Ridenfool

This is Texas y'all. 🤠 The correct nomenclature is "Howdy" with a smile. Most importantly, do it for you, not for them. If it makes you feel good you've succeeded. This reminds me of a time when I had a friend and his daughters in the car and we were headed to my mom's house out in the country. I'd wave at every car I met, as I always had. On the way out we met a car we had met before and I waved, but this time they didn't respond. One of the girls asked why. I told her it was because this is a one wave street.

The current wunderground Austin forecast for rainfall tonight, Tuesday, and Tuesday night is two hundredths, three hundredths and four hundredths of an inch. respectively. That's less H2O than a couple of riders will sweat on a lap at Walnut. Maybe not enough to effectively keep the dust down. Doesn't this indicate that there's a 40 or 50 percent chance that it might lightly mist for a few minutes every now and then?

Even with shiny canisters deployed? I had thought the city might have decreed pavilion only for that sort of thing as the ones with the shiny bits I've attended in the past were always at the pavilion.

In the interest of forming a successful parking strategy, will Tuesday's activity be held in the usual main parking lot hangout, or, will it be done over at the pavilion?

Went out to do some work in the shop on things for the van a couple of weekends back. Spent two days cleaning up the shop and didn't hit a lick on the van projects. Hoping to make up for it this weekend by returning the shop to its more normal chaotic state, 😎

Or goats. Or aquariums AND goats. If there's one think that goats know about, it is how to kid around.

I think I'll take the full squishy Salsa Big Mama and replace the shock with aluminum tube stock. This would make it an instant hard tail, with adjustable head angle and BB height simply by using different length bars where the shock was. It probably won't get ridden any less, and should gather dust just as effectively as the "second bike" does now.

Yeah, I know the feeling. well. That old bridge could be an exhibit in the RHR Museum of Unnatural History as an example of how long a rickety bridge can last. (it was actually fairly well built before the years took their toll on it.)

Paul sent a pic of work being done. The Carpet Bridge is getting a makeover, courtesy of the efforts by a High School MTB team. Edit: and the generosity of RHR's owners for materials. Looks very stout. Can't wait to check it out on the next ride out there.

Achievement of the Great American Vacation scenario is the last big hurdle. That once-a-year multi-state trip and extended mileage weekends are drawbacks for me at this time. Though as AntonioGG relates below, the commuter class of use is already there, with overnight charging at home and some employers providing charging in the parking lots. Electric will conquer internal combustion once charging technology advances to the point that convenient locations are available to fully charge a vehicle in minutes rather than hours. Once this happens, economy of scale and reduced maintenance costs will bring the practical TCO over the life of the vehicle into an acceptable range for average buyers. The sea change will be dramatic and IC will fade away.

There's no need to bring @Shinerider's employer into this. But, if you did, he'd win.

I'm a late adopter and tend to buy a bike on close-out a year or two after production. Don't think I've ever paid over $2K for a bike. Though I have thrown more into bikes in upgrades, and would likely do that anyway. Still, seem to keep up with all the goodies that make a bike nice to ride while maintaining a reasonable budget at the same time. There is rarely instant gratification or impulse shopping with this strategy as it often takes months of perusing the sales before I make a purchase. I figure I'll be riding it for years anyway, so it doesn't matter if it is a year old when I buy it from new old stock some place is clearing out. But yeah, I believe you are right. AB's points regarding spec close the gap, but it feels to me like there is more than those differences would account for.

Somebody sent me a link to this. https://www.vintageelectricbikes.com/products/scrambler-s

I found a crank length calculator online. Based upon inseam length it says I need a 186mm crank. 😕

An aspect of this is just how complex setup can be on many of our bikes. Do you really want to help setup a full suspension bike for each renter, or, worse yet, get a bike back that has the setup jacked up badly? What if they adjust the seat angle, bars, controls, and dial in the suspension to suit them? Even if they know what they are doing and do it right it will no longer be right for you. For cruisers and even hardtails with suspension forks it could be a way to make a buck or two. Renting out nice full-squishy bikes may be more trouble than it is worth.

Some people just want to watch the world berm.

Is this really just another thread about goats?

I was sincerely praising HOW you most often do this by creating a specific thread for your request. 👍 As opposed to when folks are "asking for" in a thread that by title should be more about "offering" things to give away to folks who may want them.

Have you considered gluing decorative macaroni to the chainstay protector? This could serve double duty by providing an emergency source of carbs as well as making the protector look quite dapper!

There's no denying that trails evolve through use. There was a smart fellow involved with construction of a college campus who chose not to build the sidewalks until after the students using the campus made the paths they preferred to use anyway. Often enough accepting new lines as minor deviations can be a second-cousin to this strategy.

Lessons learned so far in this thread: Statistics for heart attacks while riding road are up. Ride more trails. CPR is, by a ratio of 10/1, more about reduced guilt for those at the scene (from knowing they tried) than it is about any realistic chance of a successful push-start. If it is worrying you, get tested. Stress is a killer. If it isn't, the option is to enjoy the reduced stress that can come from the rolling of the dice. Feel lucky punk? Eat more bacon. 🥓🥓 DUH! Consider wine as a viable alternative to beer. (how do Cider and Spirits stack up here?) If taking a stress test, watch the technician. If they pick up the phone, step off the treadmill. Take it easy and enjoy the ride. The future for geezers trying to push the performance envelope is highly uncertain. If there were ever anything in that wheelhouse for us to prove, embrace the fact that this ship has probably already sailed.

I keep expecting to hear from the Waltons that they are installing a lift on Coler, with passes available in the Gift Card section at Wal-Mart.

If I'm gonna go I want to die face down in the dirt with some buddies around to see it. (spoken in the voice of Walter Sobchak)

Wait, this isn't about goats? I thought we were just speaking in euphemisms about getting all the kinks out of our chains.

From Rock-n-Roll lube website: " The formulation goes deep down into the chain and traps any dirt. Then, with the energy of the chain freewheeling backwards, the dirt and grit floats to the surface so you can wipe it all off, leaving a new and clean application of lube inside the chain, where it’s needed. The lube down inside the chain creates a protective membrane to seal out dirt and moisture from the moving parts of the chain. As well as holding in place the best lube on the planet, for longer chain life, super smooth shifting and pedaling. " Because you can actually hear the difference by checking for it as you clean the chain this description from the manufacturer is pretty easy to corroborate.