The Tip

It might be a bit chilly (bring a drankin' jacket) but the trails will be good to go for sure. Let's ride!

Trail conditions are improving. Slalom is the only thing that was bad today. Yes there are small mud pools here and there through most of what I rode, but Slalom was a terrible muddy mess. I walked it just to see what people were talking about. Unfortunately I do not see any solution to it to make it drain better. Please do the community and your bike a favor. Stay off Slalom for at least a week. At least. Gravel Crossing was still under water. Bowie Sidewalk crossing was dry. So strange how it works.

And rapidly did here too. I saw this thread yesterday and didn't open it. Then this morning I see "13 responses." Huh? Why the big interest in screwdrivers for heaven's sake? Ah! Got it. Isn't "bulbous" a great word or what? That will be my word of the day.

I think everyone should not try to change people. I'll argue as long as it takes to convince people to not try and change people.

Nope. The REAL question? This:

We went north. The Valero Loop was just fine. And you're looking at two more days of drying before your ride tomorrow. Coyote Loop, Circle C, and the Veloway trails have been reported to be fine. 45 stuff still some problems but doable. No reports on Digo's Shortcut, but the puddles that do form there don't make using it impossible. No reports about south of 45 yet. I was pleased to see that the weather folks have said that the rain we are to get on Friday will only be 1/3" Shouldn't set us back too much

That doesn't look like a motorcycle at all.

Rim Shot, Bowling for Glory, Tommy's Tribute Trail, and Four Ledges are the downhill runs in the Meridian Bowl. Ski Lift is the jeep road that you ride up to access them. One of the Bowie mountain bike team members said he did 16 runs during their practice there a couple of weeks ago. Impressive. School Daze runs from the end of the 45 stuff, at 1826, down to the Meridian bowl. Avana Escape is the name of the complete run of the four named sections (separated by streets or sidewalk that have to be crossed) along Escarpment.

Good times!

Tonight's Crank and Drank is on. About a 12-13 mile route has been scouted and cleared. Yes, your bike will get dirty, but it won't get caked up. That is if you manage to not hit the muddy spots that can be avoided. Don't be fooled though in to just going for a ride out somewhere. Most of the SATN is still out of business.

I have a guaranteed way to come home from Vegas with $2,000; leave home with $4,000. Works every time for me. Las Vegas has lots of good riding. You can rent a bike at Las Vegas Cyclery in the west part of town and ride to a good area. That makes it easy to figure out the logistics of renting a bike and not having to transport it to a ride area. I wish I had a guide the time I rode there. I bet there is a local scene that would ride with you just like there is here if someone came on here to ask for some guidance. https://www.strava.com/heatmap#13.00/-115.34997/36.07772/gray/ride

Put in 10 miles at Mary Moore Searight today. Hardly any mud problems at all. Slick rocks were the only challenge. I had never ridden over there soon after a rain event. I was super surprised how good it was. Slaughter Creek was too high to cross anywhere, including the dam, without getting feet wet. Not a big deal, but the south bank of Slaughter Creek does have some fun stuff.

What an enjoyable read (as I walk out of the room with a more manly swagger than I walked in with).

I'm guessing press like Red Bulls "Five top tips for mastering mud" does not help the cause. Or videos of Danny Hart slamming through sludge either. https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/how-to-ride-in-mud-5-essential-mtb-tips

My brother in law has a Traeger and swears by it. I've been looking for a used one. Academy has an Outdoor Gourmet for a good price with lots of grill space that I was looking at. I love the idea of the pellet grill/smokers but I am scared that the mechanical parts are going to break. But I don't like being tied down when smoking. I need to reload wood every two hours or so when using my propane vertical smoker. It would be great to set it and come back in eight hours or whatever.

I think you need to put a date on which Saturday you mean. 🤬 Screw all this! I will never curse moon dust again! Seriously.

In my quest to assume people are good, I hope that this statement isn't true. I hope that it is more an educational problem than a character flaw in our fellow riders. A lot of people just don't know where our trails come from or who maintains them. For example there was an ever growing face slapper on a trail near my house. The trail tread was slowly widening as people rode around the branch. NOBODY would stop to cut the branch back. Was everyone lazy and unwilling to give back to the trail, or did they think they needed a city permit or an organized trail work day to cut that branch? Or did they think that some city employee was going to handle the problem? So get out there and do some maintenance every now and then and reaffirm my faith in humanity!

