Ridenfool

Trail conditions are excellent and anyone with time off for the Turkey-day holiday can expect good temperatures and clear skies this week. There is forecast a chance of very light showers (0.03") in the AM on a couple of days to knock the dust down and tighten up the trails.

Camping is a consideration for anyone wanting to do a lot of riding, or who just likes sleeping in the woods and hanging out with friends.

In the past few days there have been several more berms added and some trees removed in places to provide better flow. Plus, a Toucan can now be found on a perch decorating Rabbit Hole if you can spot it.

Come get some. You know you wanna.

9 minutes ago, Albert said:

I'm planning on going out there on Friday, probably around 11am or so.

If nothing comes up I'll plan to join you for a lap. I need more excuses to ride rather than work on trail. 😁

The only thing I have planned Friday is watching the second Starship orbital test flight. Launch window is 2 hours, starting at 0700.

With the higher temps and humidity cycling lower each day it likely will be okay by tomorrow (Wednesday) and great on/after Thursday.

Yesterday I skipped Black Trac, but a friend rode it without issue. I did find a couple of greasy spots on Rabbit Hole, but it wasn't terrible. I expect today was better. Everything else was just about perfect on Saturday.

I didn't get out there today, though the Pivot Demo was on site. Paul told me he had suggested the Demo tell their riders avoid Black Trac and Rabbit Hole,

It will likely be okay again by Friday or Saturday if the weather forecast doesn't change.

Edit: Forecast has improved, so trails may well be fine as frog hair by Thursday/Friday

On Friday I finished up the work on that last new turn for Rabbit Hole's exit climb by creating slighter slopes before and after a new switchback. Rode it on Saturday, and may have actually got first wheels on new work for a change. I cleaned it first time. Though I will dig a little more on the back side of the switchback to provide plenty of room to comfortably carry speed through the turn.

Overall, the added length to that section, along with a reduction in overall percent grade, should make it easier to get out of the Wonderland Zone (the Rabbit Hole trail, with Tea Party, and The Jaberwock TTF). Paul's latest berms have Rabbit Hole flowing very nicely.

Once back up to the top, riders are rewarded with the Sofa King Fun Trail downhill run past the sofa, followed by The Grind, The Wall, and Reveille's Romp on the way to visit the Fofenique Flamingos, and fly down Home Stretch to finish the loop.

If you are suffering from chronic lack of abuse, come get some therapy at RHR. Counselors are standing by.

Cycle Progression and Pivot Cycles are hosting a demo ride at RHR on Sunday, November 12

Current forecast is looking good with possibility of rain very late in the afternoon.

Speaking of which, the Rabbit Hole exit climb reroute has been completed. It should spread the ascent across several hundred more feet of trail and significantly reduce the enduring pain the old route's trajectory offered.

Got out there this morning to finish up some dirt work in anticipation of the rain expected on Thursday. I hope we get enough to tighten up some of the bits I dabbled on as they were a little loose no matter how much I'd tamp with McLeod and feet.

There is a Pivot demo scheduled for Sunday and I'm hoping that will result in plenty of riders to help take that new-trail-feel off of the freshly picked (organic and gluten free) sections.

Edit: Initial reports indicate there's more work to be done on the last bit of the new stuff. There may be a Pick-Mattock workout in my future. Yay!

As coming out of the Rabbit Hole 🚴‍♂️ does bring you back up from down under I can see how this might be relevant. 😏

After feedback and consultation indicated a strong desire by several weary souls to make the exit climb from Rabbit Hole less brutal (14% grade in one spot I'm told) I went out there this morning and made some long overdue changes.

The finished section will be slightly longer, with relatively flatter runs to gain speed going into short, steep climbing turns and more gradual grades between them. I hope this will bring the moaning and groaning down a few notches.

In all actuality, It was always in the plan to do this. Back when originally creating the trail I got in a hurry to bring RH online and used the steeper grade as it was less work in the moment.

The reroute should be opened up soon.

BTW, my last big lap showed 17.3 miles on the wheel TH to TH (GPS will show less). Add 0.3 for the Start/Finish loop and we're getting close to an 18 mile loop. When we started with 6.5 miles after the land sale I never thought we would get this much trail built.

We moved massive amounts of dirt to create raised passage across Lake Looking Glass, an area on Rabbit Hole that holds water after hard rains.

The photo shows finished work on Friday creating levies at two crossings of this low spot. These should keep Rabbit Hole passable after a heavy rain.

Many thanks to Steve Booker for bringing his tractor and dirt expertise for this project.

Also, many new berms on Rabbit Hole and a few more to be found on other trail sections.

More projects in the works.

RHR just keeps getting better and better.

Come get some while the air conditioning is working well.

I suffer from a severe allergic reaction to riding road.

Thanks for the offer just the same. 🙂

One thing I've not seen mentioned regarding the EB, ...

do the riders all get together afterwards somewhere to consume a plethora of enchiladas?

