throet

Glad she was able to help and sorry to hear about how much trouble this has been for you. We're booked for riding in Salida Jul 9-11 - so if you get a chance to slide down there any of those days before heading back to Tejas, let me know. We haven't finalized our ride plans yet, but will likely do the Monarch Crest Epic on Jul 10.

This was our experience today. Just enough tech to keep you alert, but nothing to cause any real exertion. Plenty of shade for most of the ride too. Rode for a few hours starting at 10am. The 85oz of fluid in my Osprey pack was enough to get me through the ride, although I had a bottle with me as well. Overall it was a really pleasant ride and worth the trip. Some really spectacular views from some sections of trail. Reservations are still needed, but we were able to snag those online yesterday afternoon.

I've ridden Flat Creek Crossing many times but never Pedernales. Honestly all I'm after tomorrow is a couple hours of exercise. If it turns out to be not that great, I won't be terribly disappointed, and I'll have one more local trail system to check off my list.

I'm going to be riding Pedernales for the first time tomorrow morning - starting at 9:30am. Hope it's not on the top of anybody's heat stroke list! Around here it makes sense that Walnut Creek would be the best place to ride in the summer, but I couldn't say what would be the worst. I know for sure that I won't ride City Park in the summer, partly due to level of exertion required and partly due to horseflies ripping your flesh apart. Likewise I have no interest in riding LGT in the summer. Personally I try to avoid direct summer sun exposure between 10 - 6 on any trail regardless of how fast I can move. Brushy has been fine so far this year in the mornings between 8-10.

Speaking of Double IPAs, first time trying the BoomBox and it was quite good. Chased it with an Axis. Life is good!

Gave noob @Lacch another tour of Brushy today and a couple of things came out of that. First, on Peddlers he asked me how it was that I was speeding through the berms effortlessly while he was trying to hammer through them to keep up. I mentioned that somebody on this forum had offered a cornering clinic at Peddlers in the past, but for me, anything I've learned has come naturally. All I could really offer was to set your speed ahead of the turn and trust the berm without braking. My technique is to weight the front wheel and drive it through those turns, but I recall that others on this forum have said the opposite works for them. Of course with any cornering, bermed or not, learning to balance through a turn vs. steering through it is essential. Once we moseyed over to 1/4 Notch, Lacch observed that I was "gliding" through rock gardens while he was "pounding" through them. I tried to describe a couple of concepts. One is unweighting the bike, meaning that I'm either putting my weight forward and pulling the bike through stuff, or putting my weight back and pushing the bike through stuff. For me it's hard to describe when to do what because it just seems to have come naturally over time for me. The other concept I tried to describe was using your body as a lever, meaning instead of yanking up every time you need to clear a small ledge or obstacle, you instead are pushing your feet forward with your weight back, while simultaneously pulling back ever so slightly on the bars. I had to point out as well that while doing so it may look like I'm seated, but I'm actually hovering over the seat by maybe only 1/2 inch. I have nothing against study and practice, but I do believe that if you have any sort of athletic ability, much of what you need to know comes naturally over time with just dedicated hours on the trail and the trial-and-error efforts that go with that.

At Pluckers, I get the Bleu Cheese Chicken Cobb minus the tortilla strips. I'm not a Keto person, but I'm thinking it might qualify, unless the dressing knocks it out. It's quite good with grilled chunks of chicken, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, bacon, sliced avocado, bleu cheese chunks, and topped off with bleu cheese dressing.

This sounds like exactly what I would be looking for over a weekend of park riding. I love watching guys on YT bomb massive gaps on machine cut jump lines, but that sort of stuff is just not for me. What you're describing here though is appealing and might have me removing my full-face from the items for sale thread! We might even want to be thinking about a boys trip out there over the coming year.

This has me thinking about my upcoming Colorado trip. I'm wondering if I'm better off without my Rimpact inserts during my trip. Would hate to have to hassle with trying to transport a sealant coated section of foam in my pack. Besides, the reduced weight would be an advantage on those long ass climbs. Generally on rides like those far away from home and medical aid, I'm going to be picking my lines carefully regardless.

