throet

@Albert take a look at the first 2 threads I started. Thought it would be handy to include the drive time in the actual thread topic, although I should have stayed consistent with my formatting. Anyway, I included the google map and the MTB Projects link for each respective area as a starting post. Figured for each area, we could then start dumping in posts regarding trails to ride, places to stay, places to eat, etc. If you like this approach, I'll move forward with threads for Bentonville, Mountain View (AR), Big Bend, Santa Fe (NM), Angel Fire (NM), Tucson (AZ), and Colorado Springs. These are all destinations that can be easily reached with a day's drive (13 hours or less).

https://goo.gl/maps/km4NXGRcjir https://www.mtbproject.com/directory/8007104/lake-ouachita I've ridden the Womble end-to-end but did not ride the Ouachita Trail extension at the north end of the Womble. Never made it over to the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail either that runs along the south side of the lake. Mt. Ida seems to be the best central location for accessing all of the trails, but I like staying at the Hwy 27 Fishing Village (cabins, RV/Tent sites) that is just north of Mt. Ida on the west end of the lake. It sits virtually right on the middle junction of the Womble which makes it a great spot for out-and-backs in either direction or shuttled rides starting at either end. In addition to the stores and restaurants in Mt. Ida, there is a small store / restaurant a couple of miles north of Hwy 27 Fishing Village that serves up some great food. You can also get some provisions at the camp store at Hwy 27 Fishing Village. This is a DRY COUNTY! Pack in whatever alcoholic beverages you may want to consume.

https://goo.gl/maps/5XbNHJaQkBP2 https://www.mtbproject.com/directory/8016959/canyon

Thanks. I was thinking though that before you just start placing random posts into it, we could organize the threads as noted in my suggestion above? Is that workable? If so I'm happy to get started on that given the appropriate permissions.

I think this is going to get worse - not better. The last few weekend rides I've taken on Brushy I've seen multiple people riding Deception without shirts, without helmets, and on Walmart bikes. These were all "twenty-somethings" who unfortunately are riding, I believe, not because they hope for this to become a passionate, life-long endeavor, but simply because it is one of the "cool" things for them to do right now. I'm confident that those same joy riders would view wet, muddy trails as being even more enticing. I did plenty of careless, reckless things myself growing up; so it's hard for me to be too judgmental. Still, it's a dilemma that impacts all of us who are trying to preserve the integrity of the sport and the trails. I agree that signs specifically may not help, but ongoing education in various forms will have a positive impact, just like HB taking the time to give feedback to this individual. As another example, I met up and rode with some youngsters a few weeks ago who were riding as part of the Peddler's Wed. night group. They were clearly very interested in the sport and not just the activity, and they were getting great guidance from an experienced rider who was with them. The more of the young people who we can take under our wings and grow into the sport, the fewer will be left to ride recklessly and carelessly.

How about another section under Mountain Biking called MTB Destinations? I've started compiling input from this thread and the old Mojo thread to create sort of an MTB destination guide, specific to travel from Austin. Each new thread would represent a destination, starting with a post showing the google travel map and driving hours, along with some general information on the area trails. Once a Destination thread is posted with the standard opening structure, then it could be opened up for further input / insights based on specific experiences of the ATMB audience. If this is something you think is worthwhile, I'm happy to spend some time getting it started. There has been an abundance of great info posted on various destinations, but because it is strewn across multiple general threads (mostly still on Mojo), it requires extensive digging and searching to go back and find the relevant pieces when you are thinking about taking a trip. By organizing in the manner I'm suggesting, a simple visit to the MTB Destination section would deliver easy access to organized information regarding the various destinations. We can start with everything that is within a day's drive of Austin since that has been a hot topic, but can also expand to include ALL MTB destinations that have been visited going forward.

So is Amarillo where all of these places are, or is there also food and lodging in the town of Canyon? Tempted to go right now given the state of things around here.

Congrats man! EWS awaits!

A nice plan would be to start out with the Womble and other trails in the Lake Ouachita area, which could consume a few days easily. Then head NE to the Syllamo trails (60+ miles of trail) near Mountain View in NE AR for several more days before cutting across the Ozarks to Fayetville to spend a couple of weeks riding there, Bentonville, and other spots in NW AR. If I can manage to stay retired, this would be a great near-by, month-long getaway. I've ridden in AR both Spring and Fall, and both have been super pleasant.

