Chongo Loco

A friend that now lives in the Bay Area does canine SAR. They recently got access to E-bikes for training. Besides the speed / distance advantage they lug 30 lbs of radio, gear, food & water thru every kind of terrain in whatever conditions heat/cold/hills/chaparral that’s in front of them. Anything that conserves energy and keeps them out there longer is a huge plus for them.

Around where I grew up people typically used a cane knife for yard work. It’s light, thin, can be sharpened almost razor sharp, and have the hook to drag out what you cut. Not much heft so not a full swing implement of destruction like a machete. 😬

If you’re only experienced in trail work here I guess a machete makes less sense. Used to use a machete all the time when I did trail work in swampy areas and areas with a lot of undergrowth. Nothing better to clear out brush, briars, palmetto’s. Loppers aren’t useful on thick green leafy vegetation. Larger diameter woody stuff like cedar you can use it, but loppers are less work. I had a shorter machete that fit in a camelbak. It was thin and easy to sharpen, much easier to transport by bike than loppers. The longer thicker standard length one I have now cuts thicker stuff better but not as easy to sharpen or carry.

That has always puzzled me about Oskar Blues. I've been to the original restaurant in Lyons, CO dozens of times. He has a handful of other restaurants by different names/menus in nearby Longmont and Boulder. I think they expanded Oskar Blues to Denver and CO Springs. He's originally a restauranteur, why not tie that in to the breweries? I expected him to at least try a version of one of his restaurants like maybe the taco joint/bike shop combo Cyclehops in this area. That they stuck to the haphazard food trucks seemed out of character. Food/Beer/Music is his thing, why skip that when you expand?

Oskar Blues scale back probably has little to do with the Austin neighborhood brewery scene and more to do with their portfolio at large. They went gangbusters 7-8 years ago putting in large facilities outside of Lyons/Longmont CO in Austin & Brevard, NC and did a bunch of stuff like their ranch in the Brevard/Asheville area with farm to table plans plus bike facilities to tie in with the REEB bike brand. They closed up that ranch a while back, and seem to be shrinking their footprint in other business areas. Their need for a large distribution hub in this area has probably declined and they'll pull back to just Longmont, CO and Asheville, NC. Overall, I don't think their nationwide brand growth came close to what they expected, so they just don't need the 3rd production facility. A shame for this area because Dale's philanthropic outlets were great for kids in the area and the bike community. Did a few of the bike builds at the brewery, amazing how much money he gives back. I've been to the original Lyons location many times. They did amazing work for that community after a huge flood 5-6 years ago. Good company, just feeling the competition for nation wide beers.

Me too. Except mine has a green outer page instead of yellow. Ran across it a year or so ago.

Biggest con job ever pulled on the outdoor community. They lobbied every group from MTB to horse with save it for “us” to help get the bill passed, then fucked them all and padlocked the place and claimed it as their own.

A little earlier I think. Moved into the city in 99 and it was maybe 2 years after that at the most I think. We rode the hell out of it the last 6 mos. Fun sketchy night rides with our 10W halogens. 🙄

Bought my first spd’s with my first full suspension rig, proflex 856. Still got those Shimano 636’s with the red platforms. They’re freakin indestructible. They’re also pretty heavy so I switched to 747’s a year or so later. Been using the 636’s on my backup bike or SS since around ‘00. Easy to hop on it with any shoes for neighborhood runs.

A few of us came to camp & race at bluff creek / Warda around 95. A few months later came back with my wife to visit her family and rode BCGB and City Park and maybe the old rifle range by Reimer’s. Loved it all but dabbed tons. Second time ever riding city park was on a visit in 97 riding with a friend from home. we got caught in a storm midway thru a lap. It was the storm that had the tornado that wiped out 183/1431 in cedar park then hit Jarrell. We had no cellphones and no idea til we got back to our hotel. CP in the rain on a hardtail for 2 techie beginners was nutz!

I think the TVA may have done in the initial build at Raccoon as general hiking trails but the MTB club there has gotten bigger and more capable and added to it. Been years since I knew anyone local. There’s supposed to be some great stuff in town now. Can’t remember the name of the trails up by Ocoee I rode with them back in the 90’s. All the old litespeed bike names, unicoi was another.

I absolutely can’t stand the trend towards 3’ wide machine built trails. Berms in flat curves and random huge dirt piles are for BMX tracks to me. Singletrack that’s single or I think the term I heard is scratch and run trails are my favorites. Some of my favorite trails in not so much bigger elevation were in the SE. Tsali and several in Pisgah in WNC, Racoon Mtn in Chattanooga, Oak Mtn in Birmingham, Clear Springs in central MS, etc. Locally probably flat creek crossing was the best example of narrow and techie but not too much of the hairpin switching like brushy or BCGB. AJ and the crew on ninja rejecting people wanting to add berms and machine stuff, that’s why I ride there over WC and WC is 15 min by bike from my house. Now I love BCGB and brushy, but I’d ride flat creek over them if given the choice every time.

Also a good idea to push them out a bit further then clean pistons with alcohol and a qtip so they’re easier to push back in. I’ve had to push them out a 2nd time and reclean before they’d retract easily.

Hey…r&I isn’t burning man! 😳

The original bike with the rohloff he had was an old racer-x I think. Wasn’t it him with the chain of half links…freakin apocalypse setup!