throet

How about meeting over by mulligan around 8? We can just work our way over there.

I have a 125mm on one bike and a 100mm on another bike and have always wondered why so many people want 150mm or 170mm. On my 125mm even if I drop it all the way down, my bad knees can barely get me back up.

I noticed that the Camp Eagle Classic is this weekend. Anybody going? Is it always scheduled this early in the year? Suspect it will be mighty hot out there.

I should be in. Just need to make sure I can get one of my bikes back.

I might try to make it but I'll be on foot since my bikes are in the shop.

The missing part of the state may as well be Oklahoma anyway.

I'll PM you

Sounds like we're in the same hood. What time of day are you riding over there? I usually ride Brushy 4 times per week, mostly Deception.

No doubt!

I see that now, and the cockpit is massive, both seated and standing. Would be interesting to get a leg over one. Maybe Medium is the new Large. Both of my local bikes are out of commission right now, and I've been salivating over all the new models being introduced. With 2 mid-travel FS 29ers and a traditional XC 29er HT already in the stable, I think anything new for me would come in the form of an aggressive 650B HT, something like the Transition Throttle that would be fun on the trail or as a dirt jumper.

That sucks! Has only happened to me once. My backup bike has a mechanical dropper; so even when it fails you can get it back in either the middle or high position by hand. Wish they all worked that way.

I was just checking out Bike Radar's Top 5 Enduro / Trail bikes for 2019, and not surprisingly there wasn't a single bike in there that I would consider a traditional mid-travel trail bike. That said, the new Mondraker Foxy Carbon 29 is one of the finest looking bikes I've ever laid my eyes on. When I went to their website to check out the specs, I found that they have their bikes listed as DH, Super Enduro, Enduro/AM, Trail, and XC. Seems that previously Trail and AM were becoming one classification, but now we're essentially seeing 2 separate enduro bike classifications, at least from one manufacturer. Pretty crazy, but perhaps a sign of how popular Enduro and Park riding are becoming. As much as I'd love to add a 150/160 bike to my stable, I just can't see it given the type of riding I do. For me 130mm travel still seems to be the sweet spot.

@MrTheCatLady You really came off the edge nicely and even seemed to land clean, possibly still a little too upright upon landing which brought your weight forward coming over that second little ledge. Anyway, this is why I like to come over with less speed and a controlled front wheel lift, landing well ahead of that second little drop.

Not a great pic but here it is. You go down it riding E-W and up it riding W-E. I like to use a mini-manual coming down it and really don't have to worry about line choice. You can certainly huck off of it too but I prefer not to carry that much speed coming off of it, as the landing could get sketchy (this was demonstrated very nicely by the OP here in a video posted on the old forum - the artist formerly known as Clysmith).

Couldn't agree more. I can't imagine trying to manual a bike with the seat at an optimal peddling height. Suppose it depends on what riding style you prefer, but I prefer fun and flicky.

Or perhaps the rocker-recliner? Do manuals in an instant without even trying!

Would you say that otherwise you were a well conditioned endurance athlete at the time? I'm only asking because there are other things that can wipe you out during an event like that, including inability to handle high volumes of waste (lactic acid) from too much anaerobic output over an extended period. In other words, if you're huffing and puffing to recover from every considerable climb, then you are probably doomed to feeling like shit regardless of the nutrition / hydration level. This stuff scares me a bit because for an untrained person like me and especially at my advanced age, it seems easy to get yourself into trouble by getting shit out of balance. I know others are stating that a big part of it is just being willing to do whatever it takes to finish, but I can say with certainty that if I start feeling like shit at 1.5 laps at DS, I'm done. I don't need to be that guy you see staggering across the finish line with muscles seizing up and eyes rolling back.

I've ridden CP, RPR, Brushy, PB, and FCC plenty of times without a dropper, but why would you want to if you don't have to? If your only reason is truly to drop weight from what is already an ultra-light bike, then that is really not a good reason, IMHO.

Barry do you generally follow the Hammer guidelines as well? I've been trying to figure all of this stuff out on my own, but they sort of spell out for you through their various published guidelines.

I've been trying to understand this stuff myself and it is mind boggling. Clearly fat is a key source of energy, either directly by breaking it down and generating ATP molecules (lipolysis) or by converting it to glucose/glycogen (gluconeogenesis) when needed. Theoretically the latter will take place only when glucose levels are low and glycogen stores are depleted. I have read, as you imply, that fat will be used directly for energy under sustained, less strenuous activities (<=65% of aerobic capacity). In an endurance event the requires a good bit of anaerobic output combined with periods of high-intensity aerobic output though I would think you have to maintain enough glucose / glycogen to fuel your muscles throughout. I'm sure some fat is getting burned as well across these events, but I just don't know how or when it comes into play. Training is critical not only to improve athletic ability but also to improve energy efficiency, i.e. stronger muscles can store more glycogen and keeping your anaerobic-to-aerobic ratio lower means muscles consume less energy to perform the same amount of work. Even then, glycogen will eventually be depleted if you're not consuming glucose in some form throughout the event. That's my take anyway, based on what I've read. Hopefully the experts who've excelled in these events will chime in with their real-world knowledge. I'm going to do 2 laps at DS which will likely take me between 7-8 hours to complete. I need to figure out whether to periodically munch on trail mix and honey stingers, possibly with a light meal at the turn, or just power my way through with gels, blocks, powders, and other crap specially formulated for these types of events.

Let me know if there's going to be more work scheduled out there. Happy to help if I can but I didn't see the post for this morning's work until it was too late. I'm signed up for 2 laps at DS, and for me that will be a significant achievement. Last time I rode out there I felt like I had something left in the tank after a single lap, but not enough to have finished a complete second lap. I'm compiling some of the tips that were posted last year and again this year, but mostly I'm just trying to drop a few pounds and get as strong as I possibly can ahead of the race, which falls shortly after my 60th birthday. I'm going to start practice laps out there Labor Day weekend, either at the scheduled pre-ride on Monday or possibly on Sat or Sun. I might even do a lap Sat and then another one on Mon. The forecast is for low humidity that weekend, for whatever that's worth.

Yeah thought about that afterwards. For you youngsters, you can find the history of the NFL on Wikipedia to understand the role that the AFL played.

I've been jumping back over occasionally to see if there's anything in play, and it looks like as of this morning the bots are back in action. There still appears to be quite a contingent of folks over there resisting the movement. Hard to tell if it's for sentimental reasons or just the idea of maintaining a historical archive or perhaps even just resistance to change. Personally I like change when it is for the better, and this is definitely better, so far. For those committed to the change, my question is, should we: 1) Make a compelling case for the holdouts to join us over here? 2) Establish solidarity in resisting any effort from the holdouts to lure us back? 3) Just let it be and become the AFL of Austin MTB Forums?

I don't ever actually "change" mine. Just top off with 2-3 ounces every 4 months or so. With new tires I start out with about 4oz per tire. This method has worked for me, but others may have varying opinions on the topic.