June Bug

Trip down memory lane: Vulcan Gas Company (the original one), Armadillo World Headquarters, the original Conan's Pizza at 29th and Guadalupe, the Salvation Sandwiches food cart on the Drag that had a carrot cake sandwich with some kind of flavored cream cheese filling. Pato's Food Cart, also on UT Campus on 26th St. They had a breakfast Burrito Macho that seemed to be filled with everything leftover from when the Pato's Restaurant on 38th 1/2 St. closed up for the night before. For example, sometimes there would be french fries in the filling. Glorious, if you didn't think about it too much. Also Patos, RIP. The original burned down, the rebuild had no character; now the location is Cherrywood Coffee House, about a block east of I 35, near Fiesta. The original Academy Surplus Store (now Academy Sports and Outdoors) on the I 35 frontage road across from Hancock Center. It was a warren of dark narrow isles, but you'd always find what you needed eventually. It's now a rock shop -- rocks, they sell actual rocks. Ozone Bike Department on Guadalupe, which turned into a BSS satellite location, soon to be TREK. My very first Austin bike (Motobecane) in Austin was from FreeWheeling Bicycles on 2401 San Gabriel St., after my original bike was stolen off the porch from our house on 16th and Pearl St. Freewheeling's owner, Frank Cook, passed away in 1999 and his widow Angie kept it going along with the same staff until 2013 when Angie decided to sell. Several people on the original staff had reached retirement age and a change in the city master plan doubled property taxes. Back in the day, pre mountain bikes, it was THE roadie bike shop. RIP Frank Cook. Even after all these years, I still remember him as a wonderful guy.

Do you know if the guy fit the physical description in my original post? Black guy, average build, about 6' tall?

A heads up. Yesterday evening a guy exposed himself to a woman near main parking lot trailhead at Walnut Creek. Here is her description of the incident: I unwisely took my dogs to walk at Walnut Creek park when it was starting to get dark. By the time I was walking back to my car, it was completely dark. I was going to take a shortcut to my car & ran into a young guy, probably early 20s. When I shone my flashlight on him, he had his thing out. I quickly turned around & went the other direction. He did not try to follow me, but I do think he was driving off as I was walking in the parking lot because a car slowed down as it passed me. I had 3 dogs with me, including my 60-lb pitbull who was literally attached to me around the waist, so he wasn't gonna be trying anything, but still freaked me out Another woman (also walking dogs) described encountering the same guy, who she noted tried to talk to her; she described him as "acting weird." Top: Black hoodie Bottom: Black & red Nike shorts Age: 20 Sex: Male Race: African American Build: Average, approx 6' tall Police were notified, but since the woman had left the park when she called, they did not go to investigate. If you are riding at night or anytime and see a guy roaming around fitting this description, you may want to give the police a call.

Harvesting process could be arduous. Maybe durian smell or mercaptan? There are daily instances of porch piracy in my hood. Rings are documenting the piracy but not stopping it.

Yes, Dave Hartley. He did a bike fit for me, recommended a comfy saddle, Mr. JB and I really liked that shop. Dave is an engineer by training and knew his stuff.

Austin Tri-Cyclist used to be in a barn-looking building on Barton Springs Rd. east of Lamar. Original (?) BSS was on north side of Toomey Road, in the first block west of Lamar. Large white (?) metal building.

Breed & Co. is an Ace Hardware store at 718 W. 29th, a few blocks south of Guadalupe. Go in the door and turn left, you're in serious red vest territory; they know stuff. Turn right, and you're in foo foo gifts, garden and high end kitchen wares and china. There's a 2nd store in Westlake, but I doubt that their hardware fu is as strong as the 29th St. store. I miss Performance on Anderson. On a hot day on my commute home, I could refill my water bottle, get some snacks, stock up on electrolyte drink mix and just be in AC for a few minutes before heading back out into the inferno. For awhile the manager was bringing in his older lab puppy, an incredibly sweet and friendly dog, so free doggo therapy. Also, $1.99 chicken fried steak plate at the Stallion Drive In on Airport. RIP.

Many hours of slow, soaking rain with brief heavy showers in the Walnut Creek neighborhood.

Big TREK ad just showed up on my facebook feed...

Not to pile on, but the drive train is backwards.

This just popped up on FB: Bella Vista Little Sugar Trails adds nearly 50 miles to the existing trails. Close to Bentonville, as far as I can tell. "80+ miles of handcrafted singletrack, 200+ stylish Air BnBs in only 54 square miles of Arkansas wilderness."

Checked out Strava heatmap and was lost. There is nothing labeled (no road names/numbers and no cities/towns identified) so extremely hard to orient oneself. Ride With GPS has the perfect search function and format to find routes. Just found this ride from San Saba up to the Regency Bridge. There are some other nice gravel loops up around Hico but that's too far north. Also found a six-day gravel tour around Hamilton, Goldthwaite, Brownwood, Comanche and where ever else. They were knocking out 50 to 60 miles a day. San Saba has The Dofflemeyer Hotel in an historic downtown building that would be fun to stay at as a base and ride out from there.

Just came across a new boutique direct-to-consumer brand out of Sausalito, CA called Hudski Bikes. Apparently, Cali bros go all "Hey, Doggler!" when they see each other if they've been separated for awhile. I'm not current on the appropriate sequence of hand gripping + back patting that goes with this, but moving right along... ...The Doggler, a hardtail aluminum frame with rigid carbon fork, comes in City, Gravel or Mountain iterations, each for $2,000, and weighs in at 24-ish pounds. It can take 27.5 x 2.6" or 29 x 2.1" tires, depending. Bikepacking.com did a review in September: The New Hudski Doggler

Just found this little gem buried in past pages. It's so Mojo. Anyway, there is such a thing a nut powder, peanut butter powder to be specific. There's also coconut powder. Might be handy for bikepacking, but the powders lack the caloric density of the real stuff, so there's a tradeoff. Anyway, back to your regular programming.

For all bike clothes, synthetics and non-wool synthetic socks: wash on hot water setting to get the funk and stank out, always hang dry. Super hot dryer shortens the life of the chamois & lycra in bike shorts and seems to shrink socks. Wool anything gets washed on the cool setting with regular clothes; always hang dry. I hope so. I unsubscribed from all their emails after being stalked/love bombed by Old Navy, who are pretty frantic that I didn't order anything on Black Friday.

facebook update from Over the Edge in Fruita: PALISADE PLUNGE UPDATE: The Plunge is still NOT fully complete & the trail is NOT open.For now, this 32 mile of purpose built singletrack can sit under snow for the winter, which is the best thing for it, allowing the moisture to settle. Depending on the season- snow, water, when access can be obtained to complete final work, you can expect a mid to late spring 2021 opening of the full plunge trail. If things are wetter than usual, or late to dry, that could be pushed to early summer. For future updates, please visit copmoba.org

Thanks for the Strava heatmaps tip! Also, we'd drive out to that area and start from Goldthwaite or San Saba or whatever looks good. Also might get my maps out and check what can be linked up from Mason or Brady. I have zip interest in riding on highway shoulders or, especially, two lane roads with no shoulders and too much traffic. It's very low traffic roads (paved or gravel) for me, which is why that area is of interest.

Never get tired of the classic hardtail aesthetics. The ironic RockShox sticker...*chef's kiss*

Native Texan here and I haven't been. Tried to go one time, but it was closed for hunting. Hunting closure dates are on their web site but summary: From 10 p.m. Nov. 30 until 2 p.m. Dec. 4, 2020 From 10 p.m. Dec. 7 until 2 p.m. Dec. 11, 2020 From 10 p.m. Dec. 20 until 2 p.m. Dec. 23, 2020 From 10 p.m. Jan. 4 until 2 p.m. Jan. 8, 2020 The entire park is closed except to hunters on these dates. tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/colorado-bend

We watch Texas Country Reporter TV show from time to time. Mr. JB was watching an episode about the Regency Bridge, a suspension bridge over the Colorado River. Could be closed to car traffic, bike or foot traffic is OK. Regency Bridge Wiki Alert me noticed that the access to the Regency Bridge was on a nice dirt road so I plugged "Regency Bridge, TX" into google maps and it popped right up. It's west of Goldthwaite, way south of Brownwood, with a San Saba option thrown in. Lots of potential for nice gravel/low traffic paved Ranch to Market roads and maybe a side trip to Colorado Bend State Park as part of a big loop.

Might do a r**d ride with friends Sunday if the weather clears. We were promised a stormy day today, but only got The Dampening here in north Austin until mid afternoon. Still hasn't stormed but it's definitely wet.

A bit more Phil's World Phil's World Trail Expansion Complete Also, Lizard Head Cyclery in Dolores is no more. The owner moved to Arkansas.

I thought Clydesdale was the correct term, relative to cycling.

This is the bike saddle Venn diagram where rabbit holes meet cans of worms meet marital communication. First, the dialog thing. Ask your wife what feels comfy about her current saddle, and what concerns she might have about trying out other less cushy, sleeker options. Could it be that she's concerned that getting a sleeker saddle means she'll be pressured to ride stuff she's not comfortable with? Or riding longer than she wants? Or she just likes the saddle she has? Or she's resisting what she perceives you mansplaining to her what she needs? So, over the years: A lot of women riding road, mountain, whatever, love the Diva saddles from Selle Italia: Diva Super Gel Flo They are pricey, but lots of women swear by them. Selle Italia has this approach to saddle fit: idmatch Smart Caliper for Saddle Sizing Some women also love Terry saddles; I'm "meh" on them, but, again, they work great for a lot of women. WTB was set to phase out their women's Deva models, but so many women liked them, they kept it in the line up: WTB DEVA Chromoly Bicycle Sport Shop (mostly Specialized) has a good exchange/return policy as does REI and they have lots of ergonomic stuff. I'll take mild exception to the idea that the sitbone measurement is pure hype. Saddle makers understand how difficult it is to even begin to find a comfortable fit. Determining sit-bone width using the ass-o-meter is just one metric to use as a starting point. For example, you measure 142 on the ass-o-meter, but find that the 152 or 135 is a more comfy fit? That's a very useful data point for finding future saddles. Ergon and SQ Lab (both German companies) each have their own approach to saddle design to circumvent the most common problems. One brand noted that pelvic tilt (anterior, posterior, neutral) has a great deal to do with the saddle shape feels comfortable. For example, the beloved traditional Brooks saddle or any saddle with a more rounded shape feels like a torture device to me. I mean truly awful. I like a flatter platform aft. So, check out websites, see who has the best return/exchange policies.

I've done credit card touring twice: C & O Canal/GAP (Pittsburgh to DC) and from Frisco to Glenwood Springs, CO, so notes based on those trips. be ready with layers for whatever the weather throws at you (rain, cold, hot). Arm warmers and leg warmers can be really useful charging cable and cell phone/Garmin which has your route loaded up on Ride With GPS, Map My Ride or whatever you're using. If you are using your cell phone, make sure your app shows routes even if there's no cell coverage paper map showing all main and secondary roads (for primary or backup navigation, depending on preference) reliable headlamp with extra batteries and a red flashing blinky in case you end up pedaling after dark usual repair kit, multi tool, tire levers, CO2 cartridges one set of light-weight, quick-dry off-bike clothes, socks, shoes (flip flops?). I used a pair of nylon capris and a mid-weight long sleeve base layer; leggings and tee shirt would also work. toothbrush chamois butter, even if you don't think you'll need it, because if you need it, you really need it lip balm & sun screen even though it's almost winter credit card and cash wherever you're staying will have soap, shampoo, hand lotion so don't worry about those In these crazy times, decide where you're going to get food and confirm that they are actually open; check if your accommodations have breakfast We have some friends who do multiple international and US bike tours every year. They take a piece of Ensolite foam and cut it to fit the size of a pannier. Makes a dry comfy thing to sit on during breaks if the ground is rocky or wet and only weighs an ounce or two. This sounds so fun! Please share a trip report, mileages, route and any useful notes. Mr. June Bug would love to do a ride like this, as would a close friend and her husband.