Barry

I might as well contribute here. I've spent countless hours in airports and on airplanes in the last 6 months. Easily 100 flights. And much of that time, I spent listening to Amy Winehouse. And both in-song and in commentary, Amy Winehouse constantly mentions one of her favorite artists, Donny Hathaway. So I looked him up, as you do. I love his sound, but he's a little too non-bluegrass gospel for me. I can dig on some bluegrass gospel, but just soulful Jesus songs are a non-starter. But I did start to like his style, and then he hit me with this:

Damn Joan Jett is about as rock'n'roll as it gets.

Yeah, I've watched that video probably 30 times.

Ugh. My FOR SALE house lost half a dozen significant limbs as well. This is why we can't have nice things trees!

Hell yeah I got mine built up! I haven't done any actual measurements. But mine is a 140 fork with a 29x27.5 mullet 2.6" set up. My calculations based on reported gelomenty is 63.7* HTA. But then my 5010 has a 65.8* HTA and my freakin' gravel bike as a 66.6* HTA. So 63.7 isn't a huge reach for me. Irrespective of whether I'm way off on my calculations, I don't have any flop issues, but perhaps I'm just used to that. And this bike corners like I like to corner. I've been loving it and currently have about 230 miles on the thing with no significant complaints, other than they shipped me a seized saddle post collar. Well that and the damned dropper cable routing! It's too bad that you're having problems with it. Hopefully the angle sets get you sorted.

Pretty much everything is professionally built. And there are plans for two more spots in the next couple of years. It looks like Chattanooga about 15 years ago in that regard. It seems once momentum starts, it's easy to keep going.

Turkey Mountain is spectacular, but it's about the only game in town.

You're a real out-of-towner like me now. BTW, after having you feed me for 2 years running, @Jessica had to take up your slack on FRR Opening Day 100K with some amazing meatball sliders!

Yeah, R&I is dead. It's just not worth the drive for me. From Tulsa.

Blowing Springs is a spectacular camp ground!

I certainly have a preference. In general I don't enjoy "finished" bourbon. For the most part cask finishing, or stave finishing in the case of MM46, mostly serves to add sweetness. And bourbon is already sweet. I do like many finished ryes and malts. So yeah. Regular MMCS.

Yeah, I like OWA107 far better than W12. Although the hunting game for any Buffalo Trace whisky is pointless to me. Did you hear about the 400+ person lines a various Spec's locations the past few days? Nope thanks. For my wheater preference Maker's Mark Cask Strength is DAMN close to OWA107. And higher ABV and cheap and available.

Yup! I'll be running mine SS/mullet. I've had the parts for weeks now. Mine shipped Tuesday.

The 'ol lady and I are headed Tulsa way in a few weeks. Does anyone want to get into smoking on the cheap? Our combo grill has served us super well over the years, but we want to upgrade to a heavy gauge dedicated smoker after we move (since OK doesn't have BBQ at all) and would like to pay this one forward. The Texas Trio is a little over 3 years old, and needs about $85 in replacement parts to get back into good operational condition. So that plus picking it up is what it'll cost you. Presumably we're doing our last smoke today with our first attempt at pork belly burnt ends! The Texas Trio goes for about $630 at Home Depot. It's an offset smoker, charcoal grill, gas grill, with a gas side burner. It should have been called the Texas Quatro, but that doesn't alliterate. The charcoal grill side is just big enough to smoke a decent size brisket. Here's how those pork belly burnt ends are going: The exterior has a few heavy rust spots. A smart man would just Scotch Brite them down and add some high temperature paint to it. Photos taken during today's smoke. The entire smoker drawer assembly needs to be replaced: Here is the website for the replacement parts: https://www.chargriller.com/pages/3070-parts-page-1 I reckon at a minimum you'll need: - The smoker drawer assembly, #s 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13. - A drip pan, # 31. - 3 new heat tents for the gas side, # 31. Maybe a few other parts here and there, but this will get it into good operational order. You'll also need a truck, or van or a trailer to pick it up.

Looks like the Torch will be passed!

Does anyone here still have an XD I9 Torch hub? I put a new driver on my old hub, only to have my SC Reserve wheel break on me. Then SC replaced the entire wheel with a Hydra hub. Anyone need a new XD I9 Torch driver?

Nice! We actually had no expectation to buy ours when we did. I just saw that a 240URS was at the local Camping World amd wanted to finally have a look at one. We kept telling the salesman reasons that we needed to wait a few months, and he kept giving us solutions to those problems.

In case you're wondering...yes! The TownePlace Marriott in BA, OK is equipped with an excellent ChamoisHagar storage option.

https://youtu.be/UQbzz9xmsBM

Probably not. You don't get a ton of advantage going downhill. Now back up the stairs? You'll be hauling.

I can hear the "c" word being thrown about now!

If we're talking about broken frames, this is the 12 I have: - 4 Gary Fisher Sugars. Aluminum. - 1 Giant VT. Aluminum. - 1 Giant Reign. Aluminum. - 1 Motobecane Lurch. 4130 steel. - 5 Banshee Spitfires. Aluminum. 3 gen 1s, 2 gen 2s. - 0 Santa Cruz 5010s in 17,000+ miles. Carbon fiber. - 0 Evil ChamoisHagars in 8,000+ miles. Carbon fiber.

I'll tell you what NOT to do, don't get an Otto Lock. I've twice had them spontaneously change their combination on me and had to destroy them. Several other times I've had them change but I've been able to find the combo. Hell, it's even a question in their FAQ. I can't believe I bought another after the first one failed me. But there's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

@Jessica is a strong rider, but being an XX she is naturally disadvantaged as compared to an XY like myself. I love our rides together, but it would also be an interesting option to have he try an assist bike. She's adamant that she doesn't want one until she's infirm in some way, but maybe I can talk her into demoing one some time in the land of e-bikes that is B'ville.