June Bug

There may be a current issue if you're trying to cross over 183 where 51st tees into the YMCA and on to the Southern WC Multi-use Path (or the reverse). There'll be a bike/pedestrian flyover to cross 183, but from what I understand, it's not yet connected. The top part has been erected for months but the ramps have not yet been added. Thanks, AB, that will come in very handy in the future!

I don't know if any of y'all use Trailforks; I haven't looked into it. However, this update via PinkBike.com has a review on an interesting upgrade called Trail Grade Visualization, to help riders better understand what's in store in steepness of climbs and descents on trails. The article also shows some process in how Trailforks developed the visual aspects of this upgrade. Trailforks Introduces Trail Grade Visualization If any of you do use Trailforks instead of, for example, mtbproject, would you give a review on pros and cons? Any other trail apps worthy of consideration?

We're gonna need one later this week. Who'll be laughing then?

A careful read of the article I saw led me to conclude that off-leash dogs and owners who didn't clean up after them created 99% of this problem, leading directly to the draconian entry fee to cut down on the problem. As much as I hate to lose access, I think the HOA is doing the right thing. This is huge and seemingly intractable problem in our city; a certain percentage of dog owners in this city simply do not GAF. Remember when Bull Creek Park had to be closed because of the high E. Coli content in the water? It's why I'm incredibly pissed about the City of Austin land by the Domain (on Braker Lane) being used for a soccer stadium. That could have been a great urban park with a well-designed, self contained dog park, for the umpty bazillion dog-owning residents in the numerous new apartment complexes going up within a few blocks who will soon be bringing those dogs to Walnut Creek.

The trail was laid out primarily by Britt Jones, a mountain biker and an employee for Water Quality Protection Lands, which owns the Slaughter Creek tract; trail location and routing were very closely monitored. Britt was extremely careful to avoid low-lying swampy areas and any other problem areas. Unlike most venues in the Austin area, they have the ability to close the trail down when the trail needs to dry out, including right now. Slaughter Creek was OK to ride 23 hours ago, but too wet to right now, according to their fb page. Yes, this played out exactly as described by cxAgent. That intersection was an accident waiting to happen: as noted above, people blasting down hill, while on the crossing trail, a rider would be accelerating to hit The Wall at speed. Unfortunately, some walkers have opened that fall line back up, thinking it was the right thing to do, since it was avoiding cyclists. I'll have to check to see if it's been closed off again.

Ditto. SKRATCH for me. We ended up with some samples after volunteering at the Telluride 100. It's the official hydration drink at that race. It works incredibly well when it's hot, hot, hot. You can get various formulations (more sodium, less sodium, caffeine, etc.) Just checked their website: they have regular activity, sport, wellness (a rehydration formula for seriously dehydrated adults and children), and hyper hydration formula. When it heats up again, I'm going to try Tailwind, which is all carb (glucose/sucrose), some sodium. Developed by a Colorado endurance athlete. If you're inclined to try it again, do a more dilute mix. It may be that the sodium content is more than your body needs at the moment, especially if it's not very hot. Or just sip the SKRATCH and follow up with plain water. But yeah, the price is right for plain water.

Thanks for this update! Good to know.

Thanks for the tip. Will try lots of Oxy-clean.

Kind of garage-ish related and a warning. First, NEVER, EVER put gasoline soaked clothes or rags in the washer. Advice from the internet: Never ever put anything that still smells of gas in the dryer; it can catch fire. DH spilled some gasoline on the leg of his pants on Saturday. Couldn't believe how much it smelled. No problem, I thought, those pants go straight in the washer with some random clothes, hot setting, regular amount of laundry detergent and life goes on. But no. The clothes still stink of gas fumes, the front-load washer stinks of gas fumes and I've tried all of the internet recommendations to get rid of gas stink. For the washer, one cycle each of the following (with no load): Wash cycle with 2 cups ammonia, soap and hot water. Worked about 75% Wash cycle 2 cups vinegar, half box baking soda, and soap. Result? Washer has stronger gas fumes Most of the clothes have been soaking in a bucket with hot water and high strength Simple Green and still smell of gasoline funk. One suggestion was to leave the pants out outside in the sun and then overnight, and they don't smell too bad. These are expensive nylon Kuhl pants beloved by Crusty, so still need to wash them by hand with Dawn dish soap and try to salvage. So, lesson learned. Again, NEVER, EVER put gasoline soaked clothes or rags in the washer. They have to air out completely and then treat with Shout, Zhout or some enzyme based cleaner on the stain (according to the internet). Getting some Shout today to spray on the rubber gasket of the front-load washer and see if that helps. Any other suggestions that have really worked will be appreciated. I'm close to throwing some of the clothes in the trash (cotton socks, washcloths, t shirt), but I like my washing machine and I can't wash clothes until this issue is solved.

Just a guess that there is zero possibility that e-bikes will heed the 10 mph speed limit.

Did you get an air/car/hotel package deal or are you driving? Direct flights from Austin? I have zip interest in casinos, but there does look to be a lot of fun riding in the area. Amazing web site with great resources. Their twitter feed is uniquely Nevada/Vegas. ETA: KAYAK web site says that January is low season in Vegas. There are Austin-Vegas-Austin round-trip tickets on Allegiant as low as $156. I think Frontier flies as well. Anybody know how much it costs to bring a bike along these days?