Reporting on some strange behavior at the ranch, possibly a side effect of the eclipse.

I went out to ride, dressed in gear, bike on board, and my buddy sent a text that he and another friend will be an hour late. So, I decided to get in some trail work until then. Filling a couple of holes on the new bits on Lemonade that were uncovered by the leaf blower. Then, while driving back to the trailhead, just as the eclipse was maxing out, I had a notion to go look at a new section I had been pondering for a while.

Fast forward three or so hours and I had nearly completed the new section. Never did ride at all. Got to visit with my friends as they rode through outbound on Mini-Me, and coming back they did a Beta test of the new section and gave it a thumbs up, though it will need a bench cut on one spot before being ready for prime time. Paul had dropped by as well and was able to do some chainsaw work with the Ryobi that Sun and Ski had donated some time back. He came back later with the leaf blower (another donation, from a rider) and polished it up a little.

This newest section will be on Sofa King between The Grind and The Wall, It may add another one or two tenths of a mile to the loop once completed.

Edit: Finished that section. Initial wheel measurement shows it added a tenth of a mile to the total loop.

Today's ride at Rocky Hill will be pretty cool with an Annular Solar Eclipse occurring minutes before noon. I'm planning to start at about 11 and should be about halfway through at totality.

Whether at Rocky Hill or elsewhere in the shadow of the eclipse, get out and ride. It should be a hoot!

With Booker's help via his little AWD Kubota with bucket and backhoe we made significant improvements to the downhill at the start of Pams Picnic Loop. There are now a couple of new big berms to help in carrying speed, a couple of hops, and significant work on the two jumps at the bottom of the run. All of which are easily rollable for folks who aren't looking for speed or airtime.

This should be a fast and fun section after all of the polish we put on it yesterday.

Now that we know what that tractor can accomplish we'll be coming up with some new projects.

Thanks Booker!

Added a little more to what Paul recently built on Lemonade. Can't wait to put wheels on it this weekend.

Rocky Hill's full loop is now over 17 miles, trailhead to trailhead. (that is, without having to include the 0.3mi loop to the Pavilion/Start/Finish line)

Tomorrow, we have Booker (known for his decades of trail building at Jack Brooks Park near Hitchcock, TX) bringing a tractor with a front end loader to do some work on the downhill run over the dirt mounds at the beginning of Pams Picnic Loop.

Now, to recite the mantra, "If you haven't ridden Rocky Hill lately, you haven't ridden Rocky Hill!" 🚴‍♂️😁

Come get some, now that the air conditioning is working better outside.

It has been a while since taking a lap at RHR. Gonna head out there tomorrow and I expect it will be fabulous.

RHR had ~1.7 in. of rain Thursday, which should make for just about perfect trail on Saturday.

Paul has reported having made a couple of extensions, one at the beginning of Pams Picnic and another at Lemonade. These may finally bump us over the 17 mile total loop we've been within a few tenths of while waiting for the outdoor AC to get fixed.

Lastly, the outdoor AC has been patched. High temp will be in the low 70s for Saturday and Sunday.

Come get some chillin' time in the Pines while the Hero Dirt is in town.

I rode Faulkner, seemingly a few days after a major hail storm had dropped leaves, branches and trees on the trail. It seems like it would be fun to ride for the locals, particularly with all the TTFs they have built on it. Managed to get 8.1 miles, and it was a struggle having to stop for blockages often, and used MTBProject to figure out how to maximize the mileage.

It looks like Tyler's club (TBC?) is a very active group building and taking care of these trails.

Lindsey will be sampled on the next trip up that way. Hopefully, in cooler temperatures.

As for the Wookie's question, ArkanSTOL is a "Short Take Off and Landing" competition where they use three grass landing strips (of 5 total) on the Byrd's Adventure Center property.

The object is to take off on the first, land on the second, turn around and take off again, fly to the third, turn around and take off again, fly back to the first and land as short as possible.

They are scored on elapsed time in seconds, which is added to their stopping distance in feet on the last landing for a total score. Lowest score wins. Hence, "How fast can you fly slow?" is their motto.

The fast guys can complete the course in under 2.5 minutes while having to clear obstacles (pairs of inflatable 25 ft pylons) before touching down within designated areas.

Most of these planes weigh under 1000 lb and have from 65 to 400 horse power behind the prop and many have highly modified wings designed to enhance slow flight. Some are antique planes from the 1940s (Piper, Aeronca, Taylorcraft...), many are home built from kits.

Steve Henry won the overall flying "Yee Haw 8" (above) completing the course in 146 seconds after clearing the obstacle and getting stopped in 296.2 feet (measured from the pylons). His plane is powered by a turbocharged three cylinder Yamaha snowmobile engine making about 400 hp.

These folks were fun to watch do their stuff.

