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Everything posted by mack_turtle
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A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
This is fair. Truth be told, when I pulled it out of the box and discovered that it weighs nearly seven pounds, I started building a case against this bike subconsciously. When I ride it, I can't get that amount of dead weight out of my head. There's a possibility that it lacks that "steel is real" feel, but I don't have enough of a frame of reference to judge that. It works and it's not stopping me, but life is short. I'll give it a few more rides. The catch is that trying something different yet again is predicated on selling this frame, because the sale of one big item is what frees up the budget for the next. -
A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
Sunk cost fallacy is mostly what keeps me riding at this point. "I keep spending money on this, so I must enjoy it!" -
A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
I've finally had the chance to ride this bike two times. I'm not digging it for some reason. The weight is a negligible problem. Some people say they can feel "ride quality," but I think I'm numb to these differences. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. It just doesn't feel alive to me. It's definitely over-built for my weight and riding style, which would be fine if I weighed an extra 50 pounds. Reminds me of riding BMX in the late '90s, when everyone was riding 20" bikes that weighed close to 40 pounds. I can't put my finger on it. It's all subjective in the end, but if I could identify something specific, I might be able to address it with physical conditioning, a change of components, or just conclude that the frame is not as well suited for me as I expected. @gotdurt, do you have anything to share about the "ride feel" of your original Marino? I'm I full of shit? (Don't answer that! No, really, am I?) -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
My office overlooks the creek where that trail will go under I-35. The trail will go behind the Girl Scouts office building at some point, if my understanding is correct. It's a long way from being done. I don't see anything down there except some very advanced "camping" spots. -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
good call. reported on 311. there's no good reason to block a sidewalk that gives people access to a State Park. I'm drawn to the rural-ness of east Austin, but it gets dicey fast. I'll keep my explore-from-home rides to more urban settings going forward. otherwise, I need to drive out to Lockhart or Llano to find settings that are safer. -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
curiosity finally got to me. I went on a quest to find the "Welcome to Jarden" sign as Moore's Crossing (it's gone 😞 ) and find out where all those bike paths near the airport go. in summary: it was a not a good route, but I got some pedaling in and had some fun. coming from southwest Austin, I had to traverse east on William Cannon and wrap around McKinney Falls State Park. Parts of that were safe and comfortable, but at other parts, the shoulder would inexplicably disappear. There's a sidewalk on southbound McKinney Falls Pkwy that works for a while (I'm riding against traffic on that) but construction north of the Park has a tall fence blocking the sidewalk. I'm really surprised that they were allowed to put the fence right up against the curb and block the sidewalk. There's no safe way for anyone to follow that stretch of road now. I pedaled to Burleson and away from the city on a relatively safe road to Moore's Crossing. that's a really nice park. I continued on Burleson to 973 and headed north again. yikes. I forced this into a "gravel" ride by riding the dirt shoulder most of the way. Just before reaching Hwy 71, I turned onto a smaller road that mysteriously has sidewalks and painted bike lanes. There are no buildings whatsoever. Contrary to what Google Maps says, there is no Del Valle Marketplace there. I was thoroughly confused about the purpose of all this infrastructure, but I kept going. It finally made sense when I started seeing large signs for a development called Velocity. Check that out! Seems interesting, like they're trying to build another Domain out past the Bergstrom Airport. This little corner of road must be the first bit of that, which they had to build first for some reason. I'm sure this will have no impact on traffic in the area! There's a generous bike path along the highway here, which essentially connects no-one to no-where. I rode it to where 71 crosses Onion Creek, but the path abruptly ends. I was hoping there would be more paths to explore in the park, but I needed to head back. All this infrastructure with lights ($$), and it just ends here: I made a poor line choice while crossing under the highway and rode through some thick mud, which stopped up my tires. I started heading back, using the bike paths that traverse the airport. These paths are pretty nice, but again, they don't really connect anything residential. It looks like no one ever uses them. I made the mistake of trying to go north on 973, past the Tesla facility. It's fine for a while, then becomes a super narrow highway with nowhere safe to ride, so I turned around. The bike paths past the airport lead you confidently back to 183, which has lovely bike routes back to the old Montopolis Bridge and east Cesar Chavez. This whole thing took longer than I anticipated. I was running out of daylight and it was getting cold, so my wife rescued me at Lustre Pearl. takeaway: this could be part of an interesting route of mostly roads. The bit from east Austin to the airport is fine. it would work better as an out-and-back. getting to that area from southwest Austin is a lot harder, although it'd like to see if it would work better if I bypassed 973 and continued on Burleson where it becomes El Roy and taken Heine Farm back toward Onion Creek. If I ever invite you to go "exploring" with me, it's mostly so I have someone to call EMS if I get run over by a redneck in a truck because I'm riding stupid places like this. -
I'll amend my statement: we have 100+ days of weather that is miserably hot. I do my best to inform the world of this fact in the hope that fewer people will move here. You're welcome. https://weatherspark.com/y/8004/Average-Weather-in-Austin-Texas-United-States-Year-Round Edit: Sorry for all the negative vibes. I hate hot weather and in 15+ years here, it feels worse every year to me.
