throet

My preferred riding time in the summer is 9:00am - 10:30am. Too early, and the dew point and temperature are too close for comfort, meaning the air is saturated with moisture. On any given day though, the dew point doesn't generally drop drastically later in the day, meaning there is just as much moisture in the air but at much higher temps. Late morning is the perfect compromise IMO because the temps are high enough to allow some evaporative cooling, but not so high that they raise your body temperature even when you're standing still. I rode Friday night from 6:30 to 8:30, and that first hour was brutal. Temp was 96 but "feel like" was 102. Of course it also depends a lot on how much you exert yourself, and Double Down probably wasn't the right place to start my ride that night.

Did you seriously have heat stroke or was it heat exhaustion? Neither is good of course but from what I understand heat stroke can be life threatening. In any case, I hope you fully recovered. The closest I came I think was pushing myself real hard on the greenbelt mid-day in May a few years back. My legs were literally seizing up riding on the pavement to get back to the car. I ended up drinking a gallon or so of melted ice from my cooler in an attempt to recover, but I've really never been the same since when it comes to riding in the heat - so I just don't (or at least don't push myself). We rode Back 40 mid-May this year and I was thinking that was about as late in the year I'd ever want to ride there. There was a cooler full of ice-cold drinks on the trail near the end of our ride that came in handy.

C'mon dude - you can't fake that. If only you could see the label on that Falstaff, you'd know it was the real deal! 🤣

Weren't all high schools in the seventies Rock'n'Roll Highs? Definitely was stylin' back in the high-school daze!

Indeed! I was fortunate to see them play at my high school in '75 during my senior year. We had a large gymnasium by high-school standards, at least in that era, but it still seemed odd that such a headline band (Toys in the Attic had been released earlier that year) would be playing in a high-school gym. I think security was provided by teachers and administrators, who were no match against the reefer madness that ensued. Front-row seating was on the basketball court, and for the rest of the year we were reminded of the event by the burn marks covering that section of the floor.

Picked up a sixer of these at Randalls today. Really light and refreshing with a more subtle Saison profile than what I'm accustomed to. Malty goodness with just enough spice / fruit. Ice cold works best for me, especially this time of year.

On the plus side, it's pretty darn nice here for riding 8 months out of the year. Still, I'm sure there is better out there, especially when factoring in cost-of-living. I'm taking the summer off from riding this year, unless I take a trip to the mountains.

Anybody else like to pair bourbon and beer? Doesn't work so well with pale ales or IPAs, but the brown and amber ales really compliment bourbons IMO. This is an excellent paring here, as the chocolate notes from the Brewhouse really set off the vanilla custard coming from that ECSB. Doesn't matter which chases which, it's good all the way around!

I carry a high handicap, that gets exponentially higher with every beer consumed on the course. Prefer 2-3 cold ones at the 19th hole!

Might need to check them out for my hip ......... shoulder, neck, feet, knees, ankles, and wrists!

Finally got around to picking up a bottle of this stuff. Really good for $42. Great nose, and sweet on the palate with notes of caramel and custard. Really mellow for a 110-proof selection. Will buy again if it remains available at this price.

You ballin' now brotha!

They should consider upgrading to one of these!

The whole time there we kept saying how much we wanted to hit the Hand-cut Hollow Gravity Hub, but we never actually made it over there - next time for sure. We did manage to hit the Castle, but didn't ride Dragon Scales. I'm thinking it was roped off the day we were there. Catapult was huge fun!

Last one of these beauties! Not sure I want to pay another $16 for a sixer, but they sure are good.

Hopefully there will be a few ride leaders that some of us can actually keep up with 😁 Anyway it goes though, I could find my way around if I had to. Hoping to at least get up their Sun morning when the temps are supposed to be a bit cooler. From what I remember being there last year, the trails will probably be OK with some scattered rain, which appears to be in the forecast for this weekend.

Yeah sure looks that way. Hopefully it was put out before compromising the integrity of the structure.

WTF! Did it appear to be set intentionally?

Both are in Bentonville. We hit several food trucks too while there and all were good.

BTW - Huge thumbs up for both Wright's BBQ and Tusk & Trotter. Had the Prime Rib plate at Wright's and it was outstanding with Collard Greens and baked Sweet Potato. Had the Bison Burger and Spicy Fries at T&T - outstanding as well. Both had great local beers as well (cans only at Wrights - no tap).

Haha - no not quite ready to commit to Maxxis. Should have gone with that heavier 2-ply Mazza though, at least for the rear. With the Rimpact in, it took a minute before I even realized I was flat. It was the flapping rubber sound that gave it away. We started that ride on the Ledges, and still had the Back 40 to go. So bailing back to the car wasn't an option. Besides, with those DT Swiss XMC carbon rims, I wouldn't want to risk riding on just the insert, even for a short distance. 😁

Returned last night from first trip to B'ville - 4 straight days of riding. Biggest takeaway for me was the vibe itself, and how nature and humanity are blended so seamlessly together, whether riding the abundance of varied trails around town or hiking over to Crystal Bridges Museum from the Airbnb. The setting is simply idyllic. We spent the first and last of our 4 days just riding SP and other close-by trails. Definitely had some favorites but can't recall them all (Apple Turnover kicked my ass). Rode Coler South and North on our second day. While I can definitely see the appeal for those who like to launch themselves into the air, Coler really isn't my thing. I did enjoy Here's Johnny and Rock Solid though. Loved the Ledges and Back 40 on Day 3. Looking forward to getting up there again and checking out more of the surrounding areas, such as Devil's Den, Hobbs, and Buffalo River / Ponca Downhill areas.

Riding the Ledges in Bentonville this past weekend, my buddy was able to use a couple of bacon strips to seal a puncture in the tread area of his rear tire. It spewed some more sealant when he aired it up, but eventually sealed up enough to finish the ride and ride again the next morning. I got a sidewall gash on my rear tire within minutes of his mishap and didn't even attempt plugging it. Taped it from the inside and then tubed it. No problems for the remainder of the weekend. Tire was brand-new; so going to just leave the tube in to get as much wear on the tire as I can. Also of note, I had to deal with the dreaded "what do I do with my tire insert now that I'm tubed" scenario! In my case, even the dense Rimpact Pro folded up nicely and was able to be fully stuffed into my large Osprey Syncro 20. I would just caution that if you're using tire inserts, make sure you have a large enough pack to contain it in the unlikely event of tubing the tire.

C'mon man you know be better than that! 1300 is for the 2-ply enduro tire. The trail version that I run is only 950.

Yep - Mazza. Second set and I love them!