quixoft

If you haven't been out on Sub Ninja in recent weeks,  get out soon.  The dirt was amazing today and bluebonnets have taken over the areas from the fires last August.  It's beautiful.  

How are the trails looking? Last update I saw from 2 days ago on Twitter was still miserable. 

Ridable this afternoon or are they still a swamp after all the rain?

This made me sad as I have a GG Smash I absolutely love. It's been indestructible for me so far and I've had some doozy crashes. I was able to get backup frame components from Canfield so at least I'm good from that perspective if/when things do start falling apart.

 

I've only done single laps a few times and I always start at Camp Tejas and go counter clockwise. I've been thinking that starting at Cedar Breaks and going clockwise might be a tad easier though.

What's the route for the Dragon Slayer? Clockwise or CC? Is there a specific start point?

Anyone been riding Brushy recently? Seems the only days I'm able to make time to get out it's either raining or just finished raining. Are the trails rideable or too muddy?

The idea was mostly to keep grime out of the brake pads/rotors but it sounds like a bad idea.  Thanks for the tips! I'll forgo the cover. 

We're driving to Bentonville to ride there for a week in early August and then on to Duluth to get some rides there and go fishing. 

I kind of consider Brushy Creek and Suburban Ninja the same trail network because I frequently hit both and sometimes both in the same ride. But I guess they technically are not connected. 

I hit the regional trail from my house and run Brushy Creek(Peddlers, Mulligan, Deception, Picnic) and then run up through the neighborhood to Suburban Ninja and run that until I hit Redhorn for beers.

Then a slow ride home back down SN along the creek, downhill through the neighborhood, back on the regional trail and home. 

I don't think I've ever been bitten by a horse fly or at least I've never noticed. Then again I can walk through a wall of mosquitoes and not get bit either. 

My poor wife on the other hand... if there is a single mosquito within 10 miles it'll find her and she'll have welts all over.

She curses me daily from April though October. 

I have a Thule hitch rack for 2 bikes and would like to pick up a cover for longer trips. Anyone have any recommendations?

I'm on a large frame slacked out enduro bike with 790mm bars and my wife's is a small frame trail bike with 740mm bars.

Found this one on Amazon that I'm looking at but curious if anyone has any suggestions.

Amazon.com: Formosa Covers Travel Bike Cover for Rear Hitch Mount Rack on Car, Truck, RV, SUV - Fully Encloses Bike for Safe Transport on Road Trip - Heavy Duty 600D Material Protection - Transparent Tail Light Reflectors (Dual (1-2 Bikes)) : Sports & Outdoors

On 7/6/2023 at 5:57 PM, CBaron said:

My first car didn't have AC and I owned it for 3 yrs and drove it all over TX without giving it much thought. 

Ah, the old 255 A/C. Two windows down at 55mph. I had my A/C in my 20 year old truck go out right before that heat wave in 2011 and drove it through that heat and four straight years without A/C until I finally gave in a bought a new one because of other mechanical issues.

I do have to admit that air conditioned seats blowing cold air up your bum is pretty nice.

We have a trip to Bentonville coming up and my wife has been looking around for a new bike and fell in love with the 27.5" Trek Fuel EX 9.8 she test rode. Got a decent clearance deal since it's a 2021 Gen 5 so I pulled the trigger.

Going to surprise her with it when she gets home today.

5 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

Another useful angle is running CushCore inserts. I have twice successfully ridden a mile or two back to the trailhead after a puncture that sealant didn't fix. I really love this solution overall. In both instances the tires were well worn and ready to be trashed, so no repair was made once back home. If I'd been further away I may have tried the plugs.

I've had CushCore for 3 years now and have the same experience. Since I've been running the inserts(I recently switched from CushCore to Rimpact) I've had exactly one unfixable flat and that was a sidewall tear at Walnut. Still have no idea how I managed that at Walnut but it happened. Rode back to the car basically just on the CushCore insert and had zero issues outside of a mushy rear tire with no air. All other flats were minor punctures where the sealant did its job and required no further work.

Yes, inserts add quite a bit of rolling weight which is why I switched to Rimpact(nearly half the weight of CushCore) but it's well worth the peace of mind for me. Especially since a little extra weight just means I have to work a bit harder which is a good thing.

