AntonioGG

I think the tricky part of that spot and a couple of other spots on 1/4 is that maybe your front and rear tires hit a step (or step and root) at the same time. If you're tired that makes it seem harder.

Cody nailed it, especially the happy zone point. I'll add one thing. I found that coming from Austin, at 10k the happy zone was not hard to find and it was comfortable, but if you have to punch it to pass people, it was hard to get back to that happy zone for me. I got there 6 days before the event which is about the worst thing I could have done. Sounds like you'll have some more time to get used to the altitude. I've heard the other alternative is to get there the day before.

Go do 8700 feet here in Austin repeats if you get a chance. Like fontarin says, the elevation will get you, but you'll at least know you can handle the actual climbing. I've been looking at those events myself too. Maybe next year.

And could have finished 3rd in Cat 1!

Fo schist!

Ah, this one has been changing with erosion as of lately. I used to go right on the step, then wide around the tree on the right with sharp turn right to get over it. Now I go left on the step and more straight through the tree.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16ba9j9zAIM3JnB0IeEfizMLsdP5aAkFy

Glad you setup that gofundme. I keep forgetting to get the gift card. This is much easier. Thanks!

Is it more like a few yards before sponge bob E-W? The one that has green rocks that seem to stay slick longer than most?

It's one of the few issues. Other than that, pretty happy with my job. I took 90 minutes at lunch to get a road ride in. There's another thing...I hate riding to the ride, especially in traffic. I'd rather take that time and ride extra, so I'll do stuff on my own.

How do you pedal this thing with the bottle where it is?

For the same reason I haven't made the R&I regularly, it's just tough for me to make it. I've had project meetings 4:30-5:30 for the last 5-6 years (maybe more). When I make the R&I, it's b/c I put my ear bud in and take the call on the road if I don't have to lead the call, finish in the parking lot, and ride at 5:30. I'd love to just take off from work at 4:30 and ride to the ride (I've done it once on the weekend, 360, drop in at HOL, S16/VC to Brodie, then drop-in on the trails to get to ATX))

Such a tough drive to make it out there from the NW. I've made it once.

@shredhead used to organize sub 24 hour bike packing to LGT for those of us that had never done it and wanted to get our gear and planning tested. Sadly I never took advantage of this. This is definitely a fall or early spring activity though. I bought all the gear but have never used it for bike packing.

IIRC from watching the documentary, a lot of people that do this are teachers, and others work their life (including jobs/careers) around cycling not the other way around.

Several of the turns on the East side along the road were pretty loose. Yeah, that one flat turn on the west side of the new sidewalk was really bad. I could already see the tracks where people went off so I slowed down in time. I literally ate dirt on one of the new berms on the West side. I hit a loose rock with my front wheel and I low-sided. Thankfully I've only got a few scrapes on my right leg.

Did you ride the right line or the left line? It used to be only the left line was there. Endo's sketchiness goes up and down with how it wears. There was a point where I thought the original steep line was less sketchy than the right line.

Someone created a Full Gas on Peddlers Pass segment but it doesn't start at the right location. I was about to create this segment but wouldn't want to encourage starting from other than the official entrance. IMO stop watch (or manual lap on the Garmin, turn off auto lap) starting from the normal location is probably pretty close.

Slower rebound has improved my confidence going down hill on the bigger stuff, but it totally messed up my timing when going up ledges. I guess I was using that fast rebound to help prop me up.

It's interesting. For me it was the opposite. I like the normal start because it gets me in a rhythm and focused on pacing. The start-stop for the race had us hitting the higher power areas close to the road sooner and I definitely did not pace myself well. I got better and better each time but I really blew my legs on the first lap with totally the wrong setup.

Yeah, I stay away from the thick padded gloves.

Ethan Welling was in the North Austin composite 8th grade team this spring (yep, we got spanked by a middle schooler!) and he wasn’t even the fastest kid in the 8th grade in the first two races (only ones my son was able to race this year.) These youngsters look like pros on the trail.

Look for the shop rides. Each shop seems to have either official or rogue rides you can take part in. I don’t think there’s an equivalent to this site for roadies.