schoolie

That place is awesome. I grew up in the midwest, and Ray's opened when I was in college. A few buddies and I made the 6 hour drive once or twice a year for five or six years straight. It was a great way to spend a weekend, and really helped me learn to jump, ride skinnies, and a lot of the little techy stuff that you don't often stop to practice on a normal trail ride. By the end of the weekend we could barely walk, and couldn't stop smiling :) There's a lot less market for something like that down here though, since we don't have to put up with 3 months of gray slush when it's tough to get out on trails.

FYI, the right brake lever is "sticky" which seems to be a problem with SRAM brakes of this vintage... They were fine when I took them off, but I guess sitting in a hot car one day was enough to cook it?

Funny how different people can be regarding temperature. I've been telling everyone the opposite :) I make a lot of heat, if it wasn't for wet feet from all the water crossings, yesterday's weather was just about perfect for a guy like me. I did the full three laps with just a light long sleeve shirt, fully unzipped jersey, and a pair of lycra shorts. Last year when the DS was in October, it was 85 and humid and it about killed me.

Sorry to hear that Jiri! I was hoping to see a full single speed run from you this year 😉

I rode at lunch today... Picnic was borderline, I bailed early on peddlers, still lots of puddles in turns. I hit a bit of the stuff up the hill west of double down and it was fine. I'd guess double down is g2g today based on that. Not sure about 1/4.

Bump... Price drop

GX 1x11 Shifter, Derailleur, Cassette, Chainring, Chain. SRAM DB5 Brakes. All components have 2-300 miles on them, and are in great condition. I just upgraded, so I'm selling the takeoffs. 10-42 Cassette, xD Driver only SRAM Direct Mount Chainring, or 94mm BCD Asking $180 for it all, willing to separate for the right deal.

I gotta ask, did you make your own switchbacks on Jester? If so, I love it that your gps picked it up 🙂

Sounds like you ought to listen to FJSnoozer then! I'm kinda in the same boat as you as far as risk/reward, at least on the rigid.

I ride down SB every time I go through, full rigid karate monkey w/o dropper, 29+ hardtail with dropper, whatever I'm riding. I usually just take it r e a l l y slow, slower than in the video above. I've never video'd for confirmation, but I'd be real surprised if both wheels are ever off the ground at the same time, and I'm not lifting the front wheel much if at all. Basically pure rolling the drop, with a TON of weight transfer to keep me from endoing. Get your butt way back and your belly button on the saddle and you'll be surprised at how steep/big of a drop you can roll down without incident. I take basket on picnic pretty much the same way. It doesn't look as cool as hucking it like the youtube guys, but I haven't broken myself yet either... Of course, Spongebob probably shouldn't be the first drop you try using that technique, start with some of the smaller ones out there and get comfortable with it first.