TAF

57 minutes ago, Bamwa said:

Basically I'm rolling a double gas tank that hangs lower. 

Are talking about your nuts here?

3 hours ago, MrMentallo said:

A dismal swampy drainage pond and The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe don't have much in common. That book series is almost entirely based on Christian allegory and bible stories with the names and setting changed. Narnia the trail and Narnia the setting are very different places.

You're a cheery fellow.

1 hour ago, Jessica said:

Yeah, this is driving me crazy, I'm about to do something I thought I never would, buy a bike for the road. Going to BSS to find a gravel grinder this week.
 

Post pics when you've bought it! We are riding out of the Shoal Creek Blvd area later this morning, if you want to ride it in.

Gravel is a lot of fun! My street bike - and commuter - is a full on gravel bike.

13 hours ago, June Bug said:

I'm assuming Narnia is the correct name.  It's from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis.  Four kids hide in a wardrobe and are magically transported to the land of Narnia.  Riding under 183 and suddenly being on a bit of single track, surrounded by wildflowers with ducks on a nearby pond always has (had) a bit of being transported to Narnia vibe.  

Caveat: I have never seen a very large noble lion, other talking animals or a White Witch on this section of trail, but that door could open if one has the correct frame of mind. 

Yes, young Carrie and I named it that, and yes, from the book. One minute you're on a pretty busy street, then all of a sudden the duck pond, and then those huge, wide and empty warehouse area boulevards -- so tranquil at weekends! The 'G' was added after we got super muddy tires one weekend - I think I even came off the bike, it was so sloppy.

16 hours ago, Bamwa said:

Ya know what fuck that., I'm confused too. I petition we change that name to somewhere that actually has gnar. How about Pickle Connector or something else. #totally not gnar at fucking all

It was definitely gnar if you rode through it on a rainy day with street tires. For many of us, though, it's the beer connector, not the pickle connector. Keep yer pickle to yerself!

2 minutes ago, FJsnoozer said:

I’m glad you find this entertaining. I was merely asking if this is the route so I wouldn’t be considered “cheating” by just staying on Duval.

I’d rather not try to cross the street at Amherst onto the sidewalk if possible.

If we are talking about speed, I guarantee you the Duval/Mopac Bike lane route is way faster. Take my word for it. My time is better spent on my side of town cutting up the mass of trees that will be blocking the greenbelt route.


Last time I asked about riding the rock climbing wall and did. I rode a harder section of the greenbelt by choice that was faster than the dabbing traffic between first and second crossing.


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I don't know why you think I'm laughing at you - I'm asking you to pitch in and help. If it's five minutes faster and a half mile shorter to take the road vs the path, then there can't be an option - one route must be chosen.

You're talking yourself into helping, so go help! We are few, we can't do everything.

3 hours ago, FJsnoozer said:

I know the water is abnormal. I would rather continue on Duval full gas’s and turn at the light at Mopac if given the option.

I’m pretty sure my average speed was 22ish on Duval. I’d rather no surprise a walker or Bum on some of those blind corners in Balcones. It’s a much more scenic route!

 

Right, well we'll put you in charge of it, then. Head back up there and measure distance, time and (safe) speed on both routes!

Ultimately, there will be a third option by turning left on Amherst itself ... if it's ever completed.

1 hour ago, circuitbreaker said:

when she calls you back, please ask if they can finish the Balcones Park extension sometime this decade?

Is it the same people?

Ever-curious, I did some research. The project is called the MoPac Express Lane Shared Use Path, and is managed not by the City, but by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. 

Some detail is provided:

• The project includes a three-mile,10-foot-wide shared use path, separated from the roadway
• Two miles of the shared use path run on the west side of the roadway from the Walnut Creek Trail to the north end of Loop 360
• One mile crosses through the US 183 interchange and links Shoal Creek Boulevard to Neils Thompson Drive
• The project also includes four miles of new sidewalk, curb ramps and pedestrian signal heads along the frontage roads between Parmer Lane and Anderson Lane
• The project improves east/west connections at 13 MoPac cross streets, including ADA improvements, sidewalk extensions and added bike lanes

I called for a status update, rain notwithstanding, and a very friendly gal said she'd get in touch with the construction team and call me back. She was very excited to hear from an actual trail user, and even more excited to learn that an entire trail user base exists, and that we are all looking forward to the completion of the project. She didn't think the section across the other side of Mopac is theirs, but will check that also.

