throet

Said differently:

Wouldn't this qualify as an oxymoron?

Had my first close encounter with an e-bike last week riding in California. I had arranged a regular MTB rental through one of the local bike shops in San Luis Obispo and asked if any of the shop staff would be interested in riding / guiding for an afternoon. The guy meets me at the trailhead with my rental bike (Trek Fuel), along with a Rocky Mountain eBike from the shop that he was intending to ride. Now that I thought was actually an excellent application for a pedal assist ebike. After all, he was packing plenty of gear for trailside repairs, had extra snacks / fluid in case I didn't bring enough, and frankly was doing it for the fee I agreed to pay vs. strictly for fun. Also, in that role he knows that he has to keep up on the climbs and frankly climbing did not appear to be his forte. So in the end, it was a really great experience for both of us. He got to put a little extra cash in his pocket and I got to ride some sweet singletrack without having to do extensive research on the trail system and never having to pull my phone out to navigate the trails. He even offered to let me try the eBike, although I respectfully declined.

I'm starting to think this might be the best approach for me as well, with the exception of any trips that I can manage to take to ride in a more hospitable summer climate. Riding in Cali last week was simply amazing and I've had little desire to ride since returning. I wish I could get my wife to agree to just stay there in the summers, which my job would allow me to do. Like others on this thread, I have spent past summers trying to figure out what time of day is best to ride around here. Summer humidity here never goes away. It may feel less humid when you're baking in 98 degree temps, but the dew point late-afternoon / evening is usually only a couple of degrees lower than what it is early mornings. Our dew point here generally ranges from mid-sixties to low-seventies in the summer, which makes it very uncomfortable - period. Throw in temps in the high-nineties and it's downright oppressive. I used to believe that riding between 7-9 in the evening was best but have now concluded that the best time for me to ride is between 9-11 in the morning. Temps are still reasonable and just enough of the morning dew has burned off to keep my goggles from remaining in a constant fog.

I've only ridden once since returning and frankly just haven't had the desire. Still trying to get out to Spider Mtn though and wondering how that will work out. Quick sprints down and then removing full-face and cooling off on the way back up - at least that's how I'm hoping it will go. I'm thinking 9AM-1PM might not be too bad with adequate hydration and resting between runs.

WILLIAMSON: ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING... * TEMPERATURE...Heat index values of 108 to 112. * IMPACTS...Increased risk of heat-related illnesses including Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke.

Are they running shuttles, and if so, on what days / hours? Alternatively, do they allow paying entrants to run their own shuttles? I can call if you're not sure - didn't really see those kind of details on their web page.

Nice looking bike! So glad they came around to designing for a proper bottle mount.

Hey not so fast with the shaming man! I delivered $50 in Home Depot gift cards to Ronan on Sat during the race - $25 for @HoneyBadger and $25 for @First Blood. This was before I knew of any GoFundMe page. So although you won't see my name on the list of GoFundMe donors, please know that I pitched in.

You're probably talking about Dub Step - at 1:05 in the vid.

My best times for Deception E-W and W-E, including both 1/4 Notch and DD, are nearly identical at 51:43 vs. 51:48. So I'd say they are about the same. I would agree though that the features on 1/4 Notch going E-W are trickier than going W-E, but neither are difficult compared to what you encounter on DD, which is why I love DD so much.

Wow that's amazing! Those youngsters are going to be taking podium spots for years to come.

So a 13 yr-old won Men's Cat 3 and a 14 yr-old won Men's Cat 2? Was it the same course for those age groups?

Looks like one of those dime store rubber snakes that I could never get my Mom to buy for me.

Big shout out to Sam and Foothill Cyclery. Look them up if you ever want to ride in SLO. Met me at the trailhead with bike and helmet, rode along and carried everything needed for trailside repairs, but had me riding out front on downhill sections to maximize fun.

Sweated more than I thought I would given the cool temps. Lots of flowy fun plus lots of climbing. Views of the Pacific were phenomenal. My guide was half my age and on an ebike. I was on a Trek Fuel 9.7 carbon 29er rental which was well suited for those trails. Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/3NqhffLcvX

Have a ride planned in Cali this afternoon thanks to Foothill Cyclery in SLO. My empoyer's HQ is here but this will be the first trip I've managed to slip away for a ride. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30246088

I have some GS1 grips that you can use but won't be home until Fri afternoon. I'm in Cedar Park.

Double Down is double delicious

These were my most fun driving days - mid-life crisis in my early 40s. Got divorced and bought a 2000 Z28. Added Borla exhaust and racing air intake but still got beat by a Ford Lightning pickup. So I added a 2001 Ford Lightning to the stable. Then I got beat by a Honda S2000 and decided that I was spending way too much money to keep getting beat. Been driving conservative, luxury SUVs ever since.

I'm with you 100%! I've had two really bad incidents that both could have resulted in a broken neck. I've concluded that if I have to think about what I'm doing, I shouldn't be doing it. Gradually I'm beginning to trust my instincts on bigger and trickier stuff, but also believe that I'm still relying too much on speed vs. technique in many cases. Would love to hear how your backyard setup is working for you. I've considered doing something like that myself but my yard is so small there wouldn't be anyplace left to play cornhole!

I've always rolled it left-center but throw in a mini-manual to get my front wheel a little further out before it touches down. Still technically a roll though I believe since the front wheel is on the ground before my rear wheel drops off the ledge. Also fun to launch off the ledge right-center but make sure you have plenty of air in your tires since the landing area is rocky.

I'm picturing myself in this thing lined up against some punk kid revving up his 5.0. Light turns green and I'm leaving him in the dust ....... while towing my RV.

Yep I get it - try before you buy (build). Others offered that same opinion early on in the thread and perhaps good advice that is worth repeating for some folks. Heck I went out and bought a bike specifically for gravity-oriented stuff back in Feb and have yet to ride it anywhere besides Brushy. Still excited to get it out on some steep downs though, which is not something I'd care to do on my short-travel 29er.