gotdurt

Or a fellow pedaler that's also a pedal peddler? Or maybe the pedaler peddles petals...? Would that be a petal peddling pedaler?

Waaay back before Deception, I used to ride the ditch on my way home from work; it was never wet, unless there was a significant rain within a day or 2. It didn't start getting this way until the surrounding homes were built... my guess is that all the new impervious cover started forcing water to run-off and saturate that immediate area, instead of soaking-in where it fell.

I have a helmet for seemingly every occasion, type of riding and season, and for 31 years, I always wear a helmet (well maybe not always for the first couple)... That is, unless I forget it, and that happens on rare occasion... but I'll be damned if I'm turning around and going home without some sort of ride; it will be more calculated and less aggressive and the route might be modified to suit, but I'll admit that there's a very remote chance that you might see me without one. I have also ridden with others that talk like die-hard helmet police, but when they forgot theirs, they conveniently made an exception... My response? I mind my own business. Feel free to call me out in the off chance that you witness such an atrocity (me without a helmet), but odds are that I'll probably just pretend that I can't hear you over my earbuds.

Growing up in east TX, I always dismissed the dry/vs humid argument... that was until I moved to Phoenix for a few years, then moved here. Humidity is no joke. Now I try to avoid going further east than I-35 unless I absolutely have to... and I don't know how I ever lived in Houston 😬. Oh, and "heat index", aka "feels like", is a load of crap. For instance, 96° at 50% feels nothing like 108°; it feels like a sticky, disgusting, sweltering 96. Try setting an oven at about 180°, and run your dishwasher... open the DW during the dry cycle (about 150°, "heat index" around 180) with your face close to it... then do the same with the oven... feel the same? Nope. Try a taller gear until you make it; use momentum instead of just trying to pedal up. There's a video in my Youtube sig where I do it on a single speed (search "Sweaty Shorts").

It's a catch-22... you have to first be able to make the motions, which requires healing. The first stage of tendon healing is rest. I'm actually an ex-gym rat; "ex", not because I chose to stop, but because tendonitis made me stop; not because of a lack of muscle strength. Unfortunately, even light workouts and stretches designed specifically for tendon recovery and to strengthen tendons make it worse; I have to heal first before I can strengthen them, but life won't let me be idle long enough for me to heal (some of it was prolonged by me, like riding despite not being healed and attempts to return to the gym). Additionally, according to previous doctor visits (before I lost my insurance) and lots of my own research, my bilateral tendonosis and tendonitis issues (wrists/thumbs (DeQuervain's), elbows, shoulders, hips, knees... so far ankles are okay, lol), among some other problems I won't get into, suggest an underlying problem, likely neurological rather than repetitive movement.

My tendonitis/joint issue is a never-ending issue, but the shoulders, wrists and a hip just got really bad the past 12-18 months. I just couldn't seem to get them to heal at all this time around, so I just quit riding (among other things) about 6 mos ago. I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere, but I have to be careful not to return to normal activity too soon, that always bites me. And I hate summer 😛

Ha, yea I was actually thinking that I could ferry my bike with my jon boat. I know there are mountain bikers over there, guess I'll have to hang out at some of the trails that I know about until they show up. Still can't ride right now though, so maybe I am getting ahead of myself anyway, lol.

I'll be moving to LV in a few short months, and I've observed fairly recent trail building activity in some of the areas where I used to ride my moto... show yourself!

Well now, that was a dumb thing to do... next time you get an idea like that, run the dishwasher and stick your head in during the drying cycle... you'll get the same reminder, without the wasted time of gearing up and trying to ride. Humidity is just too high for me this year.

It's the 2nd feature shown:

It wouldn't surprise me on a singlespeed, SS is fast on trails like 1/4; when I was in decent shape I always finished faster on my SS, because you have to ride with momentum and are forced to hammer any ascents, which means you are moving much faster, and there aren't enough fast descents for it to count against you. With that said, I did some controlled experimenting with Strava a few years ago, testing consistency, cheats, etc, and it was surprisingly unreliable, especially on trails that are shorter, spaghetti-like, or have lots of switchback, tight turns and parallels; one of the reasons I didn't keep using it. It's also really easy to "cheat" on such trails.

