cxagent

There is virtually no place to park a car at / near the property. There is a small 'driveway' off of Springdale that could park one or two cars. None of the nearby roads really have any parking. So you will have to creatively use what ever you can find. Like the YMCA across 183 or the office complex on Springdale or ???

Motopail is right except for one thing - spelling. It was Kapitol Katz. Kapitol Katz was a dirt biking group with few if any trials riders The trials riders quickly adopted the riding area in the 1970's because the terrain suited their type of riding. The trials riders almost NEVER used the trails we ride except to get to the "trials sections" (typically small areas of extremely difficult terrain). The trials sections were so difficult that the decision was made to NOT show them on maps available to non-trials riders. In the mid 1980's Cliff Turner took over as "Trail Steward" ( they called it Volunteer Trail Coordinator at that time). Cliff and his son both rode KDX200's (off-road enduro motorcycles when people still knew what the word "enduro" meant). Just for reference, I rode an RM125 (motocross bike) on that trail in the 1980 before I got a 1993(?) RMX250 enduro bike. I also rode a Nashbar mountain bike on the trail. Several people have spent a lot of time and effort to document the history of the Motorcycle Park at Emma Long. You can find a great summary at - http://www.felmp.org/documents/EmmaLongMotorcyclePark-SummaryAndDefense.pdf A large part of why the trails are in their current condition is because one user group wants to create berms on corners. They pitched fits if anything was done to drain water off the trail. Because most of the trail is solid rock there are only a few places berms can occur. Those would be the places that now hold water on the trail long after a rain. Due to a number of 'discussions', I am only dealing with downed trees on the official trail. Anything on the trail tread is left to others. I don't want to create anymore "wheel chair ramps".

There are lots of routes from Zilker to 360 near Scottish Woods. I go under MOPAC due west of Zilker on Rollingwood. At Bee Caves the same road becomes Old Walsh Tarlton Follow that road until it "T"s at Wilderness. Turn right on Wildernest. Turn left at Walsh Tarlton and next right (less than a normal block) on Pinnacle. At the Westlake schools (jr high and high school) turn left on Westbank. At the top of that Westbank climb is 360 directly across from Scottish Woods. This sounds complicated but I recall this is actually a marked bike route so it is easy to follow. But in terms of easy to follow, Austin Bike's route is hard to beat.

Just to get this thread back on topic - Structural parts like (handle bars and frames) tend to break where the stress is higher than the material can carry. Sometimes this is due to higher loads than expected (see picture of Seth), places where the material strength is "low" (material too thin) or places where there is a discontinuity in strength / flex. The flex discontinuity are frequently due to an abruptly ending gusset on aluminum or the edge of a ply in a composite structure. If you have seen properly repaired composite parts they try to maintain the flex characteristics all the way around the repair. The handle bar in this video broke at the edge of the heat affected zone from the crossbar weld. I don't know if this handle bar was originally manufactured with that cross bar or it was added later. Typically, original manufacturers know about heat affected zones and heat treat the part after welding. But even if the handle bar had been heat treated, the crossbar itself creates a 'stiffer' mid section and a much more flexible outer sections. I would expect it to break right where it broke. As far as adding more material / strength, it works well. But only if the reinforcement is designed to transition from 'stiffer' to 'more flexible' over a wide enough span to not create a stress concentration. So it you want to stick a metal part into your handle bars to reinforce them, make sure you include a transition zone. If you leave out the transition zone all you do is move the point of failure to the edge of the reinforcement.

This event has been cancelled.

I know how you feel. My CX bike now has a flat bar on it. I am MUCH more comfortable.

On the big / long climbs I watch my heart rate. Once I hit my anaerobic threshold I get off and walk. I have to walk slow enough that I stay aerobic. Know where your anaerobic threshold is and plan how you want to spend your anaerobic efforts. I read somewhere that most people have about an hour per day of anaerobic effort in them. World class athletes may build that up to about 2 hours. I need to save my "hour" for the efforts on the trail, not the road. I posted on Mojo a while back that I find my "most efficient pace". That is the pace I am covering lots of ground with low effort. Less effort is easier but I don't cover as much ground. Faster requires much more effort than the increase in speed justifies. I find that my "most efficient pace" is a lot faster than would expect it to be. On the big climbs I slow down to try to stay in the most efficient pace / aerobic zone but I am still covering a lot of ground. Part of that is maintaining momentum starting up the climb. Part is downshifting to stay aerobic.

