The Tip

Ok, this sucks. Going through all the preparations for a ride. Camelback full with ice and water, Gatorade backup bottle frozen to a perfect level, tires up to pressure, bike loaded in the car. Go back inside to put shoes on, come out to the car and... it's raining! Coming down pretty good right now too. NOT happy! yeah yeah, sure," we need the rain." Screw you! this sucks! 😉

I was just up there a month ago but was unable to ride the trails. But a couple of the locals I talked to were very proud of their trail system. "Oh yes our trails are legit. We have over 20 miles of trail." https://www.strava.com/heatmap#13.00/-98.49623/32.87716/gray/ride It's all in between the two big parts of the lake in the area they call The Peninsula.

No reason not to, unless you are a techtard like I am. That would be cool if they were on there.

"Have your bike mechanically ready before the ride. Both to start on time, and to have no preventable problem on the ride. For example, enough sealant in to stop a puncture, or loose saddle, or low tire pressure, etc. Be self-supporting out on the trail. Patches, tube, pump or charges, and a phone app to find your way home."

KVUE did a story on a large homeless camp in Mary Moore Searight: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/local/homeless-camp-in-south-austin-park-concerning-residents/269-b99aa1e1-fd1d-47c2-b9be-6239a952c383 Does anyone know where in the park it is? I know there was a big camp between the south bank of Slaughter Creek and Old San Antonio Rd, but that was cleaned up and fenced off. I guess all those folks moved. I've also seen activity close to one of the south 1st bridges, but nothing huge like the story shows.

For those of you that refuse to use the SATN Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/theSATN/ where all the information for this will be listed, here's the latest: Have you planned what you are going to attempt the day of The SATN Social yet? Time to start planning and training. It's coming up, Saturday, October 26th. The swag table is going to be heavy with freebies (Courtesy of ATX BIkes and Giant Bicycles) to be awarded in the post ride drawing. The tickets for the drawing will be given based on how much of the 58 miles you ride. Completed routes earn: East (15 miles) 2 tickets North (18 miles) 3 tickets South (25 miles) 4 tickets Bonus for doing all three (58 miles), 2 extra tickets A bonus ticket for each additional 6 miles over 58 miles A 10 ticket bonus to the one rider that has the highest mileage. Extra mileage will be ridden on the set routes in the proper direction. Must be back by 4 pm. These distances will require proof from your ride apps. The "most miles" competition might be very interesting! We know that not everyone is even going to attempt to ride the full 58 miles. That is why we are going to have three different send off times. 8 am, 10 am, and Noon. The hope is that everyone will be finishing between 3 pm and 4 pm. The food and drink will start at 3 pm. Sausage wraps provided by ATX Bikes, beer provided by Austin Beerworks. The drawing to start as soon after 4 pm as possible. Ladies and Gentlemen...start your planning! SATN_East_no_gray_areas.gpx

Less clothes? perv.

Amemded: "If you can’t see the person in front of you, yell out “which way?!” to alert them that the chain has broken. The person in front of you that hears this can then shout out to the leader, “We’ve lost some” so the leader will slow down to allow a catch up. TELL someone if you are dropping from the group so the group doesn’t wait or look for you."

The list has been amended: "Acknowledge other trail users with “thank you” or ‘how’s it going?” or “pretty dog” etc. as you pass them. Present we mountain bikers as a good community. Groups can be intimidating to hikers. Mitigate that feeling for them. The sweep should say, “I’m the last one” to those being passed." I don't think each person has to say how many back as the good ride leader will have given the count to the hiker as they pass.

It was Texas Conservation Corp during National Trails Day. There were several volunteer days scheduled several months ago that kept getting rained out. But they finally got it done. It's a good start and the closed trails are certainly no great loss. It's good work.

😁, but I'm disappointed in your porn searching abilities:

You have to be a good internet sleuth to find out on a city site where it says, "hiking only." And the signage at all the trail heads say nothing about "no bikes." But this definitely is still the policy as it was the topic of a discussion I had with a park police person at a meeting a couple of months ago. Hopefully that policy will change in the future, but I doubt it. This is one motive behind the SATN Social, to make it enough of a thing that the city will want to get behind it. But I doubt it. You know, the city being the city and all. It would be nice though. It's almost as big as Walnut Creek and has a lot of elevation change. It would be nice to start over with the trail construction because it is very haphazard and poorly constructed for sustainability. But an interesting and fun system as it is anyway. The chances of getting a ticket or anything there are very low. I was in there once and came across two policemen that were looking for a homeless guy that had been breaking into houses. When I saw them I thought, "oh shit" but they were not concerned with me at all. It was funny too because after our chat they asked, "can you tell us where we are and how do we get out of here?" I have rarely seen a hiker there. The ones I have seen are usually with an off leash dog. But as mentioned, and not just in Stephenson, when encountering a walker be pleasant. I don't know why this is such a difficult thing for our mountain biking community to learn.

