AntonioGG

During the transition, did you have any close calls due to being used to being attached to the bike? I’ve tried it and almost hurt myself a few times. i also used clips back in the early 90’s. Not only that, I’d cinch them tight!

I'm still recovering from my last bout in leadership at SCCA (like 9 years ago!). Talk about overgrown spoiled children! Before that I was on the board for a local RC car racing club in Dallas. I'm happy to donate money to clubs instead now. 🙂

Hmm, a fender is not a bad idea. I'm running 40mm tires. I was looking at some of the roads in google maps, I think they'll hold up fine in the rain.

That's why I run super stiff carbon soled shoes.

Yep. I’ve read about anti KOPS (I think Keith Bontrager) and it makes sense. In this case it works for me. I focus on angles, and optimal cleat location for me. It just so happens KOPS happens to be a sanity check for me. I thought my caveat would have prevented that distraction. 🙂 Moving the cleats to get the bob right is not seeing the forest for the trees. That’s outrageous!

Thanks for the advice Mack_turtle. I found one big reason for my problems, and hope to have made some other changes to help--short of changing the bars. Before I get into those details, on my road bike--which my bike fitter said fits me as perfectly as a custom bike would--I went to really short drop and short reach bars. Before that, with the stock bars, I NEVER used the drops. Now I use them regularly. On my TF gravel grinder, it started life with a 110mm stem. I changed it later to 90mm. Years ago I had a friend visit, and I set it up for him (he's taller than me) so we'd slammed the seat back and the post up for him to ride. It turns out that I lowered the seat, but forgot to move it back forward. In my shakedown ride yesterday, I was having horrible wrist pain in the rough sections. I was ready to go to BSS right then and there to get a different bar. Then I noticed I was very far from KOPS (I know there are other fitting methods and philosophies, but this is how this bike was made and fitted for me), and I noticed the slammed seat. I stopped to move it forward about 1" and my wrists felt way better. The thing is, I did Castell and other rides like this, including some CX. It's no wonder I felt like it was harder to ride this bike than my other bikes! Having fixed that, I also decided that for a long ride, I'd prefer an even shorter reach while on the hoods and in the drops, so I switched my 90mm stem for a 70mm stem (it's a good thing I never get rid of my stems...but I am starting to get quite the collection of 110mm stems now.) Hopefully that doesn't eliminate riding in the ends of the drops, but I'm willing to give those up. I'll likely switch these to something more like the Specialized Hover.

New everything but the same chain ring?

If you're on a road bike, you definitely want to see that 2x4 piece or just about anything laying on the side of the road, just don't look too far up. It especially sucks on those curved climbs, where it looks like the end is near, but it isn't...it just keeps going (like courtyard). Maybe worse than getting just plain discouraged is to pace yourself thinking you're almost done when you are nowhere near the top.

What's left? Civility? I 100% support Albert on this one.

I think with the greater use of parks, increased access due to paved path, and multiple crossings of dirt trails and paved paths, we're going to need more education at the bike shops, regular stores that carry bikes, and more signs. I kind of wonder about transplants to Austin not being aware that our trails are more sensitive to rain. I got to ride in Colorado, got caught in a rain storm and the trails hold up really well. Is Austin unique, or among the more unique places as far as sensitivity to trail damage after rain?

While riding urban on City Park Road, I got passed by someone with a Commencal on their rack, completely covered in mud, and several guys with trials motorcycles also covered in mud. I figured if there's one trail they're doing to do that in, that's the one...but I wondered about how scary it would be.

Oh yeah, for my post ride beer, I'm having a Naked Nun from Adelbert's.

If you like Pizza, Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River has great pizza and beers, and it's right across from Full Sail.

I had planned on leaving my house by 8am. I ended up not leaving until 8:45am. Good to see the 3 of you on City Park Rd. It was my first and last time on Pearce Rd. Too narrow, too many blind corners, too many impatient Porsche SUV drivers for my taste. I was keeping a pretty good average of about 12mph until Jester, when the sun came out. Until then I had done all the hills without stopping. I think I stopped 3 times in the shade at Jester. I don't like riding Old Spicewood Springs this late on a weekend day so I went up Bluegrass. I had planned on going down and back up Yaupon, but I was dealing with some pain on my left hip so I cut the ride short and headed home. I need to see what that's about before the real thing. I still got almost 47 miles. Thanks for calling this ride and inspiring me to do this even if I didn't ride with you guys.

Wow! I had no idea. I always wondered where that road went. Very cool. Thanks!

I'm starting from my house and will ride a lot of the same route as you guys but may do some extra credit. Hopefully I see some of you on the hills!

+1 I stopped checking it. Mojo is dead... to me.

How did you include Big View, City Park and Courtyard in the Dam Loop? I was not familiar with the Cycle 360 location.

I think that's what I have on my bike already.

I bought my Sherpa about 7-8 years ago based on how lightweight it is. As several have mentioned, my concern was not as much with the hitch or the rack as much as what the hitch mounts to. It is on my car all the time and has aged very well, including the plastic.

When I started again since college, a single hill would kill me. I would have to walk it. I'm not exaggerating when I say, if you do this kind of workout 3x per week for 2 weeks, you will see results that fast. Start with 2x up Yaupon, pace yourself...go as slow as you can but keep moving. Put one earbud in and listen to whatever music will motivate you (I listened to a lot of NiN and Sonic Youth on Big View). A few years ago, the first semblance of shape for me since college started when some work friends and I started doing hill repeats at St. Ed's. The first time, 2x was it, but we were quickly doing 4-5 in 1 hour and change. Oh yeah, get clearance from your Dr. for this type of stuff.

He's talking about Spicewood Springs riding from 360 to Mesa. It's very steep but very short, and too dangerous with the traffic there. Go do Big View to get the best bang for the buck. Park at the tennis courts, keep a cooler in your car with bottles, smile at the people walking down when they tell you "you're almost there!" When I do repeats, I look for how to get the most feet in the least amount of time (I've had to do many k of feet). I used to do Big View for when I needed a lot. I've done my street (Talleyran) 30x for when I was in a hurry and didn't want to waste the time driving even though it's only ~100ft per, and I've also done Yaupon for similar reasons. Now I found a loop in my neighborhood that yields me about 1200-2000ft per hour depending on how fast I can go. It's a bit less "mental" that way. Look for my "hood laps" entries in my Strava.

I thought she was saying MERT! MERT! Reminded me of this:

I ride Great Hills and NW Balcones almost exclusively when on the road bike. In fact, I rode Yaupon yesterday at lunch. https://www.strava.com/activities/1839567144 I've done repeats on Yaupon from Old Spicewood Springs to Spicebrush. It definitely makes you stronger.

Once in Portland you could hit Sandy Ridge. That's all I've had a chance to ride up there. Definitely go to https://www.lumberyardmtb.com in town. I wish we had a place like that here in Austin. Not riding, but have you gotten a tour of the Chris King factory?