Schrute

On 5/25/2023 at 8:17 AM, The Tip said:

acoustic

analog

push

traditional

regular

simply, "bike"

Will we ever come up with a generally accepted term? 

I prefer the term "Amish" bike, as Bobo calls them, lol.

1 hour ago, June Bug said:

Interesting.  Is there on-site camping?  It appears there are miles of gravel riding from that location. 

Just found this online: Mellow Johnny's is sponsoring a TMBRA race there in Sept. https://www.bikereg.com/tmbra-the-forrest-creek-ranch-race

Here's the URL.  They have hunting, so assuming the venue will be closed at times.  Also, there's a lodge for any kind of event.  https://www.forrestcreek.net/

Not sure on camping. I know it only had select dates that it is open for riding and the TMBRA races like you noted.

I saw some chatter on FB about Forest Creek, so we decided to check it out Saturday. We had a really good time. It seemed very similar to Warda—a high-speed, flowy track. We did 8 miles in about an hour, and if we had more time, I would have gladly gone out for another lap—nice piece of property for sure. I had never been to Dale, TX, but we were under an hour away. I definitely will be going back. It's a great addition to the region alongside RHR and Warda.

2 hours ago, hurronnicane said:

Yes.  That was me.  I fell off a ledge, fractured the C2 vertebrae but I healed up nicely.  I have no lingering physical effects from that.  I am certainly more wary, and less comfortable riding next to drop offs.  When I approach any of those pour offs/dry waterfalls I swing wide away from the edge.  And I like to think I am generally more careful.  Also, as I get older I try to be more deliberate and intentional about the amount of risk I take.   That seems to be the ongoing search for balance for me:  I want/need challenges, but I need to make it home in one piece; I crave a certain amount of exhilaration but don’t want to let it rule me.  
 

The short answer though is I do in fact feel nervous riding the trail where I fell.   

Glad to hear you bounced back. I remember your post about the crash and I have to admit it crosses my mind also when I ride out there on the more exposed sections. 

On 9/18/2022 at 8:02 PM, hurronnicane said:

Nice ride at Pedernales Falls today.  I recently got a new waist hydration pack that doesn’t have room for a pump, so my pump was in my wife’s pack and she wasn’t with me.  My back tire was at 8 psi at the beginning of the ride and I just told myself I would be careful and borrow someone’s pump if I ran into another rider.  I only encountered one rider and he didn’t have a pump either.  The ride was 14 miles long and included some of the Juniper Ridge trail and my low tire did just fine.

I remember some years back you had a pretty nasty crash out there where you landed on your neck, correct? Did you recover pretty well from that? Do you feel nervous at all riding that track where it happened?

I disliked my SPOT experience as well. I had to get it to participate in the Texas Water Safari this year. I felt like their website/registration process was outdated and predatory trying to get you to pay for added on features. Total r/assholedesign stuff. Then canceling the subscription had to be one of the most unintuitive, PITA processes ever. Which over charged me a month. 

This is all after having a Garmin watch/account that offers live tracking free of charge that notifies my person of choice as soon as I start an activity.

I rarely get flats in centex. Last 2 times I've been to NWA I've had flats....

Kessler and Little Sugar are good. 

If you can hit Mt Nebo on the way up, that place is super awesome. 

6 hours ago, notyal said:

I think it's moving along with all the speed and agility that government is known for. I found this article from April 2022 saying the purchase will be finalized the following week. 

Are you in with anyone on possible trail development there - or are you waiting for the purchase to finalize to attack?

I feel like the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance have a great system going as far as trail access based around GCW habitation. They have specific trails that are closed specific times of the year because of the GCW nesting. SMGA works primarily in Hayes county too. Maybe there could be some connection there?

@notyal Did anything more ever develop with this? I live in the the New Braunfels area now and have seen some local news story on this land. I'd love to help get involved?

McAllister Park in North San Antonio has a really nice pump track now. (I do not have anything with the video below or know the person recording. Just saw the thumbnail showcased the pump track).

1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

David Bazan is recording some new stuff. I heard him play this a few weeks ago at a tiny show in east Austin.

https://pedrothelion.bandcamp.com/track/l-s

I really enjoyed this one on the last Pedro album

What I'm about to say may seem trivial to some or at most a minor issue - but my month, quite possibly my life, is immediately ruined when I come across a hiker/runner who has headphones in so loud they are unaware of their surroundings. So loud that shouting RIDER BACK does not alert them to my presence.

I've seen this brought up before in other mountain bike forums, but I need to stop letting it get to me so much. I just cannot believe the audacity of some people. They might as well come into my house and take a giant shit on my floor.

I'm incredibly non-confrontational, so I won't say anything besides a short, snarky remark along the lines it's not a good idea, but on the inside I'm FUMING. It's like road rage but while riding, haha.

Man I hope y'all going for it post up some ride logs. I really enjoyed reading those the last time this happened. Be thinking about those when you're cranking out the miles!

Just now seeing this.

We rode the Glorieta trails when we were in Santa Fe June 2018. We planned on riding the Windsor but since the Santa Fe Natl Forest was closed due to drought we couldn't. Glorieta is on private land inside SFNF so we still got to ride.

I thought it was super fun. We parked at a church and rode into the camp - did 2 laps of about a ~2mi ascent on steep jeep road for a 5-10 minute 2mi descent. Back then the family who owned Camp Eagle also owned Glorieta. Might be different now, I'm not sure. They had just had a big enduro race right before we went. I'd recommend it for sure but then again that was 2 or 3 years ago now.