And then the Kessler Mountain Jam the following week. Between the Oz Off-road, Outerbike, and the Mountain Jam, there appears to be plenty of Fall Fun in NW AR for 2018. I remember last year somebody pointing out how nice the fall foliage was up there, but I suppose it's hard to know when it would be at it's peak. As RA and others have noted, there are plenty of great opportunities to ride all around NW AR, and probably the best bet would be to spend an entire week checking it all out. http://fayetteville-ar.gov/3416/Kessler-Mountain-Jam

Will be interested to get a report back on your ride today. I started checking the radar this morning to see if driving out there would be worthwhile. Riding in wet conditions out there is fine, but I just didn't want to risk driving out there only to get drenched while out on the trails. Looks like some storm systems are definitely moving through there today.

Did you get drenched? It was coming down in buckets along S. Bell on the YMCA end of the trails.

We're swamped here a mile from the trail, and I saw a post from HoneyBadger stating that it was raining at Peddlers just a little while ago. I'm thinking no chance of riding in the morning but if anybody knows differently, please post up.

Looks like possibility of more rain today and tomorrow anyway; so not sure if anybody will be riding this week. Hopefully by next week we see a reduction in the damn humidity.

I still roll it on the far right with a tight turn in, but between the ever present scree and the leaves from that pesky palm bush, it can get sketchy sometimes. Can we consider that palm an invasive species and just remove it?

I wasn't even trying to speculate on what would cause them to break - just what scenarios could lead to the worst crashes, regardless of the exact cause. And "landing some hella air" would definitely be one of those, especially for people doing it above their pay grade.

Yeah I got that too, but like others, he seems to be using a very horrific experience to scare others into action. My point, which probably should have been more concise, is that nobody I've seen has presented real statistical data showing what the likelihood is of getting seriously injured due to a carbon failure. Even the author noted that he will never know what exactly caused the failure. If you employ a system of date stamping, what is the probability of failure 1 week prior to the replacement date vs. 1 week after? Guess I'm just not convinced yet to run out and replace my 2-yr old, banged up stuff, which of course will make me look really foolish if I end up seriously hurt as a result.

This seems insane to me given what the temp and humidity must have been on 8/25. Hopefully you didn't have any open wounds laying in that stream, or your biggest worry might be flesh-eating bacteria.

If clean and dry, could also be used to wipe goggles / glasses. This time of year there is never a dry spot on my shirt to accomplish that task, and I end up riding with obscured vision. I need to start carrying some sort of cloth for that purpose, and potentially other purposes as noted.

But don't you miss the ads ……

Nice! Were you able to "cook the books" to conceal your purchase?

I think the scariest part of this story is that you can get a traumatic brain injury falling from a seated biking position to the ground even with a helmet on (assume of course that he was wearing a helmet). People fall to the ground for any number of reasons, breaking handlebars probably being among the least frequent causes. The reality is that MTB is a sport that can cause you to fall to the ground, or worse off the side of a cliff, at almost anytime with potentially severe consequences. Fortunately most falls result in only superficial cuts and abrasions or non-threatening bumps to the helmet. Less frequently falls result in lacerations requiring treatment or broken bones (mostly clavicles and ribs) or joint injuries (mostly AC separations). And even less frequently falls result in traumatic injuries such as what is depicted here. Of those falls resulting in traumatic, life/limb threatening injuries, my guess is that going OTB or losing control while getting air is the prevailing cause, probably even exponentially more than failing carbon parts. I only say all of this to keep things in perspective, i.e. even if you run out and replace your carbon bars today, something else has a much more probable cause for killing or maiming you whilst riding your bike.

On the mobile interface, at least on my Android phone running Chrome, a warning pops up giving you a chance to cancel marking the thread as Read. How is that being invoked?

Remember you gave me a brand new pair a couple of years ago, and I did swear by them for a year or so. In fact they eliminated some of the arm issues I was having at the time. I even bought a pair of the GX1's that have a slightly smaller wing and used them on my new bike for a good while. As my riding evolved though, I found that the wing was getting in the way of getting the right grip for certain maneuvers and went back to using wide diameter, rounded grips. I'll probably try the Ergon GA3s next time I need new grips, since they have just a very slight wing on them. I still have the GS1 and GX1 grips as well though in case I decide to revert back to them.

Definitely something to consider. Also I've looked at the Revolution Grips but can't bring myself to spend $90 for them.