mack_turtle

I'm exhausted from just reading all that rambling. Hot dogs are gross, but strawman.

Got roped into a family Disney trip. Finances may never recover.

I think there are trails that are problematic, but if I could only ride on trails that are officially sanctioned by PARD, I would be moving the f outta here as soon as possible.

I believe most of what we count as SATN is not officially sanctioned, but generously tolerated. I keep hearing "don't worry, it's fine" from the people who lead Tuesday night rides that parade directly behind residents' back porches, other park amenities, golf course property, over and around trail barriers that were clearly put up to keep people out of private property. Then we take a group of 50+ right through those areas. Mark my words: This is going to bite us in the ass. I avoid those routes that are obviously problematic, but if I chose a safer route and then 49 others charge through it anyways, what's the point?

A rainy day sent me to the roads and gravel paths around south Austin. To my surprise and delight, I found that the unfinished new eastbound SH45 toll road has a paved bike path that goes from Escarpment to 1626. The path appears to not be officially open yet and littered with construction debris, but it's rideable. The trailhead that connects it to the VCT is under construction.

@riding again, did you build this?

I saw that. It's 4-bolt so it won't fit my cranks. There are some 4-bolt/ cinch adapters, that would open up some options, but the cost of that and rings means I might as well just buy a cinch ring. There are plenty of cheap cinch rings online but I can only find the 34t size at full price. I'll just buy one in a few days, thought I should check if someone has one lying around to buy/ trade first.

Can I buy a Rapha kit colourway that matches the bike? And a new bike to match each new Rapha colourway?

That looks janky and it's going to break. I am all for DIY hacks, but flimsy plastic pulleys, nah.

I guess all that Bentonville riding has affected the Walton's. I am surprised they didn't come up with a superior sub-$1k hardtail for the masses.

I kind of want to try riding an older bike on trails. My current bike is not "high end" or "cutting edge" but I would call it "comfortably contemporary." I'd like to try a 26er hardtail with linear pull brakes, narrow handlebar, and an 80mm fork for comparison. One thing I thing for which I will never feel nostalgic is tubed tires and carrying multiple tubes to finish a single ride. Eff that.

Not sure if a 34t oval would fit on my frame, even with boost spacing. Either would be fine. I have a 30/19 singlespeed speed gear right now with an oval ring and the wide part of the oval does not have much clearance with the ring flipped over to make more space. I'd like to go a little taller on the gear and I think 34/20 would be perfect for the resulting gear combo and effective chainstay length. I tried 32/19 and the chainstay is not quite short enough without adding a link and running the chainstay length at limousine length.

Props for riding an old bike into the ground. I wish I had that kind of patience. It's refreshing to see someone who does not need the newest, shiniest thing every few months and is instead willing to keep it going. That bike really might be on borrowed time. With my experience in shops, ten years is stretching the life of a mountain bike. No one will think any less of you if you replace it some time. Don't wait until it actually breaks under you.

I don't mean to blame the victim here, but in a vast majority of cases I hear about, the victim left the bike unlocked and unaccompanied "just for a minute." Please learn from this, folks: if you leave your bike for "a minute," the lowlife watching your bike will have it for at least 55 seconds before you notice it's gone. This was a rare case. Most bikes are never recovered. Lock your shit up.

That bike has given its life to you. Time to retire it. Even if you can get the shock going again, nearly two decades of abuse mean something else is about to break on it too.

I went to school with the intention of doing stuff like this full time. Glad to see someone made it. Riding a bicycle with 30 pounds of camera gear in your backpack is rough.

On that note, Hadley makes a really nice boost conversion axle for their hubs.

Looking for a 34t ring for my Aeffect cranks. That is all.

from an email I got today: "Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) staff and consultant team members will guide participants through an open house, providing an opportunity for feedback and discussion on the citywide goals for parks and open space, as well as priorities for specific areas of the city. If you are unable to make it to one of the meetings, PARD will also provide a virtual meeting online and pop-up meetings at other locations around the city. The results from meeting series #2 will directly shape the goals, strategies, and actions of PARD’s Long Range Plan." South Austin Senior Activity Center 3911 Manchaca Road Austin, TX 78704 May 2, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Anderson Mill Limited District Community Center 11500 El Salido Parkway Austin, TX 78750 May 3, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Circle C Community Center 7817 La Crosse Avenue Austin, TX 78739 May 4, 10 a.m. – noon IBPS Buddhist Temple 6720 N. Capital of Texas Highway Austin, TX 78731 May 4, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Austin Recreation Center 1301 Shoal Creek Boulevard Austin, TX 78701 May 4 - 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. I'd like to bring up the lack of a bike skills park, the need for a dog park in SW Austin, and the (embarrassing) lack of skateparks in Austin. Anything else to bring up?

I can be a yakker, especially if I am riding with someone new. I have learned that it slows me down a lot and I have a sore throat the next day from yelling. If I allow myself, I overdo it, so I try to keep a lid on it.

You kids and your fancy plastic bike parts!

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Keep the brake lever fixing bolts loose enough that they are more likely to slip than break in that case.

Those brake lever are pointed in a pretty aggressive downward direction. Any chance you can compromise the bar rotation and lever angle to get them to clear the top tube? I have a fairly low handlebar on my bike and my levers just barely clear the top tube. I have to angle my levers up ever so slightly to make them clear it.

I was gonna build condos there, phooey!

SATN riders- am I correct in my recollection that none of the CC Metro trails (No Walk in the Park, Disco Go, etc) should cross paths with the disc golf course except for one point just before you cross the main CC Metro Park driveway on the north bank? Last night, a group of us were all over the disc golf course, parading right in front of a befuddled disc golfer who had to wait while 15 or so of us got out of his way. I fear that enough conflicts with disc golfers is going to get us in trouble. Is there any reason to get on or off the Veloway during a ride? last night our course used the last leg of the Veloway to get to Terminus. As I understand it, Veloway folks hate the fact that people leave the dirt trails around the Veloway, dragging trail dirt onto the pavement and creating potential crashes. Let's keep it in the dirt. I suggest we only use Terminus if we are trying to enter or exit the trails via La Crosse. If you want to ride Veloway, get your skinny tire bike and go do laps. (if you can get there during the construction.) Bowie Stonewall is waaaay more interesting anyways, and if you take the older bypass around Bowie Stonewall, you can report back on how bad the dog shit smell coming from that manhole is that day. Addendum: apparently disc golfers DGAF so we're probably safe there. The trail in question inevitably crosses the disc golf course. Good to be mindful of that though. Their facility was there first.