On 4/8/2021 at 12:46 PM, Mattlikesbikes said:

Hijack this. My "ranch" is out in this general area (off purgatory rd). As my son is riding more, I would love some insights on a few trail options in the area. So when we spend a weekend at the ranch we can go for a local mtb ride. Right now he is most comfortable on stuff like Peddlers Pass, .6, etc. nice dirt singletrack. Any segments of Madrone or Purgatory Creek meet that? Anyplace else?

Also any pump tracks in the area?

 

I don't know how old your son is, but McAllister in San Antonio is terrific for kids. My daughter was knocking out 6-mile loops there when she was 7. Purgatory is another option, but  I would stray away from the black trails on trailforks and probably Dante's after the Ovid loop. Other than that, all the green/blue stuff should be fun for a kid.

Same with Spring Lake. You could make two loops of Centipede and Blue Stem. 

On 4/8/2021 at 10:17 AM, ATXZJ said:

No worries.

My struggle with that place are all the rocks and lack of flow. Like anti-flow. There are a few scenic places along the ridgeline but as a whole it just seems to be pretty monotonous. I have friends that love that place. They also love government canyon, and both are not for me.

Madrone. The first 3rd of madrone has some good elevation changes and flow with a few drops thrown in to keep it interesting. Seems like when you cross over the road for the 2nd time it basically turns into purgatory for a bit but that doesn't last long. The rest of the climb back up to the parking is pretty fun.

Have any of you recently ridden the spring lake network? How about the newer stuff over at ringtail? 

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23855/

Fair bit of stuff out here now worth checking out

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/32964/

Park here and take roadrunner down

Yeah, I could understand that. I guess I'm biased because I have seemingly eaten less shit at Purg, haha. 

There have been some awesome additions to spring lake since I started riding there. Centipede is so flowy and a perfect trail to start on if you start from Lime Kiln Rd. The new descent they built on Grey Fox is super fun. Like you mentioned in your post, descending from that trailhead down Roadrunner is super badass!

My favorite descent in the park is by far Blind Salamander. 

Does anyone also Kayak or do any Kayak camping in the Hill Country?

On 4/6/2021 at 3:10 PM, ATXZJ said:

Dont forget the spring lake preserve area. They've been digging up there and have added some fun, flowy stuff with some actual downhill fun. IMHO, it's much better than purgatory which is one of the least enjoyable trail networks i've ever ridden. F purgatory and the cinder block rocks it rode in on. 

Madrone is great if you park at the marina, start from there, and finish with a margarita at the bar.

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23856/

No disrespect intended, but I'm curious why you dislike Purgatory so much? In my opinion, Madrone is just as technical, perhaps more so considering its more extensive elevation profile. 

Since you're familiar with trailforks and have done Madrone in the past, I would give Purgatory a shot. 

As far as I know, the only trail shut down at Purg due to Warbler nesting is Paraiso. You can still take Dante's to the other side and back and add smaller side trails like Ovid, Limbo, and Malacoda. If you did go and made it to the other side - Upper Dante's is a neat, short little out and back. 

Don't get me wrong, Madrone is fun, but I think Purgatory is worth checking out if you have done Madrone before and want to try something new out. You can easily do a reasonably technical, fun 12-mile ride at Purg. 

I prefer Spring Lake for the area, which has way more elevation and descents that are awesome. Spring Lake doesn't look like much on a map, but two laps of everything could easily be around 10 miles. Unfortunately, since it isn't a large area, more of the fun trails are impacted by Warbler's nesting season, so I currently wouldn't recommend it.

I hope you have fun regardless of where you choose! I'd offer to guide Saturday morning if I didn't have plans already.

EDIT - I meant to note, in my opinion, it is best to take Beatrice in the direction heading back towards the lower parking. 

A buddy and I are doing the 60 mi. Big Bend epic. 2 nights 3 days.

https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/513404/fresno-sauceda-loop-imba-epic

I rode out there in 2014 and only did the dome loop. It was awesome.

Has anyone bike packed out there and care to share any experiences or lessons learned?

Just got back with the family from Dardanelle, AR.

If you're like me and have a young family and want to plan affordable trips around the outdoors, Arkansas is awesome.

We stayed at an AirBnB in Dardanelle and rode Mt. Nebo for 2 days. The trails there are amazing for adult riders and then the trails on top (triple c, sunset and sunrise loops) are a perfect and beautiful ride for kids. 

Monument Trails at Mount Nebo State Park on Trailforks
https://www.trailforks.com/region/monument-trails-at-mount-nebo-state-park-30319

Let me know if you want the low down on the AirBnB. It was a small, old townhouse unit but the host was super awesome and had it stocked up. The place was like 5 minutes from the base of MT. Nebo and like 2 seconds from Dardanelle rock which was an awesome family hike.

Found out from an off hand Facebook comment in a SA mtb group that he passed. From the comment I believe the gentleman administering CPR was the son in law. Commenter believed it was a heart attack.

Hands down one of the saddest, most unbelievable sights I think I'll ever come across in the woods. Stay healthy everyone!

I was riding Purg in San Marcos on 4/10. Came across a rider giving another rider CPR on Beatrice on the phone with 911. Said he hadn't breathed in awhile. Not sure of any other details as I told him I would try and flag down medics at the trail head. When I got there they must have been accessing from elsewhere. I checked the police blotter and local news but haven't seen anything. Anyone by any chance have info? I hope he was ok. Thanks.