Tree Magnet

Anyone notice how his helmet slid back after the impact? That looks like a lot of exposed skull to me if he was still rolling after this picture. I love the retention system on my Kali helmet but I feel that sometimes it might slide back like this in a big crash. Maybe this shouldn't be a discussion about flats vs. clips and instead be a discussion about full face vs. half shell for bombing an enduro course? Glad that the only injuries he got appear to be superficial. I think we all have a good scar from something like this.

I spent the weekend in San Francisco deep in the armpit of Silicon Valley and I only saw a handful of scooters or bikes. It could be because of the crazy hills or maybe they have some California-esque regulation to prevent them. Honestly, I was hoping to use one to get from Menlo Park to Stanford (flat - 2 miles) but there were none to be found. I should have picked one up from an Austin street corner and taken it with me.

Damn...I knew I should have put down the cash for that fish tank! I’ll just keep using my shoe against the wheel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Calling this dude out on Strava has some merit. No one wants to be hated by their peers. Well...I guess some people don’t care but even it makes them think twice or shut off Strava being a douchebag, that’s something. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Calling this dude out on Strava has some merit. No one wants to be hated by their peers. Well...I guess some people don’t care but even it makes them think twice or shut off Strava being a douchebag, that’s something. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Because that would impede the electric scooters.

Just saw this article about riding scooters on paths in Austin parks: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190115/watch-out-hikers-make-room-for-scooters-electric-bikes-on-some-austin-trails

I'm interested to hear the trail builder perspective but here are my thoughts. If you can move and mold the dirt, it's mud. Flattening it out will get rid of the ridges (good) but it will contribute to creating a depression in that spot (bad). If you're already at the puddle, go for it. Better yet, flatten it, turn around, and ride somewhere with a trail surface that can handle it (concrete, RPR, Ladybird lake, etc). If we lived in Seattle or England where riding on wet trails was a fact of life and expected by the community that is supporting those trails, I'd understand. However, in reality, we don't get that much rain around here. I would say that our trails are good to go 90% of the year. If you can't find another place to ride that remaining 10%, you should feel obligated to grab a shovel and fix all the damage being done. Seriously...my stance is that we either HTFU and accept responsibility for trail damage or don't ride it.

I vote that we should make Wookie some sort of moderator so he feels obligated to keep us all from turning on each other. Maybe he needs some sort of responsibility before he opts to join the conversation?

Having seen the amount of effort and man power it takes to fix a single rut in a muddy trail, I suspect that the race organizers can't or don't go in an fix the mess created. I remember trying to ride RHR after a Spartan race or something had chewed up Fat Chucks. There were shoes buried in mud and post holes all over the place. There is no way that was getting repaired by anything less than bulldozer or a CCC crew and many, many hours of effort.

I did a 12 hour race at Rocky Hill many years ago (2008?) and it rained like crazy and turned the course into a soupy hell. Since it was a race on private land, we kept racing in hub deep mud. They shortened the race to 8 hours and it was still a nightmare. I'd say that the race was sponsored by a bike shop due to the number of bottom brackets and drive train parts that we all ended up having to replace. I'm not sure that the course ever fully recovered from that.

I think a big difference is that I can hop on a 1970’s era motorcycle and it can still get me from A to B. Anything electronic that is more than 10 years old is total junk. I can’t even keep a battery pack alive for more than 2 years on my bike lights. In fact, I ditched my battery powered drill for a straight electric because when I need it, I need it to work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Only trails rideable around here are RPR or something paved. Rain hosed is last night. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the update Tony. On the topic of damaging the trails, I would hope that the trail builders would not be the only ones unhappy with damage to the trails. I'm not a builder but I contribute some of my riding/family/screwing around time to help maintain and improve the trails that we have. If every EB rider would donate 1 hour of their time to working on the trails, I suspect the community could fix most problem areas on the EB route. Let's face it...we have awesome trails in this town. The EB is a showcase of many of those trails and people come to town from all over just to ride it and get a sample. The people that care about this thread and are waiting for a decision from Tony and the EB crew are the ones that should be most concerned with the quality of those trails.

The hour of trail work spent fixing this douchbaggery could have been spent building a berm or removing poison ivy or even building in rollers and features into trails. Not to mention that the folks doing the trail work could have been riding instead of cleaning up after some ass hat. Ugh. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

With a good crew of people willing to move dirt, it's amazing the amount of work that can be accomplished in a short time. We converted three problem mud-holes into sweet berms that will be sustainable in this crazy wet weather we've been having. It was great to meet fellow riders and talk bikes!

There is a precedent here with the EB that never was (2015)? One of the things that I love about this event is that it's a ride put on by riders for riders. I think that we've all seen a race destroy a trail because it was scheduled to take place despite the trail conditions. If it's too muddy to ride the trail, I'm not riding it and I would expect everyone else involved to have that same approach.

I’ve done trail work with 8 month olds and 3 year olds who moved some dirt and built some cool features. There is always a fun job they can do and getting them outside on a trail is a great experience for all involved. I had a great time digging with my boys. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

South of the river was amazing on Tuesday. I didn’t cross the river because I didn’t want to swin. Cody - I was out there demoing a Stache with 3.0 tires and was really impressed. I know you’re a Stache fan and I was skeptical about the big fat tires but that thing was a pretty capable. It didn’t beat me up nearly as bad as I was expecting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was drizzling just North of Walnut yesterday for several hours. However, the sun is up right now and we might have a little breeze going that should help dry stuff out. If it keeps this up, I'd say it's be good to go later today.

I’m just not sure where to start. Does the world really need more full penetration butts? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was in the Cloudland Canyon State park just a bit South of Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago for a trail run. There were some well marked trails and lots of them but I didn't get to ride any. I'd say that with the combination of the scenery and the trails, it would be worth checking out. The trails we were on were all blues and were flowy and smooth. Think Bentonville Back 40 style in the trees. There were some double black diamond sections and with the elevation changes and rocks out there, they might be cool. As usual, the ratings are all relative.

I actually have an XD driver right now on my SRAM wheelset. It's clicking and new grease won't stop it so I'm thinking it's not long for this world. If you were getting rid of the XD driver on your wheelset and it would fit mine, I'd be interested in picking that up as well. I'd only really need the cassette and chain ring and 200-300 miles isn't much as long as you kept it lubed up. Let me see if I can convince Santa to buy me a new one. You can probably sell it together easier than breaking it up but if you want to break up the set, let me know what you want for the cassette and chainring.

I have a set but the lever on the left bar has been ground down due to an unfortunate rack malfunction on the way to Camp Eagle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m interested that cassette and chain ring if it comes with the XD driver. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk