June Bug

The new Burnet Rd location is next to Little Longhorn Saloon, up the road from North Loop and down the road from Northland Dr.

Some of the trails at Pace Bend were originally defined with a leaf blower removing oak leaves. The same trails were prepped for mountain bike races by raking/blowing the leaves off the trail. Blow away.

REI might be a good source, especially if they are having a big sale. They had a sock sale last year and I stocked up on SmartWools, but I think Darn Tough were on sale as well.

This is beyond awesome. I didn't know they were in Austin! They are major rascally critters and mega scavengers, though, right up there with their close relative, raccoons. Also called ring-tailed cats.

Me too! I was "just riding along" and it was RIGHT THERE a few inches off the side of the trail in Tangle of Trails. If you heard a loud shriek at WC yesterday, it was just me being startled. Little guy (or girl), so hopefully there's a reproducing pair somewhere in the area.

Good to know. Very good to know! There's a UPS store on Braker, in the Domain. Got a Black & Decker hand vac (Amazon) which is so insanely loud I keep hearing protector ear muffs by the charging stand. It's gotta go.

Gotta be a story there... I've heard hydrogen peroxide is a good antidote to the skunk smell, but fortunately I've never had to use it.

I saw an armadillo at Walnut Creek yesterday! Also, two little does -- one crossing the paved trail and the other waiting in the wings.

I love Fiskars loppers, both the product design/performance and their replacement policy. After years of use, the handle broke on my geared loppers and they sent me a replacement, which is still going strong. I also have their secateurs, which have been cranking along for about 13 years.

That's the one I use, but purple band. Never take it off, so don't have to worry about it. Just feel...safer with it on.

It was just this year that I found out Alex Jones is a resident of our fair city and has a studio somewhere in south Austin. Besides being an asshole, he also appears to be a steroid abuser. I find him to have zero redeeming qualities.

It's Wednesday morning. Wet, it's very very wet and still raining. It's also cold. Even when the weather clears it's going to take quite awhile before things are dry. It's not like summer when things dry out zippity quick. Plan accordingly.

This is worse than Room Rater on Twitter. What's the mtn bike version of a pineapple? Gorgeous bike, BTW.

Ooops. Deleted.

It may make sense because they have a shop in Burnet, so it would be easy enough to have an employee at RPR on the weekends. It only takes 10 or 15 min. to get from Burnet to RPR. I wonder if they'll be doing rental or demo.

Someone mentioned on another thread that Bike Farm is opening a satellite shop at Reveille Peak. I had to laugh at the kismet involved. Bike Farm was a profoundly obscure and eccentric shop and I had ridden within 50 ft of it's entrance for probably a year before I realized there was a bike shop there, with the driveway tucked just off Brentwood, close to Lamar. Mechanics wrenched in sheds open to the outdoors, even through the heat of summer and winter's chill. Bikes were stored outside, open to the elements. Then they moved to Burnet Rd., still using the outdoor format to store their substantial bike stock, just in time for Covid, when it's hugely to their advantage to have an open air show room and a stock of reasonably priced bikes. Now they'll be out at Reveille as that place continues to pick up steam. When so many retail operations of all kinds have floundered, they have just happened to make all the decisions that allowed their oddball business model to prosper in what is the craziest economy of all time.

And gravel. Don't forget gravel.

Many wrecks at the trail-to-water transition at the bottom of the Root Drop back in the day. I don't recall anyone wrecking on the way down. Also (IMHO) true OTB's are less likely these days due to improved bike geometry. Old school geometry tended to be steep and twitchy + bitty wheels.

"Bigger than a trail": Grand Valley's Palisade Plunge set to open after 10 years of planning and partnership Palisade, CO is just east of Grand Junction. The Plunge starts atop Grand Mesa and descends 6,000' over 34 miles. Lots of exposure. Lots. The Palisade Plunge (and its 6,000' descent) will be one of Colorado's crown jewels Purpose built by Singletrack Trails and shuttle-able.

Also, the Bike Farm experience is an outdoor experience, so not the best place to shop on a rainy day. All but the high end bikes are outside. The Bike Farm experience is an outdoor experience, so the best place to shop during Covid! I was there last week and it was quite busy.

Ditto. It's Giro for me and only Giro. Between r**d and mountain helmets, I think I'm on my 6th. However, the MIPS mountainbike helmets sit just a fraction too low and the adjustment band digs into my ears, so it's non MIPS for mtn helmets, but the r**d MIPS is fine.

That entrance is very close to the tool stand, maybe only 75 yards if that. I'm glad to know the numbers on the brown Carsonite posts are working well with the 911 system. Also, although this incident ultimately had a very sad ending, I'd strongly encourage y'all to learn CPR or watch a refresher youtube. An Austin road cyclist and friend, Stanton Truxillo, had a coronary and collapsed on a group ride in South Austin. At that moment, a passing nurse stopped and immediately started CPR, which kept Stanton alive until EMS got there and applied an automated external defibrillator (AED). EMS had to revive Stanton several times in the ambulance; he had immediate bypass surgery. Stanton is still cranking along and riding these 12 or 13 years later. He's now in his mid 80s. We did a Red Cross CPR class a few months after Stanton's close call, but I could do with a refresher. Remember that CPR no long involves mouth-to-mouth with adults. Learning CPR will also teach you to spot and administer small AEDs, which are mounted on the wall in buildings here and there, especially medical office buildings which aren't hospitals, at schools and colleges and lots of other places.

AB, I'm glad you were able to help by directing EMS to the person in distress. What trailhead did EMS use to enter the park? How were they directed to that trailhead?

Thanks for all that! I'm well familiar with the communal groover from many river trips. If indeed there are only three of us guests, it should be not too awful. That said, it's a really bizarre aspect of getting to know people. Bringing cell phone and a back up battery for the camera. Memory foam pillows are on the packing list! We're meeting the tour in Hanksville, so we'll miss out on both the bad (traffic jams!) and good (it's Moab!) crazy, but the drive from Mexican Hat to Hanksville via Hite should be epic, scenery wise. Off to print up the packing checklist!

Thanks for the amazing pix! I've never heard a bad word about Western Spirit. I'm alternately excited/nervous, though. Excited about the trip, flipping out about travelling during the pandemic (we're driving). As of last week, there was only one other person on the trip; with Crusty and me that's three guests total. Even if that person cancels, the trip is still going. Also, nervous about the weather -- could be perfect or damn cold, at least at night. We're well prepared to stay warm, but still, it will be October at 5,000' and getting dark early. Did you fly into Grand Junction? Drive? How was the camping scene on the three nights out? Were there any days with a lot of climbing? How big a duffel did you take for all of your clothes and bike gear? I'm getting 2 rolling duffles for us this week. Now I'm considering putting some big tires back on my ti 29er (rigid fork) repurposed as a commuter, rather than taking a full suspension mountain bike. Any words of wisdom or other useful info are appreciated.