Sorry @Lacch had I known this, we could have just put that 27.5 tube in that I was carrying in my pack. Apparently I falsely assumed only a 29in would work for your 29 inch tire. Suppose that lack of knowledge cost you a full ride and me a chance to demonstrate an on-trail tube install. Lesson learned there for sure. Regarding the CO2 cartridges, I always carry 2-3 when carrying a pack. No sense risking a misfire with only a single cartridge. I also carry bacon strips, extra valve cores and valve core tool, a presta-schrader adapter (works better with my CO2 pump - especially with shorter valve stems), and a couple of plastic tire tools. I also carry spare chain-links for 10-spd, 11-spd, and 12-spd (used to ride all three regularly) and a multi-tool.

I rode from 9-10:45 with no problem handling the heat / humidity, and hardly saw anybody out there except for on Picnic. Rode Snail, Rim, DD, Picnic, and Mulligan. Also ventured up to the top of Dave's Ditch and discovered that the plunge down is dry enough to be safely ridden. Definitely finding that the key these past few weeks for me is pacing myself, and giving only 90% on features vs. 110%. Max heart rate today was 155, with Avg at 125.

#horseflybait

Now you're talking!

I might take you up on that. Do you know what the offset is?

When I was riding Alpine trails almost exclusively between 2012-2014, I had a 3x XC HT. Last time I rode in Colorado, in 2016, I was on a 2X drivetrain. More recently in 2019, I did some serious climbing out in California on a rental bike that had an Eagle 12-spd drivetrain. Now I'm getting ready to head to Colorado with my 11-spd. Even at 62 I consider myself a strong climber, and my 27lb bike is very well suited for climbing. I'm obviously short a climbing gear though from what I've been accustomed to in the past. Should I swap out my 30t chainring for a 28t before heading up there, or do I just suck it up and risk burning my legs out early?

He's a great kid and a beast on the bike. Think you'll be up there that weekend?

Haha that be him!

Turns out one of my riding buddies from Austin works at Absolute now. I'm hoping he'll join us for a ride or two while we're there, but he is in another league altogether! Motel options were a bit spotty, but we managed to land a little 2-bdrm bungalow via AirBnB that is just a couple of blocks from the city center. Another buddy of mine from Broomfield is going to try coming down as well that that weekend - Jul 9-11. If you're going to be up there that weekend, we'd of course welcome your local trail knowledge.

A buddy and I just booked a bungalow in Salida for Jul 8-12. We'll probably ride the nearby trails on Fri and Sun, with an all-day trip over to Hartman Rocks on Sat. Couldn't be more stoked, especially after suffering even on an early morning ride here today.

Yeah I was just thinking that when my wife and I went out for dinner last night it didn't feel at all uncomfortable. Will probably go out for a ride around 6:30 tonight and see how it feels - maybe just do Quarter Notch, Picnic, and Peddlers.

Got a 2.5 hour meeting break! Thought about getting out for a ride, but didn't have to think long. Just going to head upstairs for some cardio and weight training instead.

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Probably just based on the dates you were looking at. I'm looking now at the Thu-Mon following Jul 4 and the rates are only $130 per night. I'm looking at condos too in case our party of two turns into 3, and I see one with decent rates in Monarch. I'm thinking that would be a good location for heading over to Hartman Rocks for one full day of riding, but I guess we'd be sacrificing some of the conveniences offered by staying near Salida city center.

Oh darn. Wish I would have checked this earlier. I ended up just staying put and am now getting ready to go out for dinner. Appreciate the offer and hope to get over there next week!

I used to get them at Walmart but unfortunately it looks like they are no longer available in-store - darn! I do see that they can be ordered online for delivery. I love doing the Zatarain's Dirty Rice Mix as well for camping, but instead of using hamburger, I use a combination of ground breakfast sausage (like Owen's Hot) and diced link sausage. Gives it a a much better flavor and texture than hamburger. I'll use more meat than it calls for too, just to make it more of a complete meal. I'll make that at home, and then store it in tupperware or quart baggies for the cooler. For breakfast I always pack whole-grain or multi-grain english muffins with either peanut butter or almond butter to spread on top along with some sliced bananas. Nice for those days you don't want to full with cooking breakfast. I'll bring a pack of flour tortillas too, and roll up some of that same spread / banana mix to pack out on the trail for a mid-ride snack.