Search on Google Maps, "Meridian, Austin, TX" and the subdivision will come up. The Meridian Bowl is south of the little lake.

The thread where everyone is saying they don't do Facebook motivated me to post here what is on the SATN Facebook page. Some general information gleaned from Strava ride observations and discussions with riders: -There are now four downhill runs in the Meridian Bowl, behind Bear Lake. If you have not discovered this area you are missing a treat. -When heading for Mary Moore Searight from the railroad trail, you cross Slaughter Creek Drive and come to the big field with the water retention pond. There is now a better way to get to Bilbrook instead of going on top of the berm and then between the houses. Watch to your right for a trail that enters the woods, AWAY from the people's houses. We can be less intrusive by going that way. AND it's more interesting single track too. -Also, as you head to Mary Moore from Bauerle, just east of the Manchaca bridge, there are TWO loops. The Canterbury Loop and the Innner Canterbury Loop. The Inner Canterbury Loop is less used, but it is WAY more fun. Seek it out. -There is over three miles of fun single track between William Cannon (north of the car wash and Culvers) and the sidewalk on Brodie. A lot of people are missing some fun stuff by being in a "hurry" to get through that section. Explore a little in there and you will be rewarded. -There are three distinct trails in the Hielscher Tract Greenbelt (between LaCrosse and Spruce Canyon). The most southern trail, Digo's Shortcut, runs right next to the houses. It recovers the quickest after rain events. The middle trail, Phoenix South, on the south side of the small creek bed, is next to be dry enough to ride. The last, Phoenix North, is the slowest to recover. It runs on the north bank, the side the elementary school is on. Lots of information. Hopefully you can use it.

A comment to the "why don't you just ride to the top" crowd. There is a new section of the SATN that is ski area-ish. Four downhill runs with 90 feet of drop. Three of them are smooth and flow-y that you can do as fast you can handle. I've managed to go up and down six times. I was looking for a lift after the last run! I could have gone up more maybe, but I would have been too tired to handle the downhill runs. One of the Bowie mountain bike kids said he did it 16 times last Saturday. Damn kids. But the point is the fun part is down-hilling. And it's not like you're slacking and coasting downhill. It takes a big effort. So I get it. The more energy that can be conserved for down-hilling the better. I look forward to going out there. Maybe we can plan to create an event to replace the Desert Bike Fest. One day at Spider Mountain, camp, drink beer, next day ride Reveille Peak. Saves an eight hour drive too!

Everything that I have ridden in the last two days has been fine EXCEPT for Phoenix North (the school side) and Phoenix South. Both of them were sink down into the mud muddy on their west ends. Digo's Shortcut, the trail that runs along the houses through the Hielscher Greenbelt, was fine. I would say trail conditions are beyond fine. They are hero KOM dirt right now. Get out there!

And don't forget insurance. I'm sure that's going to be a big bite. And labor expense. And repairs. And marketing. And, well, you get the idea. Golf green fees range from $25 to $75, more or less, in this area. And a round only takes 4 -4 1/2 hours.

For those of you who don't do Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theSATN/ here's a VCT notice: The Violet Crown construction folks are working to put down Stalok and Stabilizer over the weekend between Slaughter Creek (at Boulder Crossing) and Slaughter Lane (Walgreens). This will result in periodic trail closures as necessary to put down and roll finished product from now until mid to late January. They are working to allow as much access as possible throughout these different construction phases but we will have to periodically close segments throughout the Slaughter Creek trail to protect their work and trail users throughout the next month. Please do not ride on newly installed trail. The new Slaughter Lane car bridge has a nice sidewalk now open that will allow a detour from this under construction portion of our trail.

She's pretty comfortable in the parking lot.

Cool, thanks for the input. We are going out there after Christmas. Is there some easy stuff that my not so much of a mountain biking wife would enjoy? We were going to go to Palo Duro on a big swing around, but the forecast calls for lows in the 20s and highs only in the mid 40s. Nope!