On 6/30/2023 at 3:03 PM, Ridenfool said:

Riding a bike with 1X was a game changer for me in reducing the mental overhead for keeping up with which ring I'm on. See an approaching hill and there is only one shifter to think about when time is short.

You are so right. Don't get me wrong, I still completely screw up shifts with a big ole "F***" right near the top of the short, steep climb/feature that I failed but that happens far less with the 1X. 🙂

On 6/29/2023 at 3:40 PM, AntonioGG said:

Humble brag!

In my experience the wicking shirts/sleeves doesn't do anything--and may be worse--in summer mornings (b/c of humidity and lack of evaporation) than bare skin (unless you're in an exposed area with no shade).

The top still stays bald when I grow it out but I'm tall enough that most people can't see it! I just pretend it's a full head of hair as a last gasp to hold onto my youth.

I tried the loose, long sleeve shirt this morning and you're spot on. Did an easy ride at Brushy from 7 to 8 this morning and it was just a heavy, sopping wet mess at the end. I'll be going back to the tighter, short sleeved BCG "moisture wicking" shirts from Academy that are around $10. They seem to do the best for me at a decent price.

4 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I just spent 90 min working on my backyard.  It’s cooler but it’s worse.  I’m soaked in sweat.  Did the same thing yesterday in the afternoon and feels much better.

I'm with you. 97 degrees and 40% humidity at 5pm is better than 79 degrees and 80% humidity at 8am in my opinion. Those are yesterday's numbers at my house in Round Rock. I know what the heat index charts say but my body tells me a very different story.

I have a personal weather station at my house in Round Rock if you're interested in seeing the chart data for temps and humidity in the area.  

Personal Weather Station Dashboard | Weather Underground (wunderground.com)

Nice. I love it when companies do things like that. Those probably cost them pennies and it's a nice gesture to keep customers happy.

I had the opposite experience with Raceface. I was upgrading my brakes last week and over torqued my grips(torque wrench was still set to brake caliper bolts) when I was done. Then I subsequently stripped the grip hex bolts trying to get them off. No big deal but when I contacted Raceface support to ask what kind of bolts to get for my particular grips, their response was literally, "We don't know, go ask your local hardware store." I kid you not.

Had mine done(front and rear) at Peddlers a couple months back and they did a great job. Helped me tweak my suspension as well to get me riding better and it was night and day(Thanks Shawn!).

Of course they also did a great job of selling me a new SRAM AXS setup at the same time... But of course they were right about that being amazing and I love it so I can't really complain too much. 🙂

1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

I have the lightweight on-one beanies.  I don’t wear them in the heat.  They don’t wick very well. I have 3 different beanie brands all sweat wicking.  I wear for:

1. Preventing sun tan leopard spots on my bald head (I don’t like putting sunscreen on my head and having it drip in my eyes)

2. Wick sweat

3. Something clean between my skin and the helmet.  Keeps the helmet less grungy and my skin from breaking out.

 

I also wear the Pearl Izumi arm sleeves which feel like air conditioning when wet and when you move (wet them on dry hot days before going out!)

recently I’ve gotten a couple of long sleeve Columbia shirts.  These are perfect for working outside. 
 

for all these to work as intended they need to have good skin contact.  They can’t be baggy.

Pretty much the same as you. When I shave my head I wear one of those under armor thin moisture wicking beanies for the same reasons. Sweaty sunscreen in the eyes sucks and I like something between my skin and helmet as well whether that's hair or a beanie. When I grow my hair out I don't wear one.

I just got some replacement long sleeve moisture wicking shirts from Hanes on amazon and will be trying them out tomorrow morning from 8-9am at Brushy. I'll let you know how they feel.

19 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Anyone know what's going on with the body chemistry of people who gush about how they "love this hot weather!"? I keep hearing this and something does not compute. I don't like extreme heat or extreme cold, both are miserable. But i keep hearing randos saying that they wait to go outside when it's well over 100° in late afternoon and go running or just sit in the sun and wait for death, apparently. Are they mutants? Did They make a deal with the Devil? Are they just trolling? Is this something millennials don that I don't understand?

A lot of it is just acclimation. I grew up working on my grandpa's farm in S. Texas summers. Ever baled hay in a barn and post holed fence lines all day every day when it's a 100+? You get used to it.

