The Tip

Optimist eh? At my age I don't even buy green bananas.

I bought some at Performance for $40 as they went out of biz. Too narrow so I cut slits in them. Very comfortable now and the slits have never increased in size.

I've found it to be a given in the 95+ heat that I consume a liter an hour on rides.

Strava is like my brain. I only use a small portion of it's abilities.

I just found out the company I buy my yardsticks from won't be making them any longer.

"Fully rigid was *generally* great for climbing, but the descent was punishing. Imagine Rocky Hill Ranch - loose rocks, sand, pine needles, with an elevation like Lakeway. All of the way up I keep thinking "this is gonna be so much fun to bomb down" but then when I started the descent, from the top, I REALLY wished I had my FS carbon bike." I talk about being able to "harvest" the effort put into a climb with a fun downhill run payoff. I dislike having to work going up and then work going down too. That's why I sing Phil's World's praises. EVERY climb had a great payoff. After I realized this during my ride, I started looking forwards to a climb, knowing that a big smile would soon be plastered to my face. Also I feel your pain with having to choose a travel bike. I have been taking my third string bike on our trips to not worry as much if it gets stolen. I did take the first string bike to Moab where we were riding every day on "real" trail. That was worth the risk for the return. I took a tarp to cover it to keep it out of sight as another layer of protection.

Made me laugh. I just watched a "Big Bang" where i is talking to Amy: "If I had to make a list of things that made me comfortable, making lists would be at the top."

Heck of a bruise. Take a picture of it daily. You'll be amazed at the different colors it will turn. Speaking from experience here.

We kayaked at Silver Springs, a Florida state park that use to be a privately owned "attraction." The rhesus monkeys were brought in by the operator for something to see on the glass bottom boat river ride. He put them on what was to be monkey island. He didn't know this species knows how to swim! So now they are all around the area, but still not easy to see. We got lucky. The manatee was asleep. It would slowly come up to breathe then go back down. I learned that alligators can live in crystal clear water. I thought that interesting. We had mountain biked at Santos Trails in the morning and found out about Silver Springs from a brochure. We hadn't planned to go there but were so glad we did.

How's the bike? Sorry, someone has to say it each time!

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.

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.

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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.

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.