radiantm3

Today was a fantastic ride. Had my best run on deception today. Made it through 1/4 notch from the bottom to the top with 1 dab. Usually I can clear the whole thing pretty easily, but I rode from home so I was already about 4-5 miles into my ride. Then I figured the weather was good enough to punish myself a bit more and continued my way down double down (after a quick break, obviously). Made it to the bottom with only 3 quick dabs. Usually my foot goes down 5-6x. Felt great. 

If you HAVE to pedal to keep the front wheel up, then you haven't found the natural balance point yet. Front wheel needs to go higher. Once you are in the natural balance point you should be able to stop pedaling and the front wheel shouldn't drop. It's also much easier to control the bike left to right and it doesn't want to flop to one side like it does when the wheel isn't high enough. I've been practicing wheelies almost every day (when it doesn't rain) for the past 10 months or so. I'm not great at it, but it's definitely easier to find that balance point when the bike is already rolling fast.

But the biggest thing to remember is that if you have to keep pedaling and pedal faster to keep the front up, you aren't at the balance point. Same goes for if your front wheel keeps flopping to the left or right really easily.

4 minutes ago, Kobra Kai MTB Guy said:

Took me a second to realize you meant an actual train and not a train of bikers.

I didn’t even know trains passed on that bridge. Is it that one red light rail that goes to downtown Austin?

8 minutes ago, Barry said:

Awesome. Those leaves are super slick unless you stay real high on the berms. Of course in central NY leaves were a huge pain every fall. But we had this one local guy who mounted two leaf blowers to an old hardtail, one on the front, one on the back, and it did a spectacular job of clearing the leaves off the trails. He called it a trail zamboni.  

That must have been quite a sight to see at speed. 

3 minutes ago, horncpa said:

Hey, I am wanting to take my leaf blower out to Peddler's Pass in the next day or so.   I'm sure the answer is yes, but would the trail steward have any problem with blowing the leaves off the trail.  It's getting pretty slick.   @GreenMTBrider @HoneyBadger

Hey we don’t change the trails to meet our skill level. We need elevate our skills to match what’s required for the trail. 😅

I kid I kid. But honestly I’ve been enjoying the challenge of picking my line carefully with all the leaves. And the berms still provide tons of grip. 

2 minutes ago, Kobra Kai MTB Guy said:

How do you fit those massive balls in your bike shorts?

So that’s his secret. They absorb all the impact. 

8 minutes ago, 4fun said:

It’s an aggressive hardtail, 65 degree head angle, 150mm Fox 36, plus tires to give a little Cush. 

Still that’s legit. Why am I crying over here about my 130mm rear travel. 😓

1 minute ago, 4fun said:

Felt harder, but I landed real deep. Felt like a Huck to flat and nearly bounced off the bike. I’m sure with a little less speed And catching the transition closer to the top would feel pretty good. I’m also currently on a steel hardtail so take that for what it’s worth.

Wait you hit that 10ft drop on a hard tail? 😳

I hit the b line wood feature 4x today. Nothing to it. That main drop though. I need to work on something similar but 1/2-3/4 that size first. It doesn’t look impossible for me though. I can see myself hitting it someday. But maybe not on my 130 rear travel trail bike. 😳

2 minutes ago, HoneyBadger said:

Mulligan a-line is steeper, but you can roll it. Both lines on this feature require you to be in the air.

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Ah yea I can see how that could be a mental block. It doesn’t look bad from the top but it’s probably just the POV. 

I saw the grade of the ladder yesterday. Didn’t seem any steeper than the end of the big mulligan “drop”. But I suppose looks can be deceiving. 

I want to see someone send it on the drop. 

New cockpit for my Dirt Jumper. 

I checked the map and thought it was the north side, but you guys could be right. But it's on the end of Picnic closest to the 183. Not the basket drop area. 

1 hour ago, chuckt said:

I hit that one for the first time today. It wasn’t pretty but I survived.

I looked at it for a while and picked an approach line that looked good, but when I launched over the edge I pushed forward and got my weight back even though I told myself to just go straight off. Anyway my left foot unclipped and I over compensated putting my chest into the bars on the landing. I’m glad no one was around to LOL.

I did go back around for another attempt but ended up taking the easier one (my normal line) at the end.

While I was looking at the big one from the top some kid came around and took the easy middle line but ate hard just before the trails come together. It made a heck of a “thud” when he hit the dirt but he said he was OK.

Nice! I looked at that feature so many times before deciding to just "send it" one day. It definitely looks scarier than it actually is, but the key is staying loose and absorbing the compression a bit with your legs on the landing. I think alarms went off in my head as I approached the edge for at least the first 10-15 times of hitting that feature. It's definitely a mental challenge. The left drop on gum drop actually scares me the most now because it's basically a huck to flat and it's a pretty hard hit (at least on my 150/130 travel bike). 

Anyone have a favorite feature at Brushy? Mine has to be the left drop at the beginning of the north end of picnic. It’s not the most difficult drop, but is exciting because you enter pointing down, drop for a few feet and then land going downhill which just shoots you down the trail. Makes me smile every time. 

When I see posts like this from people running for office in Cedar Park, things start to make a little more sense. 😬

https://www.facebook.com/timkellyforcedarpark/posts/564460724154635

"One of my campaign issues was NO BIKE LANES in Cedar Park. It's a part of Austin WE DON'T want in Cedar Park. On top of that it is a safety hazard. If anyone is for bike lanes, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM this election. Keep Leftist lunacy out of Cedar Park."

3 hours ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

Local homeowner is a MTB hater. It'll be us against them till someone gives up. Same old story with most of the trails in the area.

This is why us riders need to be extra patient and courteous to trail users not on bikes. If we act like they don’t belong on our trails, it never ends well for our sport. Unfortunately it takes a lot more work to build trails than to tear them apart. Sad to see things like this happening. I see a lot of people enjoying walks on SN as much we we enjoy riding there. Can’t see why any anyone would hate us riding out there unless some of us have been acting like dicks to “hikers”. 

4 minutes ago, Morris said:

The one the ends in a jump into the wall ride section?  Looks wierd, hit it timidly if that is the one

No this is still work in progress. If you take the left line, there’s a new berm that goes left right where the little jump to hip is. If you follow that there’s a downhill line to the right which leads into a jump and an insanely big drop if you went straight. 

So who’s building a Redbull Hardline drop on Snail? Looks legit and something I’m not willing to hit. Looks like a 10-20ft drop at least. My legs were shaking as I stood near the ledge. 

1 hour ago, El Gringo said:

I tried an eMTB from Pivot during the demo days. I think I'm hooked. it was so fun!

Same! I always thought they might be good for extending rides and getting through long climbs (something we don’t have much of here), but i was surprised by what it really brought. Speed! It made riding suburban ninja almost as exciting as flying down spider mountain. 

9 minutes ago, El Gringo said:

And . . . with the help of Mark (Radiantm . . . something, I forget) we got the jump lines running tonight. Still a bit rough, be careful, but rideable. Thanks, Mark!

3. 😁 I'm glad to help out when I can. I really appreciate the work you guys have put in so far and this place is going to be a complete gem. 

On 12/14/2019 at 3:30 PM, Yosmithy said:

Holy shit. SN has some amazing new stuff, just waiting for you. Mostly above my pay grade. But still amazing to know it's out there

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I snuck a ride today. 😁

Finally brave enough to hit the large step up at the walnut pump track. 

1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

How will trailside repairs work with that installed?

I’ll worry about that when the time comes. Learning by experience as I go. I’ve only gotten 1 unrepairable flat in the last 2 years. Going to stick with those odds for now.