Bart

What's the best bike to ride on the trails after it rains? Are Porcupine tires good for riding the Nut? Should I wear underwear under my gym shorts for riding? 

gtg means the dirt might be tacky but the rock s are gonna be slick as snot and you'll prolly bust your ass going down Elephant Butt so get on the curly bar bike and get a mix ride in. The best part about the Cove is low traffic around town!

Good day for a round town Curly bar ride

21 minutes ago, crazyt said:

someday I plan to run for city council and work to get forest ridge opened up. The city at one point mandated that forest ridge be opened up to recreation and the employees in charge stonewalled until there was a new mayor and new city council. "deep state" as it were. The people in charge are birdwatchers and highly favor the interest of birdwatchers.

That whole area has/had the best potential for kickass mtb trails in Austin IMO. We actually used to ride our enduro dirtbikes back there in the early 90's. I doubt mtbr's will ever get access to it again but the city will prolly decide to cut a road thru it for access to the other side.

50 minutes ago, B.J. said:

I'm just a trail runner and come here just for trail info and to ask the occasional "How annoying are we trail runners when you guys are trying to zoom past" type questions. Here are some random inquiries, just wondering if these trails are hard or more like "meh...", or maybe not for bikes at all or what. (I don't know all the mtb jargon and trail names, so please forgive my newb sounding questions)

+I see bikers sometimes at the Valburn trails, but I never see any on the Bull Creek Greenbelt itself. Does anyone actually ride that? There're three or four sections that seem to me, a trail runner, would be almost impossible to get past on a bike, due to stuff like downed trees, 90degree vertical drops/climbs, super slippery rocks, extreme skinniness of trail flanked by ledges and/or extreme;y thick foliage on either side, etc.
+What about Forest Ridge Preserve/Balconies Preserve? Either way you go from the Bull Creek parking lot, you gain lots of elevation rather quick, with some rather large "step ups" (for runners at least).
+I've also never, ever seen any bikes at the River Place Natural Trail. It's entirely plausible that I've just missed the signs that say "no bikes" or "walkers, runners only".
+To my knowledge, almost everyone comes at Mt Lakeway from the north, through Canyonlands. But there are actual mtb-specific trails (not trying to sound as if I'm telling y'all something y'all don't know) on the south side, and the climb from the southside is, I think, longer an with more switchbacks. Is the southside pretty difficult for MTBers compared to the north side?

Forgive me if all this questioning is annoying, thx for anyone who gives their thoughts 🙂

Can you hike at Forest Ridge Preserve? With the Warblers? 

On another note, my 2021 Pike is leaking. Again. Guess Cat Mtn put it thru the ringer. Looking at the fancy orange Fox 36 want. 

Does anybody know of a good place to get a motorcycle frame sandblasted?

I seriously remember being fit enough yrs ago to do the whole Thumper loop with maybe 1 or 2 Dabs, and the one time I nearly made it all the way around without unclipping or grabbing a tree was on a hardtail without a dropper surprisingly. I havent been back there in yrs but I would always rate my cycling techie fitness on that trail as it's a real asskicker even when you have been on the bike alot. Even tho we dont have big mtns in CenTex, the amount of chunky gnar is plenty to keep your skills up. 

I remember riding from East Austin down and around those trails to 360, climb up to CP for the Wednesday 1 lap bike race that Willy Ross used to put on, then back home right before dark. Real ass kicker

I remember the guy that walked buck naked with a Indian headress and a blue face in the back trails of the Greenbelt like 13yrs ago. It was creepy af when we'd see him and made good beer talk, especially when I had some out of town peeps back there, they still ask me, hey have you seen the Blue Indian lately?    

I rode up on a guy moving rocks off the trails i frequent in NW Austin one Saturday and said, Hey sir please dont move rocks as these trails were built by mtbr's and would like to keep the trails as they were as long as possible..His reply was, i'm just trying to make it easier for my 2 boys to get around some of these sections and that some of these areas are a little dangerous....I seriously had to bite my tongue and say sir please, dont fucking mess with the trails! 