56 minutes ago, FJsnoozer said:

I did. The elbow is poured after the soccer fields. They were working on the route along the track and had the forms up

My route is a much better route for me because if you use gnarnia from Downtown, everything north of there is sketchy and or annoying to ride on domain/breaker/metric.

It’s much easier and safer to cross braker at mopac than at Burnet due to the way the lights work.

I’m ok with an extra mile if I am moving for that mile vs standing at a stoplight and hitting 5+ stop signs in the domain.

I also dislike the EB route going North. It’s slow and has lots of waiting and dodging cars.

 

 

Fair enough. The thread is about the status of Gnarnia, so you had me confused. I guess it's now about FJ's northbound routes :-)

So you didn't check out Gnarnia at all, by the looks of it.

Dunno if it's of any help, but you can see the list of participants and team names here: https://my2.raceresult.com/94231/participants?lang=en#0_B1A337

I don't see a name I recognize, which makes me wonder if many of these teams are from Houston or College Station. In which case, they likely wouldn't see this post. So you might - and maybe you have - look for local forums in those towns.

16 minutes ago, FJsnoozer said:

Is this mandatory or optional?

Its a really pretty route. I checked it out yesterday and the water was too high to pass.
 

 

 

I guess, optional - there's not really a quicker route, although maybe a slightly shorter one. That creek is a babbling brook most of the time - I really wouldn't consider conditions this week as normal.

5 hours ago, crazyt said:

I had the same experience. I passed a couple of guys I know pretty well at city park, never saw them again, and they were at the finish before me. It was no big deal as I just wanted to finish for myself.

There are  couple of steps in place now to ensure that these short-cutters - whether accidental or intentional - are weeded out and dropped to the bottom of the leaderboard.

If you all care about is the Yeti tumbler, volunteer to help out at Thumper and we'll figure out the tumbler!

You should wander around the forum a little bit!

https://austinmountainbiking.com/index.php?/forum/14-events-races/

2 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

pump track in my backyard

???

Colorado Springs, I would think, but the bike shops aren't that close to the airport, so you're gonna have to Uber to go get your bike. Solid beer scene, too.

I'm sure there will be plenty of others - this should be a good list.

EB postponed - details in the Events section.

Folks, the elders have conferred, and we're going to push the EB back by two weeks, to Nov 3. Based on eyes-on assessments this past weekend, the trails are completely saturated, the creeks are running fast and high, the forecast is poor, and it would be irresponsible of us to send that many riders out without being able to verify conditions. We're calling it now, so that you have time to re-arrange plans.

As soon as (if) things improve, we'll be posting up pre-rides in Thumper and the Green Belt, as well as getting in there and checking for any trail work needed.

We're light on volunteers for Nov 3, so if anyone has friends or family who can man a water station or flip a post-ride burger, please let us know!

It strikes me that sort of person who might ride muddy trails, might also get pretty lippy when confronted. There are plenty of assholes out there.

It's been raining for weeks, and shows no sign of stopping. EBers should mentally prepare themselves for a two-week rain push, and quite possible a cancellation into early next year. Sorry, folks!

We'll have to keep our eye on the ball, that's for sure -- make sure there's no "last minute" additions and deletions which have considerable impact.

There's something every weekend, these days.

7 hours ago, cxagent said:

Note that the BCP staff is trying to work with "groups" in hopes of actually getting issues resolved before throwing it open to the 'free for all" that open public meetings can turn into. My experience with open public meetings on some topics is they can turn into yelling matches where nothing is accomplished. I suspect that is the BCP staff reasoning also.

Do you sense that the new leadership is taking a more 'open-minded' approach?