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100+ days in a row of lethal temperatures over 100° every year make this place a hellhole that I would leave in a second if I could. I'm doing my best to enjoy the decent weather when I can, then hibernate in the summertime while you nutters are getting heat stroke.
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Updated post. I sold the frame and rigid post that were here.
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One of these tree limbs destroyed my back. Not because it fell on me, but to strained it trying to cut and move a large one that was leaning on my house. Just got back from Airrosti and I feel a bit better. Hoping to be back to full strength in time for Hill Country Hundy.
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My back yard looks like a deranged banzai forest. We ran a few errands this evening and there's a huge tree just resting on a major power line. By 6 p.m., several traffic signals were flashing red or just plain dark. I had to swerve around trees in the street in a few places durning a 5 mile drive. I recommend NOT going out for another few days, if you can avoid it. It's like a silent hurricane swept across the whole region and it's going to take a while for utility crews to clean it up.
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our live oak is losing a lot of limbs. hopefully our *new* roof isn't taking any damage, but I've heard some hit and bounce off. I wonder if the years of drought have taken their toll. the ice on the branches I've pulled off was thick! branches I would expect to weigh 15 pounds had to be hoisted and dragged away with both hands.
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Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
And nothing will be done. anyone could drive their SUV all over that bike path and no city employee would bat an eye. -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
In Llano, the fight would be what your family can do after a ranch owner immediately shoots you dead for trespassing. "this is mah propartay!" -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
On a more positive note: https://communityimpact.com/austin/southwest-austin-dripping-springs/development/2023/01/26/work-to-continue-on-austins-bergstrom-spur-trail/ -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
It's a coffee/dessert shop called OMG Squee. It shares a space with Eastside Pedal Pushers, which is right next to a bike path. The store was struggling, but Queer Eye featured it in an episode last season when they were in Austin (yes, I've watched every episode) and popularity has exploded since then. I wanted to visit for a long time because they seem to be the only place in town with Ube flavored drinks but they had weird hours. I finally went when it was not too busy and it was nice, but that location is not good for the amount of traffic they're getting now. I thought there was a bike path right there. The satellite image and Street View are out of date. -
Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
I don't know if people of Reddit are going to really do anything, but this is terrifying to anyone who rides here. summary: people driving on bike path because a) they suck and b) the nearby roads don't have enough space for traffic. -
Deets?
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What ya watchin? Share your thoughts on Movies, TV, and YouTube!
mack_turtle replied to mack_turtle's topic in General Chat
I like to fantasize about it, not live it. I just re-watched Years and Years on HBO and that's a hard one to watch, considering how much of it predicted headlines years before things happen in the show. -
A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
I slapped this together just now. Enjoy. https://sidewallthorn.blogspot.com/2023/01/new-bike-day-marino-custom-hardtail.html -
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Urban/Commute/Paths/About Town
mack_turtle replied to June Bug's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
I'm trying to figure out the most interesting (fewest roads) way to get to Moore's Crossing. It's just south if the airport. I think they have hosted CX races there. Coming from downtown or southwest Austin, are there some lesser-known paths that I am missing? -
A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
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A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!
mack_turtle replied to gotdurt's topic in Mountain Biking Discussion
It's kinda heavy. Nearly seven pounds with hardware, but that's about what my Karate Monkey, steel Hinzo, or a steel RSD Middlechild weighs. My Niner ROS9 was heavier. That means I can send it! Starting with the 495mm rigid fork, probably going to swap to my 120mm Mazocchi Bomber soon. I designed the frame around this specific fork, so I'm going to see how it handles . Compared to the KM, this bike: *Shorter rear end. I could not fit a 34/21 gear on the KM with the chainstay this short, but the 420mm on this fits. *Lower BB, but within reason *Longer wheelbase, mostly from adding to the front end. *Stem changed from 70mm to 50mm *Larger diameter seatpost (30.9–31.6) with an extra 30mm of travel 150 – 180 *Considerably lower standover. Added bonus: no more smashing my brake levers into the top tube when I fall off. The geo is very similar to many modern trail hardtails, but optimized for a 120mm 29er fork, whereas most modern bikes are designed around a taller fork. Rear tire clearance: that's a pre-boost chainline with a 34t ring! In the box were this shirt with reflective print and an extra axle and sliders.