The Tip

Just to clarify to everyone, you mean there will be no more additions to that (wonderful) little trail system (for now), not that it is shut down for use. I panicked a bit when I first read your post!

"I couldn't quit smiling." Common reaction. Everyone I've seen test ride an ebike laughs out loud. The ebike weighed 20 pounds more than her bike. 15% of her weight. If she was 20 pounds heavier would she not be able to ride at the same level at 146 on her regular bike? But for me, 20 pounds is less than 10%. Put it into perspective further. In the summer I'll carry four liters of water in my pack. That nine pounds is 5% of my weight. Does it make me ride less efficiently? Maybe a little but it's definitely worth the weight. My point is that this "weight" negativity is negligible.

What social media? It will not be ready Monday.

When Desert Sports took their ball and went home I said that it wouldn't take much of anything to continue the event in some form. A gas station down there could have said, "It's still on" and done nothing towards an event, and folks would have made the trek for it. I really can't believe that some merchant down there did not do this. You just know the area benefited from Desert Fest economically.

Do you REALLY still think of the cages as clips now? When I read the poll and they had "clips" listed it made me think that some influential publication should say, "Ok, we're going to start calling clipless pedals "clip ins" now. Kids today have never even seen an old style toe clip/cage. It's confusing and we are changing it." I don't know if this was a mistake by Pink Bike or on purpose. Of course that campaign would probably be as successful as converting the US to the metric system.

I really don't like people on mountain bikes playing music, but in bear country I think I would make an exception to that. Did anyone you see have music playing out loud?

KVUE website had a headline about "Pat Mahomoes."

This thread will be very interesting to read in five years.

It's hard NOT to find good stuff starting at ATX Bikes. There is a little more technical stuff west of Escarpment (DiscGo DiscGo and No Walk in the Park), and even more technical stuff east of Mopac (Bowie Stonewall). Not miles of it though. SATN is mostly flowy fun, with short rock gardens and features interspersed here and there. Post up here when you are thinking about riding. Lots of folks like to show the SATN off and would be happy to guide you.

If you start at the Hill of Life you will have a lot of Barton Creek Greenbelt to ride through to get to the SATN. The exit from BCGB is on 290 near Spec's. Not that there's anything wrong with that plan. But if you just want to explore the SATN there are places within the network that would be better. ATX Bikes is pretty much the center of the SATN universe now. Dick Nichols park is another good starting place. Or Circle C Metro park by the disc golf course parking lot. Or the new parking lot at the elbow of Mopac and 45. Or on LaCrosse next to the Veloway. By 7:30 traffic is starting to get bad. I would say it clears up a bit by 9:30. I'm sure others would have a more informed opinion about that.

I've hurt my chest more than anything else in crashes. Makes me think the risk to annoyance factor might be worth it.

"and it was well worth the drive down from Bentonville." Wow. That's a solid endorsement.

Thanks for sharing. The more "real" stories that are told about symptoms of different things the better.

Technology being applied. Good example. There's a counter argument to every "shun technology" example. 1936 Olympics: 2016 Olympics

The faction that is so anti e-bikes are transferring their motives for mountain biking onto to others. You don't know what motivates the able bodied buyers. Maybe they run 20 miles a week for exercise and the e-bike experience is just a pure joyful recreation thing. And as to your example of electric servos; does anyone here doubt that if there were such a thing they would sell faster than e-bikes? I don't. I can think of lots of examples of technology making a sport easier. "Well in my day we HIKED to the top of the ski mountain to come down. Now these perfectly healthy people are using these damn lifts to get to the top. What sport is there in that!" Not to mention hikers' disdain for mountain bikers. "Why do they need those contraptions to enjoy nature?" I'm okay with e-bikes as they are now. No throttles, limited power. The Jeep thing scares me a bit. And I'll tell you young whipper snappers something. The older you get, and you start feeling the diminishing of your physical abilities, the more prone you will be to support e-biking.

Why life gotta be so hard? ☹️ Good luck with all of it.

Thanks BMW, that was fun. Here's your bike back:

This is NOT going to help the e-bike cause. Having a car company bragging about how powerful their bike is only exacerbates the "we don't want motorcycle type vehicles on the trails" argument. Does this Jeep thing have a throttle?

I enjoyed it as is. Thanks for posting them.

Very interesting how you can see the different skill levels in just watching two seconds of a ride.

On my ride yesterday I saw more hikers out on single track than I have ever seen in a day. This wasn't just on the VCT and other gravel paths, but on single track. Even on E Spank, the very new single track. Seriously, four times more than I have ever seen. It's like there was a national "get out and hike day" or something. I was equally surprised on how few bikers I saw on a perfect conditions day. Every one of the hikers stepped aside for me. I thanked them and asked, "how's it going?" or said, "beautiful day." I don't resent them being on "our" trails at all. I think it's great. I keep thinking of a scenario of a meeting at city council or a HOA discussing the fate of some trail and imagine our hiking friends in the crowd supporting the trails too.

The comment section was scary to me. "I crashed and (this) happened to me" was repeated way too many times for my comfort.

"Don’t forget that as with all Kali helmets, the Invader comes with a lifetime crash replacement policy. You crash it, we replace it.' Is this a common helmet manufacturer policy? That's a big selling point.

I read a guy's newsletter that is very concerned about Virginia. He is concerned about the ramifications towards the Constitution. If a state government can negate the 2nd amendment "just like that", what's next? There are already bans on free speech on campuses. Is #1the next amendment to go? Scary times.

Note to self: When taking jumps, make sure rear tire hits first. Seems to be a recurring theme here, right? These videos make me very nervous. You just know there are videos out there that show some really bad stuff happening to people.