I was wiped out after four days of attending this event, riding back and forth to the airstrips to watch, and scuttled plans to camp and ride at other new-to-me trails on the way home in favor of just getting the 9 hour drive behind me.

Headed up to camp a few days and watch some "airplane motocross" at the ArkanSTOL Ozark Backwoods Challenge and will be stopping to camp at Tyler SP going up and coming back.

I'm gonna ride the Tyler SP trails again for certain, and was planning to also try one of the local trails. Anyone have an opinion on which would be the best choice, Faulkner Park or Lindsey Park? (after reading some reviews I'm leaning toward riding Faulkner. Lindsey is described as ATV wide, though no ATV use, with deep sand in a few places.)

Also planning to try the trails at Fort Smith Lake State Park in Arkansas, if anyone has feedback to share.

Any other trails along the way that might be worth a stop?

That would have to be Walnut Creek. Back in the late '80s or early '90s when about all I could find to ride there is what became the BMX loop. It was okay, but we decided it wasn't worth the hour drive to get there from Fayette County.

It has been a few years since I've been there for an R&I. The people density on the trail and the traffic into and out of Austin are hassles this country mouse eschews for the quiet life in the sticks.

I had ridden Emma Long once, a decade before that, on a dirt bike.

You could put an eye out doing that... 😉

There are a lot of new trails since my last visit, maybe a decade ago. Many have some challenging climbs. Though most of it is wide enough for an ATV, it does a good job of weaving through interesting sections and providing a good workout. If you are in the neighborhood, check it out. $5 fee.

Ride it counter-clockwise, particularly on Yaupon and the following trails on down to the river. Trust me. I rode the other way and spotted the "Wrong Way" notice printed in small red letters on the bicycle signs when riding clockwise. It was an awful slog with multiple, steep, uphill sections when going the wrong way.

Watch for any trails marked as no bicycles and avoid them as they will likely have steps and sharp switchbacks not suitable for bikes. We took one accidentally, no prohibition for bikes (sign missing?) where we entered near the Zipline, was only marked as no bikes where we came out.

There can be horses and hikers sharing many of the trails, which are pretty well signed showing who can go where. We only saw one runner and no horses while there on a weekday. Most of the riding was in the shade.

MTBProject has no map of the place, but HikingProject does. We also had a printed trail map from their website to refer to for more detail.

2 hours ago, throet said:

My wife's been complaining for years that I'm constantly gasping for air during sleep, but I've ignored her pleas for me to take action. Finally got around to getting a sleep study, which confirmed moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Anybody studied this extensively? I feel somewhat like I'm falling into yet another trap of our US healthcare system, which is to over treat everything. The thought of sleeping with a hose and mask attached to my face is horrifying, but others I've talked to have said that their CPAP has been life changing for them. I've initiated the order for one, but frankly I'm really bummed about it. 

After things got so bad that I was falling asleep at work, and worse, while driving to/from work, time and again, a sleep study revealed severe OSA. I have been on CPAP for a couple of decades now. It changed my life and quite literally may have saved my life.

By learning more about the many negative health effects Sleep Apnea can cause due to the body being starved for oxygen over and over, and also from getting no deep sleep cycle, it became a motivator for me to use the sleep scuba every night. Being a back sleeper the transition was easy for me. The immediate positive effect upon my restfulness, alertness, and life improvement was the convincer. The few times I've had to sleep without CPAP have been miserable, requiring me to be on my side or sitting up so gravity doesn't pull my jaw down to pinch the soft tissues and close the windpipe.

The only regret I have is not learning about it earlier, as I had likely lived with it for many years (decades) prior to being diagnosed.

Continue to study up on it, find some CPAP/Apnea forums and continue to read up on other people's experiences, equipment, etc.

7 hours ago, AustinBike said:

 

I rode up Bishop's Lodge road and cut in at the bottom of Lower Winsor (first arrow). Then I did the climb up Burn which was aptly named (second arrow). At the top of the Ridgeline, I could have taken Saddleback north but opted for Juan south (third arrow). That dumped me out on 475, where I rode up and down to Dale Ball (squiggly line off 475) where I did a little 2-3 mile lap then headed back down into town to the house. 20 miles, 2100 feet of climbing.

Thanks for the info. I figured there was road involved, so no help for my next trip. I won't plan a ride that uses narrow road with higher than neighborhood traffic speed and density.

Whoever submitted the Burn Trail track to MTBProject must have included the section "Juan" as part of Burn Trail, so that explains why my search didn't turn it up.

What is Juan across, a crossword puzzle? 😉

I couldn't find a trail named Juan that connects Winsor to Dale Ball on MTBProject. If there is another way from Winsor to Dale Ball that avoids La Piedra (without riding road) I'd like to know more about it.

After the ride I learned that you can wait at pull outs on 475 for the shuttle coming down. It will pick you up if you make it before their last run of the day passes the pull out. That was the plan I had for next time.