The Tip

1 hour ago, throet said:

 I generally stop mid-ride to wring out my shirt, gloves, 

I have been wearing wrist sweat bands the last two years. I realized that my gloves were getting so wet from sweat rolling down my arms. It is amazing how well they work keeping my gloves drier. I do stop mid-ride sometimes to squeeze them dry because when they are saturated everything just flows into the glove. 

I would think it wouldn't matter about "getting wet." I just got back from a ride. It's not even really hot yet but because of the humidity I was as soaked as I would have been taking a swim.

That's why it was so amazing riding out in Colorado and Utah's NO humidity. Ride for three hours at 100 degrees and finish with everything dry. Just freaky. On one ride Strava recorded 102 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of 97. I've never seen a negative "feels like" temperature before.

2 hours ago, throet said:

observed that I was "gliding" through rock gardens while he was "pounding" through them.

I had an "ah ha" experience while gliding over a rock garden with my Fox Float suspension. I almost slapped my forehead when I realized it. "It's like I'm floating over these rocks." Duh! Fox FLOAT. 

Not too long ago I discovered this concept on the SATN trails. I was always picking a line through "stuff." Then one time I just went over all of it. "Well, that was easier." After all, I've got all this suspension, why not use it?

Very interesting. 

..

This is the Moab Brands trailhead parking lot at 2 pm in June. It was only 100 degrees, where is everyone? There were about twenty cars when we started.

Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab. Pretty much the entire ride there has these views.

I jam my spare tube in a modified (small holes on the sides to hold it in with a small bungee cord) water bottle in the frame rack. This method was because of a lesson learned like Mack Turtle said from a strapped on tube that ended up having holes in it when I needed it. Now it's totally protected. I have tire tools, three specific Allen wrenches, up to three air cartridges, and a multi tool that I've used mostly for the pliers and knife, in the bottle.  

Just a bump to put the "informative" Caprock Canyon thread available.

My trip report. There are so many choices in Moab that I had extreme FOMO planning the trip. Hopefully this will help someone else from experiencing that. 

We rode Brands, Klonzo, and Dead Horse Point. We would ride the easier trails in each system first then she would stop and I would go back out. Klonzo was picked because of a recommendation from a couple I met at Phil's World. They knew I was there with my wife but saw how I could ride. They said that Klonzo was one of their favorite trail systems and that it would fit our bill too. Dead Horse Point was picked because everyone said it was beautiful. It was. Brands was just a name I was familiar with.

All these areas, and the others, have maps available to buy for $3 each, in the local bike stores. We bought Brands and Klonzo. BUT, you don't need the maps. We took pictures of the maps at each trail head, but we never even looked at them either. All three places had maps posted everywhere on the trails. Almost at every intersection there was a map of the entire system with a "you are here" button. And the trails have the ratings posted too. The green/blue/blacks were mostly accurate. So it was easy to pick out routes for us, and then me later. There were also a lot of small trail name signs. I'm assuming the other systems are marked as well. It was really, really well done. 

We enjoyed all three days of riding and wouldn't hesitate to ride those same systems again. But of course when I go back I'll try other ones. Dead Horse Point was really spectacular in regards to views. Just imagine riding around the rim of the Grand Canyon. The trails were fun too. So I would say that's a must do day. It is informative driving to it on 313  because you pass some of the other mtbing system trailheads on the way to it. Horsethief, Gemini Bridges, and Navajo Rocks.

Our routine was to ride in the mornings then go to the national parks in the afternoon. We could have spent more than three days in Moab. Mostly because of all the other non-mountain biking things to do there. We would have liked to raft on the Colorado and maybe done a UTV tour. 

Oh yeah, it was plus 100 degrees every day. But we Austin folk shouldn't be put off by that. Just drink lots of water. It's great fun to ride for a few hours in the heat and NOT have any wet clothes. Amazing really. 

I would have liked to have ridden Slick Rock or at least the practice loop, just to be able to say "done that," but I don't think I missed out on the slick rock experience. All of the trails I rode had lots of it. The Slick Rock trail was one of the first trails so that's one reason it's famous. Some of the other more well known trails are famous because they are hard. For example, several people I spoke with said that some of the Whole Enchilada trails were very grindy from being overused and washed out. That didn't sound like fun to me.  

So research the different areas and pick one for each day. I'm thinking you really can't go wrong on any of them.

Here's my Angel Fire input, since a topic exists. This was my first bike park experience.

$60 bucks. Lift open 9am - 4 pm. The longest I waited was 15 minutes which translates to about 40 folks in line. People said that was about normal for a busy day and that it never gets much longer than that.  I got in six runs for the day between 9 am and 2:30. I quit because I was tired, but it worked out because the lift was closed down because of weather coming in. (Stated several places: no refunds for any reason!)

EVERYONE wore full face helmets, except one couple I talked to. They said nobody gave them grieve for not wearing one. I rented one for $25. I never "used" it, thankfully, but I'm glad I rented it anyway.