One of my many mottos developed over a lifetime of experiences, both personal and in business, is "Strive for perfection." You're never going to get there, but you should try to get close. As you say, group rides are generally great fun. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to perfect them. I'll say it again, this is definitely a first world problem. Maybe not even a problem. Just an exercise in trying to make things just a teeny weeny bit better. But I like the last thing I posted because ALL the groups have that person that is in the wrong group. It might be a situation of trying to educate "that guy" as previously discussed. But at least the guidelines are an attempt to enlighten "that gal." (changed to adhere to inclusive standards!) And yes, the solution is smaller groups. And the solution to having smaller groups is to have good citizens step up to volunteer to lead. And those volunteering take a minute before the ride to understand the route. THAT is a simple solution.

On my morning ride today I thought of a more friendly, team oriented way, of addressing the passing issue. How's this sound: "Don't be possessive of your place in line. If there is a constant gap in front of you, and there has been a rider constantly on your back tire, let them pass. This prevents the chain from breaking." Because really, just because you can pass someone, if there is no place in front of them, there isn't any point in doing so.

Two things in your post. The first being that 20 folks in the fast group is too many of course. We've tried to do two separate but equal groups of 10ish before. But it's difficult to determine which fast leader should go off first. But again, ride leadership is a different issue. Lots of people want to try the fast group. All the more reason to attempt to have that chain ride more smoothly by following some simple guidelines. Second, your post did not come off as complaining. It is very logical. There is a minor issue, that if addressed and solved, would make the rides slightly more enjoyable. That's all we are trying to do here. Something like this?: "A common etiquette is to allow a rider to pass you if they have been on your wheel pressing you. The behind rider says, "passing" and you should let them pass. Also common is when continuing from a rest stop to resume the same order that the group stopped in. " I don't think this is much of an issue except in the first group though. Would this be adding more points than is required on the general guidelines? Since this is a more group specific issue would it be better just to be talked about by that ride leader a few times to instill that etiquette as the norm?

Ha! I get that. I ride solo a lot too. But to me the minor problems in group rides are more than offset by the rewards.

LOL, I'm suppose to know what kind of bike the guy behind me is riding? I think this problem would be solved by addressing the issue that CBaron brought up. How to politely say, 'get the f--- out of my way slow poke."

I have been shown that Strava has a new feature that shows your moving position on the global heat map. I'm guessing you would be able to use it in conjunction with an overlaid route. I think it will work better than Trailforks.

Ha! That's an excellent question. That is NEVER a problem for me (😁) so I wouldn't think to address it. A simple, "passing" said out loud? Suggestions? As a ride leader I frequently give the option for anyone to get ahead of me if the pace is too slow for them. But that would be in a list of suggestions for ride leaders.

But has history not taught us that "that guy" doesn't KNOW he's that guy? And there's probably not a cure for that guy anyway? That guy will read this list and think, "I'm glad they are trying to educate that guy." So perhaps these suggestions are to educate only those that can be educated. Crazyt, suggest some that don't need to be said. And thanks, this is the input I'm looking for.

Barry's ride was a good one indeed. I love those "do it all" ride attempts. There was repeating of trail but it definitely reaffirms my believe that there is easily over 90 miles of single track in the SATN now. Now we just need to figure out how to easily educate the newbies to it. Maybe we could have some event to do that...

Good question. Like I said, the way I would do it is to pull up a ride on my computer (on a phone is very difficult) and follow along visualizing the ride. Someone last night said it works better to use the satellite image to identify where turns are. "Oh, next to the carwash." etc.

I address Mack Turtle's concerns in the SATN thread. Looking for input on the group ride guidelines here.

