Ldavis16

1 minute ago, cxagent said:

Walnut Creek is my suggestion for a new rider in north Austin. The SATN (South Austin Trail Network) for new riders in south Austin. Peddler's Pass in far north Austin (Brushy Creek / Cedar Park)

There are maps for Walnut Creek (search this board for my user name) but there are no maps for SATN. For SATN talk to ATX Bikes on Slaughter Lane about where to ride. Either way you will get lost. Enjoy getting lost and exploring. It is part of the MTB experience. Riding with someone who knows the trails is about the only way to not get lost While you learn the trails. Next best is to keep your phone with you and use a/the mapping program. Google Maps will show you where you are in a trail system so you can navigate your way out. MTBProject or TrailForks is even better because it shows you the trail, not just where you are near a road.

You scare me saying you don't / didn't have a helmet but you want to go to FreeRide 512. This like saying you want to learn to drive a car in an Formula One race car. Maybe you will survive. But I bet it will go badly. And I doubt it will be fun. Start small / easy and work up from there. Develop skills before your life/health depends on those skills. Protective gear (helmet, gloves, pads, etc) will help with the learning curve.

Went and got a helmet this morning. I'll pick up some gloves to thank you. Only reason I said freeride is because they had a beginner session. Going to the Walnut Creek beginners session tomorrow if my bike is done with it's tune-up by then. Thank you for your response!

2 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

A few links that might be helpful

http://austinbike.com/

https://www.mtbproject.com/search?q=austin%2C tx

https://www.trailforks.com/region/austin/

Thanks for this I took my bike to a bike shop this morning for a tune up. Hopefully it'll be done today and I'll be there tomorrow thank you!

14 minutes ago, RidingAgain said:

That might be a GT Zaskar. And I hope you also bought yourself a helmet.

You might want to meet up with someone who knows the beginner trails in your local area first, and get use to the bike and how it handles on the trail.

The one thing you don't want to do is head out to harder trails and perhaps injure yourself right at the very beginning of your riding experience. Which is not uncommon, unfortunately.

One of the cool things about trail riding is all the different types of terrain you can encounter. But... It takes time to learn how to ride it all safely. And enjoy it.

What area in Austin are you located?

Also downtown Austin sorry. Whitley apartments

Sorry zaskar and absolutely I want to meet up with someone first. The freeride512 seems like it was a bit more group oriented. I just moved here Monday and don't know anyone yet. Figured I'd get into mtb. Thanks for the reply. Any suggestions where I can get to know my bike. Gonna buy a helmet tomorrow morning. I'm fairly athletic and comfortable with scary things, so I'm trying to find somewhere with some sort of thrill rather than just flat land. Thank you for.your reply!

Brand new to biking. Just bought a 2013 Kaskar 9r comp today want to ride tomorrow if possible. I found out about the freeride512 guys is that still open? And if so am I able to buy the membership and ride tomorrow?

Edit: thank you for everyones advice. I went and rode with a Meetup at Walnut Creek. Had a ton of fun. Gonna stick to the easier stuff for a while until I learn the ropes. Thanks so much. Hope to see y'all out there.