I rode past the closed sign on the bridge last night on my cx loop. I think they're painting it during the day but shut down around 5.

Also the area west of 183 and 51st is a pretty good sizable piece of forested undeveloped land that has old dirtbike trails on it that we've been riding mtb's on lately. The whole area has great potential for trail development added as it has lots of creeks and elevation changes on it. We cleared out a lot of old trail during cooler Spring months. 

Everything's open now under 183. The new bridges at 51st and Loyola leading to WC bike paths are awesome. I've heard that theres gonna be new paved path up North from WC Metro Park to the southern WC bike path at some point.

Native Americans apparently used fish oil rubbed over their skin. I'd recommend Carp or Talapia as they're extra oily!

I gotta get out early and in this crazy heat I gotta go back to bibs for shorts if I hit the dirt. Baggies in this heat leads to a swamp ass situation.

this seems covfefe 

Me too. A guy posted on Social Cycling Austin that he needed a tune and a wheel true pretty quick as all the shops were backed up, I helped him out and now peeps all over have been buzzing me. 

23 hours ago, Bart said:

As much as I'd like to ask the city permission to build a fun flowy downhill  trail next to the Southern WC bike path, I really don't see that ever getting approved...one can only dream   

23 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

that's what I am saying. most likely, if access to such a trail is kept low-key, it will be quietly tolerated by COA. don't build anything that trespasses on private property and don't allow it to interfere with traffic on the paved path and I don't think it will be a problem. that's not the official IMBA response, but it works throughout the city. that's how we got Brushy Creek trails.

Ah geez I know. Growing up in West Houston in the 80's and cutting trail along the Buffalo Bayou it was quite challenging to keep our trails on the down low. Now it's a paved bike path. 

21 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

am I wrong to think that most of the trails in Austin we cut, ridden, maintained, and expanded long before we were given "permission" to ride them? I know there are examples here and there, but how much trail have we actually lost to losing access because we didn't ask permission to use city land? it's a delicate balance, but if trails are already popping up there, I say ride em until there's a conflict. I am usually very cautious about things like this, but so long as trails don't involve trespassing on some individual's property, the most likely scenario is that the trails will be quietly tolerated until the activity is officially sanctioned or officially criminalized. even then, COA has more important things to worry about then people riding bikes in the woods.

As much as I'd like to ask the city permission to build a fun flowy downhill  trail next to the Southern WC bike path, I really don't see that ever getting approved...one can only dream   

2 hours ago, June Bug said:

There are a few social trails here and there -- there are paths taking off into the woods. 

I like the idea of sanctioned paths being built. Cullen McMorrow is now the Trails Program Director for the Austin Ridge Riders and does a lot of work on the Walnut Creek Trails.  From his bio on the ARR Board of Directors page:

Send Cullen a message at the ARR contact page here: http://austinridgeriders.com/contact-us/

Ive been checking out those trails off the WC bike path, some are pretty fun and somebodies been busy building wooden features. Also new trails off 51st and 183 area. We used to ride dirtbikes back there so its pretty rutted on the climbs.

I was cruising down the semi long downhill section on the Walnut Creek bike path yesterday and was thinking what a rad flowy trail could be made on that hill. Just sayin

I put a Absolute Black 32 on my Spark 2 yrs ago. I noticed a little difference in climbing but not too much. It looks rad in ano green tho. Im gonna put one on my 2020 Trance after I wear out this Sram.

What did you end up paying for the whole setup?

I

45 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

I explore on my own all the time but I definitely do not get brave on anything that gives me pause.

I know it and for some reason this yr seems extra snakey. We rolled up on a rattlesnake on Lake Georgetown trail and had to get a stick and move him off the trail. He seemed ok with it at first and then shot out and tried to strike my front wheel. I was thinking what a ordeal that would be to get a chopper ride out of there.