Although I haven't done much trail work in the last few years, I have done a lot of solo and group trail work at WC over the years, including a very rainy winter quite a few years ago where there were some major mud holes that developed over time. Let me clarify the damage cycle. When you ride a damp trail, even when the knobs on your tire make an indentation of, say, a sixteenth of an inch, that indentation holds water, because that's how it works. Six more riders come by, and now there's a slight low spot that's kinda soft. With the next rain, you've got a soft patch holding water that does not drain, people ride through, and now there's a major sloppy mess that can only get worse because it's a low spot that holds water. In the past, to fix that low spot, I'd go out with a flat blade shovel and start shaving the tread down to drain the low spot to the downslope side of the trail. If there is no down slope, then the side of the trail was downsloped to a drainage pit dug out to capture the water. You'd be amazed at how many hours of manual labor it takes to do this simple repair over 6 or 8 feet of trail. Some of these repairs are still holding up, some need to be redone or touched up. Chardog's brilliant berming solution for curves (capturing the water to the inside of the berm) has addressed a lot of the problem areas where there's a curve in the trail, but either way, it's still a LOT of hard work to create and maintain. If possible, don't ride, let things dry out Do your damn trail work

And ARR has for the most part successfully cultivated and nurtured those relationships for many years.

An Atlantic article attributes the low birth rate to the rise of the gig economy in Japan. Superficially it looks like the economy is full steam ahead, but because part-time work is counted in employment statistics, the 3% unemployment rate in Japan is misleading and many young Japanese men are piecing together several part-time jobs to make ends meet. The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies Many point to unromantic 20-somethings and women’s entry into the workforce, but an overlooked factor is the trouble young men have in finding steady, well-paid jobs. Google "low Japanese birth rate" and a ton of articles pop up. From a quick google search on availability of birth control in Japan: Abortion has been available in Japan since 1949 and there is no moral stigma attached to getting one. It is especially considered an option for couples that conceive out of wedlock, which could certainly account for the low number of out-of-wedlock babies vs. the US. Relatively recent statistics show there are about 250,000 to 300,000 abortions are performed each year. Japanese women are big on condom use (80% prefer it); birth control pills not so much but the increasing number of young women using the pill is cutting the number of abortions. Where were we? Oh, right. Yesterday I was at Breeds Hardware on 29th St. If you've ever been to the original (and awesome) Breeds on 29th St., you know it's half hardware with guys in red vests and the other half is high end kitchen stuff/gardening. I was admiring their display of gorgeous Japanese kitchen knives. There were no prices listed for those, so I'm assuming they are out of my price range, but the German ones are an option (> $100). Early on ARR (Spicewookie) bought some wonderful Japanese pruning saws (Samurai brand!) for trail work. They cut on the pull, require a deft touch with some finesse and trail work days tend to be high on the hearty masculine energy spectrum; there were some tool casualties -- bent blades. I think Fiskars brand folding saws and pruning saws are now in use.

More update! "Someone" (Beerworks guys re: TAF) came over and cleared up all of the gravel and dirt sometime on Thursday or Friday morning. All was well until sometime on Saturday, when the IPA crew rode through a sudden and inexplicable flood coming from the drainage ditch. By Sunday morning that flow was reduced back to a trickle; the retention pond was filled with truly nasty looking brown water. The ducks had bailed. So, (G)narnia is clean and dry. The pedestrian/bike walk signals are installed and there are buttons to push, BUT THE SIGNALS ARE NOT YET OPERATIONAL.

This brought back memories of people I blocked on Mojo. Good times!

Just miscellaneous place to post random stuff that COULD be useful, because I read this in the paper, it was pouring rain, I didn't get around to posting then, so here ya go: People steal tailgates from trucks. The actual tailgates. A replacement tailgate runs around $1300, so there's a thriving black market in tailgates, creating incentive to steal them. Plus, apparently it's not that hard to remove them. The couple that was arrested for a rash of tailgate thefts in the New Braunfels area (not so much Austin) did not look that smart in their mug shots, although smarter than some truck owners. You can get aftermarket tailgate locks to prevent this. Nine people were injured in a 32-car pileup on Texas 130, near Harold Green Road on New Year's Eve around 1:09 AM. Happy New Years! That's a LOT of cars! This happened when people drove into a very dense patch of fog and everybody ran into the car in front. Harold Green Road crosses Texas 130 halfway between Webberville Road and Hwy 71 and somewhat north of the Colorado River. I use Texas 130 a few times a month, so this is scary, but useful information. Feel free to post random stuff that COULD be useful in a practical or entertaining way. Or not.

It's close to settled science. A fb friend (actual scientist) posted a link to this info. She studies viruses and bacteria, but still, scientist. Researchers study more than 15,000 penises to determine average lengths around the world

Kinda glad we didn't go. Weather (wintry mix) was awful for the days we would have been there. Still have it on the list!

Fill out your darn waiver -- it's easy! The link is right here.

Are these pedals *pauses for dramatic effect, but not so long it's awkward* FLAT PEDALS?

Thanks, TAF!

The other nice thing about BBRSP is that it's rideable in the rain or right after a rain. The main trails just don't seem to be affected by rain. This is nice because storms come through in the winter, when we're usually there. This isn't true of the Airport ("Lajitas") Trails outside of the state park, which get pretty sticky and muddy in some areas when it rains.

Thanks, CharDog. I thought about calling but need to think how to explain what and where this is to the the 311 operator. I'll see if google maps can help me out.

Rode Narnia today. The crossing lights are not yet active. Everything was good until I got to the north section where the trail goes to the east and two drainages come in that cross the path, with this result. The water coming out of the large culverts was fine; the gravel was pushed in from the drainage ditch between the RR track and the building. Anybody know which mobility authority to contact about this? I don't think it's City of Austin.