Barry

I climbed to the shuttle drop-off and decided not to go the extra 100 feet to the top. Did I miss out?

I'll never understand this approach. Give me 105 degrees and 35% RH any time over 80 degrees and 85% RH (so basically every afternoon/evening). Especially when shady pines are involved. This weather pattern repeats pretty much every day in central Texas.

I just use a large metal Park tire tool for pushing pistons. Works great. Wait, this thing is $12 and will look spectacular on my slatwall in the garage? I might use it one every few years? Added to cart.

That one's been a long time coming. And there's no mistaking that down-tube for anything other than an ebike--not a very stealthy example. Still looks a far sight better than the Intense.

In the event that money and weight doesn't matter none too much, I've long been fascinated with the concept of the Black Box. Back before I committed to the toy hauler, I always thought a Sprinter camper van with a Black Box would be the way to go--it seems like a totally secure and safe option. But it's $4K, and you might struggle to get a couple of modern mountain bike in it, but I'm not certain. https://www.letsgoaero.com/products/blackbox-slideout-cargo-carrier This blog goes into detail on the box, showing how to turn the handlebars to mount modern MTBs. https://www.letsgoaero.com/blogs/stories-tips-guides/how-to-transport-29in-mountain-bikes-in-the-blackbox-cargo-bicycle-carrier

Did you tap your foot? I mean I have no idea what else to try.

Back when I lived in NY and got into snow/fat biking, I figured this was a good way to protect the bikes from road salt. It might have been this exact one...and it didn't work at all for me. It added obvious drag to a V8 Grand Cherokee, and no amount to cinching up the ties, kept the thing tight. It was a mess. I abandoned it after 2 attempts and just kept bikes in the SUV if there was road salt about.

Good combo. As much as I love the Trail Evo, I'm not a huge fan of the Hangover other than how light it is. For dedicated night rides I generally go with the Trail Evo and a KR Lumina 1100 on the helmet. But if I might be out a little after dark, an Outbound Hangover is great to have in a pack.

Nice glass. Like a squat Canadian Glencairn. Between purchases, inheritance and gift box sets, we've collected a lot of drinkware. I drink out of about 8 types of glasses. Some with variants. And for the most part each has a particular purpose. And other than those spectacular Reidel glasses on the left, there are (or was!) 4 to 6 of each of these.

I've said it a few times that I'm not a fan of the MM46 variant. But I have had a SPEC's of it that I enjoyed. I don't recall if I've seen a regular MMCS in a store pick.

I also find BT to be fine, but unimpressive. I can't get over the huge cola note, while many of the classic bourbon flavors are muted. However, I have quite a few times seen SPEC's barrel picks of BT, and they're generally much better and more complex. Obviously a crap-shoot on barrel picks, but both times I found them there, they were very nice. I'd certainly recommend it. Indeed if store barrel picks aren't something you're really started to explore, I recommend them entirely. Oak Liquor Cabinet, SPEC's and TW&M all have great barrel pick programs.

So are there government jobs available in San Diego?

I thought that went without saying.

I'm not entirely sure why anyone would opt for heat activity on gravel, which, like road, is largely in the sun. Whereas MTB is largely in the shade. I'd say just stay clear of short punchy climbs. In ATX, skip Ken's , skip the GB and skip deception. Ride Walnut, SubNinja, and shady bits of SATN.

As much as I love Franklin MTNS, it's the only place I've ever been annoyed by a head-wind on a mountain bike.

Probably going to get some pretty annoying sales calls/emails/texts now...

I had an 11 speed XT last me several thousand miles before and during a particularly dusty ATX summer. I eventually noticed that the clutch gave me a little "squeek-squeek-squeek" with each pedal turn. You'd have never noticed that the mechanism was in need of lube if it was spinning on a round ring. But since it was on an oval, it was stressed slightly with each turn, and gave me that little complaint. So I took off the cover plate and lubed up the clutch with Smoove. Then it was crickets. I was still running that derailer thousands of miles later (with a few more lube jobs) when I destroyed it entirely at RPR. And indeed! I run an Absolute Black on my singlespeed and it works spectacularly.

Not entirely garage related. But the new digs didn't have a really great bike wash option. No conveniently placed trees or whatnot. So this dedicated wash stand had to happen. Because why not slap a Park bench stand on an 8×8 cedar post? I just had to remove and replace a single sod tile. My original idea was to put a swivel plate between the post and the stand so I can spin it around and wash both sides while standing on the laneway. But damnit all if I can't find a freakin' swivel plate with a 4.25" bolt pattern.

Indeed! My garage hasn't been this well sorted out since I was on Covid quarantine.

I looked at this particular RV for about 3 years (Keystone Outback 240URS). And then I bought the first one I actually went to see.

And dog proof.

The slatwall garage set up is working out nicely. Kudos to @FJsnoozer for the idea about hiding the bike bags in the garage front dead space. And excellent for storing not-quite-dead-yet back-up used tires. And the RV garage gets fat bike storage duty. About the only things left to do is to put a significant compressor in the massive attic, and then add both 50' air and power reels someplace. Oh, and the entire house internal black shutter window treatments will look baller here.

That sounds like the best way to visit.

When in OK it's okay to experiment with the local product. This "tonic" claims to be "strawberry" flavored. And for sure it's got a little strawberry on the nose. But in flavor it's 100% tart blood orange with almost none of that "green" you expect. So I knew it would kill in a typical 3-2-1 (+40ML of the tonic for 2 drinks) margarita. Introducing the CrossFadeMarg (not sure why the Tripple Sec didn't make the photo.)

Nice progress. One of my slatwalls came in so that and organizing and drinking is pretty much my whole day. We also had a 3 car in Rochester and it's super nice for a bike shop. Although in Rochester we parked 2 cars in there. We don't bother with that nonsense south of the Mason-Dixon though. So this whole thing is just a bike and garden shop. And we need the garden space because @Jessica's mini-farm in the back half is about to get underway!