The Tip

There's a large parking lot off of Nuckols Crossing Rd. Just head west from there. Have a trail map app pulled up so you can get back when needed. The park is very spaghetti bowl-ish.

Maxwell Slaughter Creek is NOT beginner friendly. It USED to be, but now it has eroded to be a definite blue trail. My wife, who is not a beginner, but still not very accomplished, wanted to ride there. I went to pre-ride it to specifically count how many spots I thought that she would have to get off and walk. I counted 18 spots. When I went with her she ended up walking 17 times. And it's only five miles. That means getting off the bike every 1/3 of a mile. So NOT beginner friendly. The one appeal to a beginner at Maxwell is that it is a no decision trail. You can't get lost and no one is going to run into you. What is beginner friendly though is Onion Creek Park. Over ten miles of trail. There's not much elevation changes, hardly any rocks, and it's very pretty and wilderness-y. It's a great introduction to get someone excited about mountain biking.

"Not there's anything wrong with that"

My Niner at Sea Rim State Park. AKA "Mosquito Coast" There were so many mosquitoes it was like a horror movie. And this is January. Don't go there!

Then it sounds like you need to start digging!

They don't! If it has a throttle it is an electric motorcycle. This is what causes confusion with land owners trying to set rules. They are unaware of how to differentiate.

Forward usually. I keed I keed! The NiteRider mounts have swivels so they can adjust left and right. Also the zip tie connections are such that I can slightly move them up and down when aiming the lights

People that design helmet lights must not ride mountain bikes. Or maybe they only ride in the desert where there are no trees. How many times have all of us scraped the top of our helmet on a limb? Probably happens even more at night because you can't perfectly see the trees in the dark. That's why I zip tied NiteRider handlebar mounts next to my ears and hang lights there. I have yet to snapped my neck back from catching a branch with a top mounted light!

Couple of other people told me today they are booked to go. It's going to be a good group (quality!) regardless of the numbers of course. But a good sized group is shaping up.

Sorry, can't help as I don't wear them. And I have had multiple knee surgeries in my youth so you would think I would. Just have never fell and hurt my knees. But I hurt my elbows twice before I decided to start wearing armored elbow pads. They have "saved me" maybe four times now. Worth whatever discomfort they cause. A side benefit was protection from branches. I feel them getting scrapped a lot.

SATN Satan worshipers. 😁 It's even more strange that there are two of these things in Dittmar.

Awesome!! Giving Austin a run for our money in the "keeping it weird" category.

That is strange that those Federal agencies are messing up because all our other Federal agencies do everything so logically and efficiently.

Good write up. I like to use golf as an example of "you can't fight progress." You just KNOW that the golf purists squawked like crazy when motorized golf carts were first introduced. Probably a lot of the same arguments were heard that are being used for e-bikes now.

That cardboard sign looks pretty darn official. 😁

I've been lobbying my wife for two years to let me get her one. Maybe it took so long because on our rides she would constantly apologize for being slow but I would always say that it's just fine. "Riding with you is a different experience from my normal rides but I enjoy these too." And that was mostly true. But now it's the best of both worlds for me. On our rides this last week it was ME that had that huge "e-bikes are fun" grin going on watching her! She is not as an accomplished trail rider as Jessica by any means. So she frequently has to stop and walk features. But a lot of times I'll ride over the feature, she walks it, then catches up with me on the flats. Y'all wouldn't have that problem. And I'll never do Bentonville again on a regular bike. They are so gravity oriented there it's perfect for e-bikes.

I wonder what the criteria is for getting a rebate.

I bought my wife an e-mountain bike recently. Giant Trance. It's been a game changer. Now I'll be on my regular bike and it's up to her to keep up with me...and she can. So I can ride at my pace with my wife. We have done rides now where I was huffing and puffing doing climbs. She would have NEVER been able to make it up those before. But there she was at the top waiting for me. lol We just rode the mission trails in San Antonio last week. We did 32 miles. Great fun for me, great fun for her. Again, she would have never been able to do that. So fun

The majority of RVs in America are made in Indiana for some reason. That's another thing that makes the TrailManors different as they are made in South Dakota.

There is an almost cult like following of them because they are so scarce. They are now made by a Hutterite colony (like the Amish and Mennonites,) in South Dakota. In an article the boss of them said their "goal was to work up to building 20 per month!" 😄 They are limited by the amount of help they have. Everyone in the factory has to be a member of the colony.

Tried something different. Can you see this?

We haven't ever boondocked with our old A-frame pop-up or our new one. But we plan to do so in Moab at some point. We were intrigued by the people camping on BLM land, for free, as we drove to the Klonzo trailhead there. We didn't take the RV on that trip. Here's a picture of our lonely car in the parking lot. It was 100 degrees when we were there in June last year. I think this one is even funnier about what idiots we were riding in that heat. Moab Brands parking lot:

I hope these pics show up. We have a very unique RV called a TrailManor. It isn't a pop-up. TrailManor owners don't really know what to call it since they are so unique. "Collapsible," or better, "Transformers." They only weigh 3,000 pounds so most SUVs can tow them. It has a folding hitch so they can fit in a garage. We got it so we can store it at home behind our fence to comply with the HOA's "no RV storage" rules. Closed for travel (at my spot at Maverick RV park in Lajitas last year): "Transformed" for use (Monahan's State Park): One side up, to show how it works (Brazos Bend State Park): Some rando mountain bikers enjoying a warm place for dinner:

State parks that have trail systems are great. There are several that we have stayed in. So are Army Corp places. Ya know, like Dana Peak. 😁 Maverick RV in Lajitas is a good place. Feb 22-26 would be a great time to go. We enjoyed camping at Blowing Springs. It was cool watching other bikers ride by right behind our site. Congratulations on the new RV. No more having your tent blown away!

Maybe this sort of arrangement?