Barry

1 hour ago, Charlie193 said:

Just got an Outbound Trail Evo to replace an Amazon special (Victagen) on the bars, with a Lumina 950 on my helmet. Only used it once so far and it’s great. 

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. 

13 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I keep hearing this and something does not compute. I don't like extreme heat or extreme cold, both are miserable.

So are there government jobs available in San Diego?

13 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

No Thumper.

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. 

4 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Heat index goes down here due to the wind (which has its own set of issues).

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...

33 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

There was a rumor that ovals wear out derailers faster, but that appears to be nonsense.

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. 

40 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

It works on singlespeed, too, if the oval was made correctly.

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. 

On 5/8/2023 at 3:26 PM, The Tip said:

One of the good things about a new house is getting to reorganize your stuff. Nice.

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

20 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Looking good man! Also nice choice on the side entry toy hauler. We looked a few when we were in staying VA and they're totally the way to go!

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. 

18 hours ago, The Tip said:

That RV looks very wind proof! Woot!

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.

On 4/23/2023 at 5:19 PM, TAF said:

I’ll be driving right thru there tomorrow.

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.) 

3 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Nice upgrade man! That three car's got me droolin'

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!

Nice! I'm just at the start of my new garage adventure as well. I decided to go with some slatwall panels instead of pegboard this time. Hopefully they'll be delivered today. 

Site availability starts looking pretty good in May. It's a long haul bringing my trailer down from Tulsa, but if I do so, I'll at least finally make it to a Sunday morning at this event. 

If you wait too long after mid-May, you may end up losing tent participation due to summer temps approaching. 

Mention it at C&D and see if you have any takers. 

So uh... is this a tradition or not?

1 hour ago, ATXZJ said:

Even at that, we still park in eyesight of the dining area or close to the front door, backed up to sidewalk.

My Saris SuperClamp rack comes with a janky opportunity-theft prevention cable. Probably a screwdriver could defeat it. A couple of years ago we locked up my 5010 and Jessica's Hightower and went into Rudy's for some post-ride brisket. We parked and sat where we could see the bikes like we've done a thousand times...but an odd thing happened. Even though the bikes have different geo, from our particular viewing angle and distance, we were both suddenly convinced that my bike wasn't on the rack at all. We reasoned that no way someone would take just one of them. But it was so disconcerting that I had to go out and look! Sure enough, from just the right distance and angle, her bike entirely masked mine on the rack. It was confusing. 

I've heard people concerned about keeping bikes in a hotel room, but after keeping bikes in hundreds of hotels over the years, I've never had cause for concern. However, if I leave room with bikes in it, I always turn the TV on (kinda loud but not neighbor complain loud, just so you can kinda hear it at the door), and I always put out the Do Not Disturb thingy. 

2 minutes ago, circuitbreaker said:

I am intrigued about the Maze. is it impossible to escape?

"It can be. Try living within a half mile of it. Unless drastic action is taken, you can get lost in that maze. You might find yourself there 2...3....4...or NO!...5 times in a week."

This shiny new new billboard on the side of 360 brought to you by:

"Consider Tulsa! It's OKay!"*

*A consolidation of realtors in association with the City of Tulsa. 

Damn, that's too bad. But at least you're not a man given to pursuing the sunk cost fallacy!