Ridenfool

Once I'm through dreaming of electric sheep. 🤖

Over the past several months I've re-read all of the Heinlein on my shelves (nearly every book published). Then, I took on Azimov's Foundation and Robot series of books. At this point I am scrounging more Azimov, like the Galactic Empire stories, his detective stories, and may go looking into other books by him to add to the shelf. I like his style. After doing that, the thought of drifting back into a re-read of Douglas Adams' works is likely to be on the map. The five book Hichhikers' trilogy, and the Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective books. Adams has an inspirational quality that is easy to absorb and apply. Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books could be next after that. This is all part of a tried and true periodic manitenance program that may be considered a form of brain debugging. When performed every decade or so it helps sustain a healthy, balanced perspective for dealing with the more ironical* aspects of life, the universe, and everything in a way that, when a moment arrives which is not particularly pleasant, can at least be found to be humorous when viewed properly. 😏 (* a Bushism)

GPS tracks from yesterday's ride indicate the additions to Tristy, Black Trac, and Fofenique have added 0.6 mile when compared to the previous tracks. Yay! That was a big push over the past couple of weeks. Edit: This growth is balanced against some loss due to reroutes around trouble spots. Net gain is in the 0.3-0.4 mi range. Having been going out and sweating while making trail in weather between 45F and 65F has left me completely unprepared for today's scalding 81F forecast. I'm staying inside and resting my weary bones.

We had a fantastic work day on Saturday that resulted in opening up another long addition to Black Trac. It includes three new bridges, some bench cuts, and a reversal of an existing trail section. This new stuff offers challenging and fun trail. Kudos to Paul for laying out the lines for this section, as well as building the bridges. Thanks to Brian, Daniel, and, Jose (he got first wheels on it) for all their help today. Sunday may see a third extension to Fofenique open up, and another new section on Pam's Picnic should get some attention as well. Lots of riders out today with near perfect conditions. Edit: We completed the third Fofenique extension on Sunday. Enjoy!

For anyone interested, Paul has called TMBRA PayDirt workdays for Saturday and Sunday (1/13-14). Work will be on another extension to Black Trac of ~0.4 miles with three new bridges and tread work on the trail to be done. All volunteers are welcome, TMBRA racers will accrue points toward their season score for their help. Anyone wanting to help out with this weekend's project please see the Rocky Hill Ranch Facebook page, contact Paul directly, or send me a DM requesting contact info. Also, Trailforks and MTBProject have been updated to include Kim's Sandy Switch, Rabbit Hole and a few other changes to existing trail. Update the Texas Area to see the changes. (MTBProject updated file will be available Saturday) Trail conditions and weather look great for the next few days, so come check out the new stuff while enjoying the air conditioned comfort. You know you wanna!

Well, it is open today. Wrapped up the trimming and disappeared the old trail section that is now bypassed. I'm resting comfortably, having downed some Recoverite, a Real Ale Devil's Backbone, and then administered a hot shower. In this photo you used to go into a RH curve here. I've straightened that out. Let me know what you think of this addition to Fofenique. Trail conditions are superb. Weather is playing fair. Come get some sweet Rocky Hill trail riding!

Finished that bridge for the new section on Fofenique in the photos above, and then did the bench cut leading to it. Now gotta pretty up the corridor before and after where all the dirt and bridge work was done, then rake the trail surface and move blockages to put it into the loop. It might be open for business in another day or so.

Here's a piece of a new uphill section I'm adding to Fofenique. Those logs in the bottom are a soon-to-be completed bridge. ... just before the above, another bridge and more fun stuff Might have it finished in a few more days of work. Thanks to a local volunteer for a few hours of help on this.

It has been my experience that I don't see a higher avg mph recorded riding the electric mtb than I did on an "acoustic" mtb. Which surprised me, in all honesty. I've been averaging between 7 and 9 mph at RHR for decades now on different bikes, and now even on different trails. 🙂 The big difference for me now is that my heart rate stays much lower. Rarely going over 130, which for geezers like me is important, so they say. The trail and my risk level are the factors that determine the speed I travel. Frankly, I tend to avoid singletrack that primarily accommodates high speeds as they usually aren't as fun for me as winding trails. If "max speed" is the determining factor without any context, then almost any mtb is capable of "too high" a max speed. The emtb stops providing assist at 20mph, still, I remember seeing 45 mph between the lift and the trails at Angel Fire more than a decade ago on just gravity and pedal power. Fortunately, there were no horses. I've always ridden with the attitude of being an mtb ambassador, long before emtbs were around, so I expect that my style of riding and courtesy to other trail users is unlikely to raise any eyebrows should I inadvertently find myself on the wrong trail. If it is posted and I see it, I won't poach it. I'll miss riding Boggy Draw, but there are plenty of other trails to explore that I haven't ridden yet .

