Bart

I picked up a bottle of Orange seal last month as that's all they had at lbs. I've been using Stans since it first started doing tubeless. Mounted some new Clements on my CX bike and 2 weeks later got a small sidewall hole and had to install a tube to get me home. Noticed the Orange seal had completely dried up after 2 weeks. Ended up going back to Stans to seal the hole and carry on. Lesson learned.

Gonna be perfect cyclocross conditions this weekend for the 6 Shooter!

That's why I ride, "those other trails" on weekends and if I hit the GB during the week, it's early. I did a 3hr GB ride last week early and saw maybe 4-5 people. It's been awhile and was surprised how much easier Sweet16 and back trails are now.  

I just tried my first pair of flats and non clipless shoes and seriously thought i would not make it through the trail, (off Bull Creek). I guess Ive been on clipless XTR pedals prolly 20yrs plus with CX and road, just cant get used to not having my feet clipped in. I am a big fan of Shimano shoes.

Has anybody ever checked out this structure back in the woods off Spicewood Springs? i saw a video on Austin Hikes FB pg yesterday and thought that would be cool to check out but have never been. I thought I'd explored all those trails back there but have never come across this old house structure. Built in 1880's from some German settlers. Looks like its close to 360 somewhere?

We did a wheels down 10am LGT loop out there this time last yr and about half way around we stopped to take a break from the relentless chunky gnarlyness of the place and see a pretty large Rattlesnake just hanging out on the trail, perfectly camo with the rocks and terrain right in front of us. The rest of the ride I felt like I was continuously looking for snakes and missing my lines and just thinking, get us outa here. With the Aug heat, we rated that place as, "The hottest mtb ride ever"and decided to try it again in cooler weather nex time. We were having post ride beers and talking about how weird it was to never see a single human the whole lap and how bad it would be to have a heat situation/bad bonk way back there. I rate this trail as the,"Hottest" due to exposure and mostly slow going trying to pick lines thru the ass pounding chunkyness.     

I rode/climbed to the top of Ski Santa Fe  and down WP trail on a Trek Y-bike back in 97 I think. It was hard enough going down without disc back then, can't imagine rigid.

Apparently 2 bikes got stolen in the Nut parking lot this am. Locks cut while they were in the pool. As per FB. Somebody needs to set up a bike bait in the lot.

Just did a last minute Bentonville trip to see Phish play at the Amp in Rogers, Ar. First time there and holy shit those trails are a blast! Rode the kickass downhill run to Slaughter Pen the first day and was blown away. Rode some of the Back40 yesterday am before leaving. We'll be back this Fall for sure. Amazing that the city pours so much $ into a trail network like that! Mind blown.

Riding techy terrain in baggies can be tricky when you get saddle snag, and having 2 layers of anything on in this heat is hot af. 

Is it flagged yet? Might go check it out.

Amazingly I just bought 2 Maxxis motorcycle tires for half the price of mtb tires

I left as a life long Houston cyclist 16 yrs ago after being hit 3 times and countless road rage incidents in and around the city. It's still horrible.

19 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I'm trying to live by the advice "don't read the comments" and know that Nextdoor is just a big comments section.

new proposal: if you're not going to put water in the damn pools, let people skate them!

Oh man, we had a blast when they would drain our neighborhood pool in the winter in West Houston. Dropping in the 12' deep end was a blast to skate!

Then you get that creek skank water smell in your helmet during the rest of the ride. Did that the other day after a dip in Bullcreek, then that climb back up.

The hardest part of Keto'n for me has been no real beer to drink, and drinking Corona Premium, Ranchwater or Vodka gets old. Going on 3 months now Ive lost 6lbs but I also work outside in this heat. The biggest thing I've noticed from no sugar is gut health and energy levels are way up.  I'll bring something carb on a long weekend in case of a bonk but so far haven't really needed it. If I was back to racing and training with long base miles it prolly wouldn't work to well, but for over 50 riders looking to drop some lbs, it's working for me and I like eating meat.

I bought a AB oval for my Trance after I wore down my Sram ring and also I liked the ano purple. Looks great and feels a little different in the stroke but cant say its anything beneficial during climbs like they say. Awesome craftsmanship in the machine work.

It's too bad you couldn't try that on the Hugel route, as some mentally deranged person would prolly attempt it. Doing it on the same hill would be just boring, although I gotta cycling buddy that did the Mesa climb nearly 90 times yrs ago. 

I guess i'm lucky. 3 mtb's, a road cx and a gravel bike, 2 scooters, 2 early 70's 2 stroke Yamaha enduros, a KTM XC and 2 mid 80's Honda Z50's...but she knows about my 2 wheel addiction, plus no kids. 

20 hours ago, radicalpugilism said:

Thanks for all the responses!

I’ve spent a lot of time on the Ripley, but not in Austin. So maybe a demo isn’t the worst idea  

And I would totally get two bikes if my girlfriend were okay with us storing another 29er in our one bedroom apartment. And if she were okay with me dropping way more money than I should. 

I’m still pretty undecided.

You have to ask your girlfriend if you can buy another bike? .....Somethings not right here? 

I'd buy a hardtail for the Nut. I've been trying to find a Ibis DV9 frameset for a yr. Great value IMO, oh and you can't have enough bikes.  

Go ride Thumper several times a week.

Dang that WHY WTF is a sweet rig!

Even tho I'm old, i still wanna rip some dirt jumps. Who makes a good US made dirt jump rig? My kid neighbor has a sweet Deity Cryptkeeper and wants me get after it with him. looks fun

All the yrs cycling Tx trails and the only real close call was 2yrs ago At Lake Georgetown. We stopped to watch a Rattler in the middle of the trail, and I sorta pushed the front of my bike towards it to get it to move and damn if that guy tried to bite my front tire! Other than that, they mostly leave humans alone IMO.