While I don't go out of my way to exercise in the heat, neither will I avoid it because it's "too hot". On the flip side I'm huge pansy when it comes to cold. I can't do northern winters. Spent a week in Chicago in January a few years back and thought I would die daily just walking the 10 minutes to my conference from the hotel. I literally thought my toes would fall off even with proper socks and winter boots. I will take 120 heat indexes over sub freezing temps every single time. 

I do like to mow the lawn in the mid afternoon heat.  It feels good to get a good a sweat going. No idea why,  I just like it. Probably a psychological thing from seeing my grandpa working outside in south Texas summers his whole life and he was always happy and just went about his work never complaining.

My interest is piqued. Is this happening? Looks like it happened last week. I got some new bits on the bike to fix up after a crash I need to try.

I also like riding and imbibing and while I may not be great at the former, I'm a certified expert at the latter.

16 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

 

I've been saying that I'd rather go out later in the day when it's hotter but dryer but now I'm starting to rethink that. Riding in high humidity is uncomfortable and unpleasant, but I'd rather be merely sweaty than in the hospital with heat stroke.

 

The problem with high humidity is that your sweat is unable to evaporate fast enough for your body's natural evaporative cooling effect to work because the air around you is already saturated. This prevents your body's natural cooling method(sweat and evaporative cooling) from working properly as the sweat can't evaporate and transfer heat from your body to the air to cool you off.

Dryer weather(even if hotter) will evaporate your sweat quickly and cool you better. With high enough humidity your sweat won't evaporate at all and because water has high latent heat, the sweat that isn't evaporating will actually warm your body up more.

Using moisture wicking clothing in high humidity(not cotton) will help.

3 hours ago, WhoAmI said:

  I have cold water throughout my rides and the bonus of helping prevent or at least slow bacterial growth.  I know poeple don't like wear backpacks, but this works well for me and don't feel hot wearing one.

This is what I do. Ice water in the backpack and a Yeti full of ice in my truck for refills. I usually ride out to the trails from Round Rock(I live near the hospital off Wyoming Springs) but in this weather I just drive out and park at Redhorn or the park by Peddlers Pass. Shaves about 30 minutes of boring street and regional trail off my ride which I'm fine with.

It definitely takes some acclimation. If I feel even a bit off I'll stop the ride and just go home. I've jumped into Brushy creek a few times to cool off.

If you are riding in the grossness, make sure to do the following:

• Cold water!
• Hydrate before riding
• Hydrate during riding 
• Hydrate after riding
• Take frequent breaks(I usually stop and rest every 10-15 minutes).
• Take a dip in the creek or at least get your head and feet wet to cool off(helps a ton just head and feet)
• Don't push it too hard
• If you feel the slightest bit off(headache, queasy, extra tired) stop, rest, hydrate, cool off, and go home.
• Make sure someone knows where you're riding just in case of emergency and stay in contact(I text my wife every rest stop in this weather and tell her where I'm headed)
• Sun screen!

Anyone riding in this "Nature Hates Central Texas" weather? I upgraded my brakes and rotors(and went way overboard for Central TX of course) this past week and rode Brushy this morning. It's just flat out gross. I don't mind riding in the heat but this humidity feels like Houston.

Honestly I think late afternoon or early evening when it's ~100 degrees but less humid is better than 80 degrees in the morning with a 10000000% humidity.

Will be back out tomorrow morning to suffer yet again.

If you're interested in temp, humidity, and other data in the Round Rock area I have a personal weather station I sync up with Weather Underground. Has some nifty charts and table data.

Round Rock Weather(near the hospital on 620) 
 

I shredded a sidewall on the Lake Georgetown loop. Can't remember exactly where except that it was on the south side of the lake maybe halfway between Tejas Camp and Cedar Breaks. It was about a 30 yard section of that sharp as hell limestone stuff jutting out. Not a fun walk back to Tejas where I usually start.

And I agree, Minions aren't great for rolling. I have an Aggressor I've been wanting to try on the rear lately. Maybe I'll give it a go.

I'm heading up to Bentonville for a week and also need new tires. 

Anyone ride up there and can recommend what sort of tires would be reasonable? It's my first trip up there. 

For reference, I mostly ride Brushy Creek and have found I like Maxxis Minion DHF/DHRII on the front/rear for the rocky stuff we have here. 

I  was pleasantly surprised yesterday that the Suburban Ninja network was pretty much cleared. Brought my hand saw to help out and didn't need it. Thanks to everyone who put in the work.