Mostly Carisma with parts from Axial and others. Tamiya battery connectors and paint 😛 It's still knobblies and orange anodized bits, yo. I actually started to do some fishing instead, but didn't want to risk my shoulders.

Finally got out for a low-impact trail ride on west RJ/and the Ditch... different kind of trail ride though: ...and I still drowned in my own sweat. Tons of riders out though, "Hero" conditions, if you aren't a sweater.

Yea, that separates us from the highway, and no way they build over that any time soon, so we're safe.

Almost has to be... only has 4 posts, and they are all in that thread...

I've been thinking about dropping a line that creek ever since Rugger took me over there... is it wrong I was more interested in the fishing potential than riding?

We need a new place in our area for bandit trails.

Hard to say, because I already have the parts that will end up on it (some of what you see is temporary using the parts that were on the frame that this is replacing; I have other stuff that I'll be swapping later); I get almost all of my components either as clearance/closeouts, or gently used, and I'm constantly changing stuff, so it's a pretty organic, ever-changing build process. My hardtail is also my secondary bike, so many of the parts I use on it are handed down from my FS... in the end, the immediate "cost" of this build will only be about $150 as a result (after I sell the Scout frame).

Yep, I used to do that on my motos too, even with the guards, that way they'd fold in case my leg got trapped. I find them to be less vulnerable on a bicycle though, especially in the more vertical-biased position. I don't remember the last time I bent or broke one, except a few years ago when I dropped the bike on a rock, directly onto the end of the lever, folding the tip of it down... loose wouldn't have helped it in that case,

Oooh... leopard print or tie dye would be sweet...

You know me better than I would have thought... totally something I would do! I'm digging the cupcakes or the lips...

Under normal circumstances I definitely could, and it wouldn't take much, but I exploded my right wrist years ago and the way it healed after 2 surgeries, it does not rotate up (and is painful when pushing that limit), so this position puts it in a more neutral position for less pain/strain when standing in the "attack" position, which is where it gets the most abuse.

Finally got it out for a ride, and it's a great start. He got the geometry spot on; geo nitpicks are on me.. I modeled it after elements that I like from Cotic, Stanton and Chromag frames, as well as what I've learned from my own previous bikes. Overall, I hit the nail on the head, however, I went out on a limb and made the reach slightly longer than my gut suggested (442mm sagged), based on offerings from the brands mentioned above (also the same as my FS). I like playful bikes, especially for my hardtails, and while the length is stable and fast, it is a tad stubborn for my taste... although close enough that I could probably adjust if I wanted. The stays that he offers are also beefier than other steel frames I've owned or ridden, so it isn't quite as compliant as some, but conversely it is more responsive as a result. It also has that steel quality that makes it feel a little lighter and more "alive" than the aluminum frame it is replacing, despite being around 2lbs heavier. Another issue is that he was out of 110mm headtubes, so I opted for 120 over 100; the result is a stack height that has my stem on the headset, and my brake levers hitting the top tube... I don't crash often, but eventually the paint at that spot will get chipped away. With that said, long story short, he's building me another one, once I tweak a few things, so I'll have the opportunity to dial the reach back a touch and go with the shorter headtube. I'm also going to reduce the seat tube to 16.5" from 17", just for a little more clearance and reduction in material to trim a few ounces.

It's good, but I went slightly overboard on the reach, so it's not as playful as I usually like my hardtails to be... however, long story short, he's building me another frame and waiting for me to put this one through testing for any adjustments.

Finally got out for a ride on the new frame after looking at it for a month. Interesting day for a Tuesday at 2pm... almost had a head-on with a guy on PX (he had just come down the little hill at the east end where it starts), then I come across the old hiking stick man sitting on the send-it rock at the swag drop... he was clueless and I didn't want to ask him to get outa the way, nor did I want to bomb past him (bombing that section was why I was there), so I waited him out... man, that old dude can sit his bony arse on a rock for a long time... Then I came up on a bell jingling on RJ; it was coming toward me, and sounded like a big dog loose with a bell on its collar, so I stopped and waited so as not to surprise it... only to find out it was a rider, lol. I don't know how he rides like that, the constant jingling would drive me insane.