I've started a new project to add more to Fofenique. This will be on the North end, as riders go into the old section where the trail turns right, away from the road. This will use up the space between there and Paul's recent extension. Over the last few days this new section has been flagged and maybe half of the trail has a "first pass" of corridor cutting done. Hopefully, construction will go quickly and it will be into service soon. Other news, Paul put in a berm on that steep downhill left curve near the beginning of Rabbit Hole. This should offer more confidence to riders building their skills. (the secret to mastery is to have your weight back behind the seat so you can use more front brake to control speed, rather than skidding the rear wheel all the way down) There was 0.65 inches of rain yesterday. Trails were still damp today when I was working. Saturday afternoon may be okay, Sunday and Monday ought to be very nice as long as the forecast for a few thousandths of an inch is all we get. Come enjoy a ride in the pines.

A friend wears the Fox Knee/Shin guards and likes them. They Velcro on for easy removal. For just knee protection, you might find something at Lowes or Home Depot that construction workers use. Many of the MTB specific knee pads are slip on, so, if getting them off without having to remove your shoes is a consideration, look for something with straps. Like @The Tip, both my knees have surgical scars, yet my shins are what I've always had to protect. Even when building trail I wear shin guards under long pants. For the shins, I've found products from martial arts and weight lifting on Amazon that are good value and easy on/off. A company called G-Form makes some lightweight slip-on products that have been priced okay, but have the hassle factor of shoe removal to get out of. They do offer Knee protection products. Sometimes I bump my knee on controls on the handlebars when negotiating tight trail, so I'll keep watching this thread to see what folks come up with. I'm open to finding something that is reasonably priced, easy on/off, and light weight (minimal padding).

Went for a ride on Monday and met a family looking for the Freeride512 area. (512 members) I gave them the low down on how to drive there, then asked if they had the combo for the gate in case it was closed. Then mentioned they could ride their bikes if they wanted to try out the trails. They decided to pay the day use and do that. My riding bud and I took off on our lap, later meeting the family at the end of Litterbox. They told me they had found Rabbit Hole and rode it twice because it was so much fun. They were happily surprised to find the trails were challenging and a hoot to ride. Better than they expected from "Cross Country" riding. It makes my day to hear feedback like that. The trails are in great shape, and the new bridge and reroute worked well to address the trouble spots revealed after the recent rains. We are working to make Rocky Hill an all weather trail system to accommodate Murphy's propensity to bring rain on event days.

There isn't much room left, but there will be more trail added. We've been scouting smaller spots where existing trail could be expanded in bite-sized pieces. If we get the total over 16 miles I'll be thrilled. Plans are to continue improvements and maybe add one or more skills areas, along with constructed technical trail features with bypass lines. I finished up the latest version of the map today as well. Here's a sneak peek for review. Edit: map pdf attachment TrailMap_Desc_1222.pdf

The worst of the bogishness at RHR has been dealt with. On Karaway, a reroute was put into place and wet spots on that new cut were armored with Cedar posts laid on the ground and supplemented with PVC pipe for drainage. Two spots on Tristy were particularly troublesome, and the second of them was cut out of the loop completely with a bypass. There was a loss of some trail length, but a sacrifice worth making to avoid that mess. The other was managed with a long bridge over the muck which was finished up today by Paul. Here's a photo... I guess that is what the trails get for Christmas this year.

Trail condition update... It may be a tad chilly at RHR today, and spiked ice tires may be required for the boggy spots. Just sayin'

Went back out to enjoy the last of the temperate weather before the front blew in. Did get some shots of RHR's version of The Stig riding the latest improvements on Jabberwock. I put in a new berm on Rabbit Hole for an uphill turn shortly after the second road crossing. Then, did a little bench cutting on a later section where a steep, winding, climb goes between a couple of pines on the way up. Below is a photo of the bench cut. This will make the exit flow much better than the off-camber that was there before. I'm calling the trees with the squeeze Treedledum and Treedledee. Meeting back in the parking lot we sipped cold ones sitting in his pickup as we watched the temp on his dash dive from 55 to 37 or so in minutes. We each bailed for home at that point. Additional update, Paul has been working on building ladder bridges over a couple of the swampy spots on Karaway and Tristy. He's got materials ready and I helped him move two large Cedars into place for one of the spots on Tristy. Another bog on Tristy has been rerouted to avoid the goo. Things are looking good trail-wise for the Excruciation Exam on the 7th. Hope they get good weather.