Mack Turtle responded with some questions about Crank and Drank rides in the "Group Ride" advice thread. I will answer his questions here as they are SATN specific and I don't want that thread about generic group rides to get off topic. He wrote, "Easier said than done, I know! how do you create these routes, by the way? do you just ride them and then share the map, or can you create them in Strava using an online tool?" I try to ride them first then post my Strava rides. I hope that people will zoom into the map and try to visualize each turn. Yes, I know most folks are not as into it as I am, but a fella can hope, right? These latest C&D rides are designed to educate about routes for the upcoming SATN Social. Last night's routing was a blend of the "difficult' start of the south route, together with the also convoluted end of the north route. If we can get several people educated to these routes it should go well the day of the event. The SATN Social routes were designed to maximize mileage on non-gray areas of the network. A side benefit to that routing is that it is educating folks to some lesser traveled trails. Using those trails enable some more creative routes when people are riding on their own. For example Koopa Trooper. Several people have mentioned, "I didn't even know this was here." Using that route, together with Drip Drop, makes a very nice loop from Dick Nichols. The Latta Out and Back Loop, a 2.5 mile ride from The Log to Log. Another consideration for the routing was to avoid head on confrontations during the event. This "one way" routing has been accomplished. So the routes for The Social are not so logical for a one rider ride. But there is a method to the madness. Yes, I know everyone could have come up with "better" routing. But hopefully folks can strive to learn these. Other, non-practice for the Social Crank and Drank routes, are designed to be not confusing, and simple to lead, but still interesting for everyone. Showing new stuff is high priority. Showing a trail that someone has done some maintenance on is also taken into consideration. Having the right mileage. 12-15 miles, with a logical add on option for 5 more for the fast group to do is another factor. Having a shake out portion so that people can find their appropriate group is yet another consideration. Another one is using the herd to run through a trail that needs to be beaten back. Easier than weedeating! Also taking requests from people to see specific trails or areas. So there is a lot involved in the planning. And speaking of The Social routes. I ran into a couple of guys in the ATX Bikes' parking lot Saturday that had just finished riding the north route. I saw later on their Strava that they had ridden it perfectly. They did it all from using the posted GPX routing. I thought that was great.

Crank and Drank has gotten to be a pretty well attended ride each week. It's hard to educate everyone on things that will make the ride go better. I came up with the following list. I am presenting it here to get feedback to anything I missed. Also anything that needs not be said. I think the optimum number in a group is 10. We don't always get enough ride leader volunteers (that will be another thread!) so sometimes we have up to 20 in a group. That is all the more reason to educate folks to things that will make the group ride better. Group Ride Guidelines Things you can do to make group rides more enjoyable for everyone Repeat call outs for turns (left, right). Listen to make sure the person behind you is calling them out too. Don’t lose the person behind you. It is helpful for the sweep to shout out “clear” when they get past the turn to alert the leader to the relative positions of the group. Repeat warning shouts coming from the riders in front of you. “Head!” or “Challenge coming” or “Walkers/Riders up” are things that the entire group need to know. Again, it’s good for the leader to hear the sweep say, “cleared’ when they finally get past the “Challenge” that might have stopped some of the group. The leader will have slowed the pace waiting for that. Repeat the ride leader’s educational shouts too. “This trail’s name is…” If you can’t see the person in front of you, yell out “which way?!” to alert them that the chain has broken. The person in front of you that hears this can then shout out to the leader, “We’ve lost some” so the leader will slow down to allow a catch up. If you don’t clear a feature or hill, get yourself and your bike off the trail so people behind you won’t have to stop. Reenter the chain as soon as possible. Have your bike mechanically ready before the ride. Both so you can start on time, and so it won’t have a preventable problem on the ride. For example, have enough sealant in to stop a puncture. Bring lights if the ride might continue past sundown. Bring enough water so the group doesn’t have to worry about you passing out. If you do have to stop for a mechanical problem, send everyone that is not helping you on their way. “I’m good. I have what I need. Go on.” But, of course, be sure you have all that you need before doing so. When you are the sweep listen for the leader asking, “are we good to go?” so you can respond, “Ride on” or, “good to go.” If you have to stop for anything, shout out, “stopping!” before you do so. Don’t get rear ended. Acknowledge other trail users with “thank you” or ‘how’s it going?” or “pretty dog” etc as you pass them. Present mountain bikers as a good community. This is not the time for ear buds. Be social! Also, you need to be able to hear what the group is doing. Be aware of all your bodily functions and know there is someone right on your rear wheel! -FOR RIDES THAT HAVE MULTIPLE GROUPS: Try to use a ride app on your solo rides before the group ride so you know what your general speed is out ON THE TRAILS. This helps you know what group you should be in. When on a multi-group ride, if you are holding up a faster group, drop back to the next fastest group. Don’t be too much of a drag for any group.