As long as the spacers don't interfere with movement - all shocks & forks are compatible with volume spacers. All volume spacers are doing is making the total air volume smaller so the pressure ramps up faster.

The answer is obvious - you don't weigh enough. Says the old fat guy.

The Austin Ridge Riders will be putting on a mountain biking event for the Scouts on 9/9/2018 near Belton. They are talking about 40 to 50 scouts for the event. We have three trained leaders signed up. For that many riders, we need more volunteers for sweeps, pointing scouts where they need to go, fitting bikes, etc. Is anyone willing to help out? The details are being nailed down but it looks like this would be and all day event if we don't get many volunteers. If we get enough volunteers then we can take breaks, volunteer part days etc. Post here if interested or better yet, PM me your email address so we can discuss it.

Go to this trail map - https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c069f13f4f1a4260b8694a2cb30b5880 Scroll around until you find the trail you want to know about. NOTE - Only PARD recognized trails are shown. Right click on the trail you are interested it. A dialog will open that shows what activities are recognized as legal for that trail.

PARD has been notified. Please pick up and trash all the nails, screws, glass, etc. you see. You are helping your follow riders.

And two of those big steel sign posts cemented into the ground have been "removed / stolen". At least that is all I know about. And Hill Country Conservancy (Violet Crown Trail folks) paid for ALL of the signs on BCGB. Even the ones past where the VCT turn off the main trail. When you make something "idiot proof" - they come up with a better idiot.

I am afraid I am about 24 months to late "to build real fitness". But better late than not at all.

The Violet Crown Trail web site has maps of their plans. Go to https://violetcrowntrail.com/explore/

You don't want to know what the cost of those sign posts are. And somebody (me) keeps having to clean the graffiti of of them. Cleaning graffiti is almost as bad as trying to delete bot posts as fast as they come in.

Has anybody seen the official Walnut Creek Map? You might look at ftp://ftp.austintexas.gov/GIS-Data/PARD/Allison/WalnutCreekMetro/WalnutCreekMetroPark_MainKiosk3_Copy.pdf

Funny you should mention that. ARR started on that before school let out. The Carsonite posts started being destroyed. We decided to wait until school was back in session before we replaced them.

Your weekly rides look fine. I would start doing longer and longer distance to get used to the time / miles in the saddle. That Saturday ride needs to become 5 hours. Then 6 hours. etc. Nutrition is a personal thing. Go with what works for you. Your training is where you figure out what works for you. For me, I need real food. Gu / Cliff Bars / whatever are fine for a shorter ride. But I can't eat more than about one Cliff Bar a day or I will get sick. Probably could do two or three Gu's before I got sick. Similar with electrolyte / carb drinks. I carry Skratch / Portable Rice Cakes (see the Skratch Portable Cookbook) and stop for a Subway sandwich and chocolate milk about lunch time. I have to rest for 15 - 20 minutes after eating the Subway. I don't want to eat anything that is real spicy or loaded with grease, but otherwise most any real food works for me.

Currently using a Garmin Edge 800. It will make the whole ride. The Garmin Forerunners (310 and 910?) would not make the distance before the battery died. My phone still has battery left but I know NOT to use it for navigation. The map apps I tried before used a TON of battery. I have not used the app built into the iPhone or Google maps. In spite of Cody's history that people can finish as long as they don't quit - I would pre ride and learn the route before the EB. Call me silly if you want but I want to feel like I am ready and can make everything.

Rear facing helmet cam didn't work for me. I keep turning my head for the next corner which meant I lost the rider behind me. Forward facing helmet cam actual works better because of the same head movement. I guess it would not be a problem if the trail was fairly straight, but that is not the trail I want to video. Rear facing seat post cam (or similar) didn't have that problem. Or maybe I need to learn to ride with my head locked in one position. Of course - your mileage may vary.

If that bike is not stolen or a scam - that is a great deal

Found it. Go to Profile (not Account Settings). Click on that little picture icon. Upload a small picture file. This site calls it your Profile Picture.

How do I update my aviator? Or avatar? Or what ever?

I keep telling you that the map is here - https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c069f13f4f1a4260b8694a2cb30b5880 If it is not on that map - it does not exist. At least not in the City of Austin.