throet

Just for kicks I rode it tonight on my 27.5 long-travel bike and recorded my slowest time yet. Was still a lot of fun though. Might try to get back out there tomorrow for a PR on my every-day 29er. Traction should be improved after the light rain tonight.

Anybody know if the original 7mi cross-country loop is still intact? I haven't been out there since they started putting in the enduro lines, but felt it was well worth the trip just going out to ride 3 laps of the original loop years ago. These days I'd probably take the longer back route from Cedar Park just to avoid the shit show on 620.

I had similar thoughts this morning. Moved the rear shock on my Primer to the 115mm position, which I had never tried before, and also added air to both the shock and fork which left it riding really firm. I was pushing really hard and felt like I was going to beat my previous best time, but ended up a full minute off. Back to the drawing board!

They haven't developed a big enough battery yet 🤣

I finally hit that big rock going E-W - cleared it on my first try. Don't think I carry enough momentum to clear it from the other direction but may give it a try one of these days.

I rode it E-W going down today. Nice addition!

I scoped it out yesterday going W-E but didn't attempt it. That little step up on the original line there has actually gotten a bit tricky over the past year with the erosion. Heading back out now to see what kind of trouble I can get myself into!

If it would make me ride like that, I'd have one tomorrow!

YES

Tell me about it - at 60 I'm getting breasts that I don't want!

I ran two laps back to back with decent times and felt like I could have run a third at the same pace (17-18m per lap). I'm going to go back out and give it everything I have on a single lap, but it seems that all of the turns are what's slowing me down, not the amount of effort I'm putting in. If I had the skills to get through the turns quicker then I could probably push myself closer to exhaustion by staying in a harder gear and pedaling harder throughout.

You might have finished quicker without your bikepacking setup. Be careful where you stop to consume meals - the savage scent of raw sewage out there can spoil your appetite.

Too much paddling man! What kind of hand job did you get?

We may be talking about different things. I actually meant from the Picnic X bailout going W2E - so the entire segment from there up to Swag Rock. In particular there are a couple of technical climbs that used to be relatively easy but now are quite difficult.

Going W2E from the Picnic Bailout up to Swag Rock has become much more challenging due to all of the erosion - definitely keeps things interesting.

The nice thing about Deception is that the 2 bailout points enable a multitude of routes going in both directions. I like to ride the westernmost segment of DD in both directions every time out if I can, at least until it gets too damn hot. I mix and match the eastern segment of DD and 1/4 Notch all sorts of ways with Picnic serving as a connector. Speaking of trail direction, I was riding Rim W-E and coming up on that last G-out with good speed and had to skid to a stop because somebody was approaching that same G-out from the opposite direction at probably an even faster pace. We exchanged pleasantries and he explained that he was getting ready to hop over it. Certainly not an impossible task, but once you leave the ground there is of course no chance of stopping for oncoming traffic. Hopefully anybody attempting that has really good line of sight on who's coming toward them.

Haha I wasn't really thinking about that this morning when I took this pic - just kept the bike in the same direction I was moving.

Well of course there's this too ……

One of my favorite blues tracks of all time. George Harrison steel guitar solo in the middle and ending with a phenomenal solo from Lee.

So @Schrute the Spurs had a nice run going and I can't believe after 2 losses they dropped down to the 8 spot. Just shows how competitive it's going to be in the west this year. Looks like the field is pretty well set though and now just jockeying for position. It was nice to see Harden go off on your Spurs last night, but I'm not sure what to think of the Rockets chances. Playoff basketball is so different, and Harden hasn't had a history of stepping up big like that in playoff games.

I think I got a methane boost from that shit man - fueled me through two laps on Peddlers.

OK I'll play. First time riding the complete new reroute tonight. Overweight, 60-yr old male with mild gynecomastia and various gastro and urological issues on Intense Primer Factory Build running Magic Mary 2.35 upfront and Nobby Nic 2.35 in the back with flat pedals and canvas shoes. Ran two consecutive laps. First lap running 23psi front and back with low seat position finished in 18:19 (had to stop once to allow parents to finish photographing teen lounging on one of the bridges). Second lap let some air out of both tires probably down to around 20psi and raised the seat some finishing in 17:09. While the lower seat position provides better center of gravity, I found that I was flinging my front-end through the berms whereas the higher seat position helped me to drive my shoulders into the berms with better weighting on the front-wheel. Probably the biggest difference was just familiarity on the second lap and not being afraid to let my rear wheel drift through the turns.