I was nervous about the trail ratings, green/blue/black. When I ski, black trails are scary, and hard to get down. But I think that here black just means the jumps are bigger. So by the end I was not intimidated by anything. All the jumps are rollable or bypassable. No mandatory gaps or anything like that.

The trail maps break down the trails by "freeride" and "technical." I began to just seek out the freeride trails, regardless of rating color. Freeride is what I imagined a bike park as. Why ride the technical bumpy, chunky, rooty stuff that we have here in Austin in abundance? Especially at speed? The fun in tech for me here is choosing the line. There I was going so fast it was mostly just a test of my suspension going over everything. I asked a couple of people on the lift, making conversation, if they enjoyed that. One guy said yes, one guy agreed with me and said no. 

I saw all sorts of bikes out there. I would say that you don't need a downhill bike to enjoy the place. But I would say full suspension would be vastly better than a hardtail.

I would for sure go again if it was part of a trip to that part of the world. I wouldn't drive there just to do it. I am still sore two days after my day there. So I don't know if I could do two days in a row. But I'm an old man.

https://www.strava.com/activities/5454051957/segments/2838583335636751046

This wasn't much of a ride because I was with my wife and didn't have time to go out on my own. But it is a beautiful place and the little I rode was fun. My friend that works at the camp said that it has been built by legit professional mountain bike-centric trail builders. Definitely worth checking out.

On 6/13/2021 at 11:19 AM, Barry said:

I might be late to this thread. But IMO Durango proper has some of the least interesting trails I've seen in Colorado. You're way better off driving to Phil's World or north to Hermosa. Still, it's a great town. And I did a reasonably fun ride there from the hotel. 

https://strava.app.link/ZeBkAAaK3gb

https://www.strava.com/activities/5490832127

I didn't have a big ride, but I agree with Barry. I was disappointed in this ride. Lots of climbing with no payoff. I kept thinking at points in the ride, "the trail builder wasted this resource." 

I mean, it's riding, which is good of course. And I rode from our hotel, so that was great. 

You title it Caprock Canyon but the mtbproject link takes me to a Palo Duro Canyon ride. So not sure what you are actually doing.

54 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

.Oh, and another tip. Until you are really, really dialed in on your bike and riding every week, always show up a half hour early. Get your bike set up and pedal it a half mile in the parking lot. This will help you ensure that everything is ready to go. I hate the people that pull up at 8:59 for a 9:00 ride and have to get dressed, pump up their tires and check their drivetrain. Do you friends a favor, get there early. Better yet, do all of that at home before you even leave.

Word! This is not hard to do. Folks, please take heed.

On bacon; I now carry a preloaded bacon strip in my hydration pack that I can get to without taking the pack off. I learned this trick from a friend on a ride when he got a puncture. He reached in to his "holster" and whipped out his preloaded bacon, looked at the hole for about three seconds to determine if the sealant was going to work or not, decided it wouldn't, and stuck the bacon in the hole. He barely lost any air and could have kept riding. Very cool.

Any more input about Durango? It's going to be a stop for us next week. Is there anything you can ride to from in town?

Congratulations! Very nice.

I have plans to be there June 20th. I've never been to a bike park, not even Spider yet, so I'm excited about it.

We've been watching this and enjoying it. In this context it's a person that is not so good at their craft but making a buck off of it anyway.

5 hours ago, Barry said:

As a fellow recent lip injury recipient, I can certainly sympathize. I was lucky enough to have an urgent care facility open at 2AM and super close by, and a buddy to get me there. I was unlucky enough to need 11 stitches for my repair though (the installer claimed it was 12, but the un-installer only found 11). 

How's that healing up anyway? Ya gonna live?

5 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

I believe the market has no obligation to morality, only to produce profit so I don't fault a snake for being a snake.

Yup, and the market is made of corporations. 

Look up fiduciary in the dictionary. It uses "company" as an example of a fiduciary responsibility. 

"the company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders"

A corporations ONLY responsibility is to make profit for the shareholders. And when the board of directors says something like, "let's start donating five cents of every unit we sell to feeding African children," they are only doing that to project a better image to their client base. To sell more. To make more profit. That is what a corporation does.

2 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Isn't all investing gambling? To me, Wall street is just a giant casino where the house always wins, and we'd be better off without it. 

 

Ha! That's what my other kid said. "The stock market is how rich people gamble." Maybe over simplified, but yes, almost all investments are gambling.

12 hours ago, Lacch said:

 

- should I take on the repair myself and keep learning by making mistakes? (but, I really want to get back to riding asap)

 

 

Back up bike! 

I know that doesn't work for everyone, but it sure takes a lot of the "I want to ride" pressure off, about working on your own bike.

I've tried stuff sometimes and just couldn't do it. So I take the bike to the shop but still am able to ride the back up.

24 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

 start throwing small $ at new coins. Let it sit for years

Letting it sit is not required. He was visiting us and was on his laptop. He waited for the launch of a new coin and got it right then. Sold it 20 minutes later. "Dad, I just made $8,000."

But another one he bought 400,000 coins of at five cents. But he still has those because they didn't shoot up. 

It's really been a wild west kind of thing.