Geezers Rule! We got a lot done out there on Tea Party, which, due to popular misconception (everyone is calling the whole trail Rabbit Hole), I will concede to doing the same. Instead of changing names at the road crossing, Rabbit Hole will now be the whole thing back up to Sofa King Fun. There will be a Tea Party scenic spot on the trail where that sign will be displayed. On to today's work. Here are a few shots of much of what we did today. Mucho thanks to Steve and Mark for coming out, it was an awesomely productive day! Also installed PVC pipes on the two low spots on The Jabberwock and covered them with dirt, as well as polished the exit to flow much better onto the uphill bench cut. As usual, I forgot to take photos of that work.

Checked with Paul, 117 Registered, 106 Raced.

Headed out today to do more dirt work and fine tuning of some lines on Tea Party. May even have cajoled some local volunteers to come out. Fingers crossed. Paul tells me Rabbit Hole and Tea Party will be part of Bluff Creek Ranch's annual Excrutiation Exam in January. This Masochist-only event starts at BCR Warda, rides back roads to Rocky Hill and does a lap, then goes back to BCR for a lap. If that dirt work goes quickly I'll then apply efforts to some of the swampy bits the recent rains revealed on Karaway and Tristy. Will likely get the owner's skid steer involved to raise the grade eventually, once things dry out. For now we've been trying to increase the drainage rate. Exploration of re-routes is another option that will be further evaluated. Other than those three or four swampy places the trails are in fantastic form. Last Saturday's race did a good job of further establishing the tread and bedding in several new berms and other improvements. The coming Christmas present of brutal cold (sort of a lump of coal in the stocking, I'd say) will preclude both riding and working out there for several days, so I'm going to do what I can and take advantage of great working conditions while high temps are still in the balmy 50s,

Cold? You are from Chicago, right? This is balmy weather for Texas. It should be a cake-walk for your genetics. It was 56 out there this afternoon. I was peeling layers and sweating. Okay, I was digging trenches with a MacLeod while "working" the event as a safety person. You could consider putting on a few pounds of insulation in preparation for Winter riding. 😉 (says the guy with plenty of insulation) Happy trails!

Hey @AustinBike, today I fixed that spot near the end of Litterbox with the blue boxes that we had talked about when you were out for the free weekend. It should flow mo' bettah now. I've arranged to get a few hundred wheels on it tomorrow to establish the new line. Also, several new berms were created or improved in the past week on Litterbox, Karaway, and Y-Knot, along with drainage management for several wet spots, and lots of trimming back growth for improved sight lines. The board section (Shart Cut) on Black Trac has been closed for evaluation after significant erosion from last weekend's rain. Fortunately, we had expected this and a bypass was already in place. Lots of good feedback from riders on all the new stuff. Got a couple of local volunteers coming out to help polish a few rough spots on Tea Party next week.

Took a spin this afternoon and the trail is in great shape for the event. There are one or two sections that are a little sloppy, but shouldn't be a problem. With some trimming and dirt work over the past few weeks the trails are going to be fun. Most of them were gone over with a leaf blower to clear things up for riders to find their way. Temperatures are forecast to be about perfect for almost sweat-free racing on Saturday.

Paul and I built some new berms today, taking advantage of the soft ground after the rain. There is now a long berm on Litterbox at the turn by the Lizard metal art, another on Karaway and a few more flow-inducing improvements. I also did some smoothing on a couple of annoying undulations on Litterbox and Y-Knot, and a little trenching on a section of Tristy that always holds water after a rain... during which work I broke the handle off my MacLeod. Fortunately, my ridin' bud has a welder and successful reattachment surgery was performed this afternoon. The patient is resting comfortably in my van. Hopefully it lasts another ten or fifteen years. There were actually a couple of riders out today. It couldn't have been much fun and I'll bet their drivetrains didn't appreciate it. Soupy and mushy in all the low spots. Maybe it'll be better by Wednesday or Thursday. There is a lot of water making its way slowly downhill across several trail sections.

Sunday Morning: RHR got 2.4 inches of rain overnight. I'd suggest folks not ride the trails for a couple of days. Should be about perfect for the event coming up on Saturday.

The dirt pile was fixed today, and Paul talked them into dropping some of it on the berm there to build it up a little. Who doesn't love a happy ending? I rode a partial lap with loppers and folding saw. Taking care of Yaupon encroachment on Switchback and Lemonade, and a bunch of toe-catchers were cut down as well. Paul has taken a leaf blower to several of the trails so riders can see where it goes now. On the last ride out there I missed a turn because of the leaves. On a trail I built! How embarrassing.