance for your service! It will elevate you to sainthood STAT!

So here's the deal. This is such a common issue that there's a Buddhist parable about it from thousands (!) of years ago. As I relate this, I'll add in words parenthetically to make it relevant to the topic at hand. A monk (mountain biker) is irritated by the presence of a bucket of dirty water (poop bags) and a mop (trash) by the door to the meditation hall (trail). Day after day, going in to meditate, he'd be so annoyed and think, "Why doesn't somebody empty this bucket (pick up poop bags) and put the mop (trash) away? It's ruining my meditation." Of course, he has a MAJOR epiphany and realizes that if he's annoyed by it, he can address the issue by emptying the bucket and putting away the mop, which he does, and thereby becomes a much, much happier monk (mountain biker). We can all clutch pearls, whinge and carry on, endlessly fret about all the awful people who are harsh-ing our mellow, but if you don't take action by cleaning it up yourself, it will still be there bothering you. In case you are still wondering, this will not change, ever. That's just how it is, unless you live in the city-state of Singapore, which has insanely draconian laws against littering, spitting, selling gum and other innocuous activities. 10 Weird Laws in Singapore

Some rain last night just south of Walnut + cold nights and high humidity -- so not a lot of drying going on. Warm today and tomorrow so who knows.

Ochre. I like it.

Monday: Rode over to the Millwood Library on Amherst to pick up some books curbside, mostly via Northern Walnut Creek path. Sad snowmen here and there are mostly what's left of The Blizzard of 2021, although there was still some slush on one of the bridges west of Metric.

Heavy rain this morning; snowing steadily in north Austin for the last two hours. I could take one more day of this and then I'm ready for sprinter -- that Texas spring + winter thing that happens between now and mid-March.

1.3.2021: The sale is happening: bicyclesportshop.com/sale/ Garmin Edge 530, 820 1030 -- all significantly marked down. Garmin Edge 820 is $244. This is just the Edge, not a bundle. Items are listed randomly. For example, other Garmin things (like mounts) are scattered around. Easiest to filter by brand if you know what you want.

Just looked online -- $140! 5-10 Trail Cross LT Please post a product review after you put some miles on these. They look like a good option for summer.

RIP the Brazilian food restaurant between Clown Dog and Posse East; it's now Taco Joint Takeout. Clown Dog Bikes, next door, is still open. Their location is close to campus, which has been deserted for months, but they are still operational. They are literally a hole (trapezoid, actually) in the wall shop, opposite end of the 3-business strip mall with the Posse East at Duval + San Jacinto, down the block from Crown and Anchor.

That is what I was looking for! Thanks.

Santa brought me some WTB Raddler 40 x 700 gravel tires for XMas. Is there a source for what max size internal rim width will work for this tire? We have some older 29er wheels to mount them on, but I don't want to get into a ride and discover that the tires will pop off that particular rim. I didn't see anything on the WTB site that addressed this.

There's some neuroscience to this, or at least some teaching mountain bike skills in the past thought so, and it has to do with not activating the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. It manifests as a drama queen element for me, You are so gonna die! but not in a way that has appropriate perspective. Like this weekend when I was on grass and riding onto a sidewalk that was about 2". I looked at it a second too long and...stopped. I was on my commuter bike, but SRSLY? I was aware at the moment what was happening. Had I shifted my vision to where I was going, it would have been, literally, a non event. "Look where you want to go rather than what you want to avoid" is also in this category. Of course, there's the scenario where you really might die, so it's not like that part of your brain isn't useful.

One store that's probably still open: In the Before Times, I rode my bike over to the the Domain to buy my SiL some fancy paper at the fancy paper store and went past a Peloton storefront. They're probably doing OK, but who can ever forget this:

Back when there was a tiny bike shop run by a somewhat eccentric guy at the intersection of 29th and Fruth, a half block off Guadalupe. The bike shop was at the south end of what at one time likely had been a convenience store. The other end was an army/navy surplus store. I just checked on google maps and although almost every other piece of property around it has been developed, the Quonset Hut military surplus store is still there in the same building, unchanged. For reference, this would be about a block away from Spider House Ballroom and the Taco Shack on Guadalupe and up the street from Trudies mexican food. Is Firehouse Bikes still in operation? Also noticed yesterday that Chango's on Guadalupe has closed. Their fresh corn tortillas were awesome.