Chongo Loco

Ha! Yeah that’s the one. Besides the oyster kill it wreaked havoc on the fishing and shrimp in and around the end of Lake Pontchartrain and all along MS and AL coasts. My old roomie in Gulfport told me about a huge algae bloom this summer that caused a big fish kill which resulted in a bunch of porpoise being killed. All the fresh water plus the extended period of high water temps this year destroyed that ecosystem. Never made the national news but there they had a lot of talk of claims against the govt for the impact. First year they opened that spillway twice, first time it was ever opened on consecutive years and most days ever opened. If they had opened the other spillway near where I grew up it would have been worse. It empties west of the Mississippi at Morgan City. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I wouldn’t use leaves either! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wells branch behind my house went from 2-4” by 2’ wide to 6’ by 20 yds wide after that rain. It all ends up in Walnut Creek. It was back to only 1’ deep by daylight. That’s a lot of water and that’s after it perks thru detention ponds in my ‘hood. A lot of the older upstream neighborhoods along walnut just have storm drains that don’t slow the flow rate. That creek can rage. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No elevation, but fun twisty stuff at NOMAMBO’s trail in the Bonne Carre’ spillway in Norco. Unfortunately it’s currently closed due to rain. If you ever need a hookup been knowing those guys for 20+ years. Poke your head into East Bank Cyclery on Vets and say hello to Eric. He’s the head honcho. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

https://images.app.goo.gl/XEER3iuSEcMBc2Ka8 Cipo...super Mario says that’s so last decade Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Before they built the neighborhood there used to be flocks of turkey and some nice bucks out there. Friend that lives in tonkawa Springs used to have a nice loop there. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Way jealous! I originally bought a case for a trip a dozen years ago for a friends wedding in Burlington so I could ride the Kingdom Trails. Unfortunately it rained for over a week before we arrived so they closed the trails the whole time I had to ride out of town. Rode their sister trail system in Barre called Millstone Trails, which is basically on a series of reforested granite quarries, so weather proof. And rode a couple closer to Burlington in the Stowe/Waterbury area. Still want to go back! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

American also does the price of an extra bag for under 50 lbs. When I went to Seattle in July my Hightower in an XL EVOC with chain and pedals in suitcase was 52 and the fuckers wouldn’t let me slide even though my suitcase was only 40. Had to cough up the $100. So on the way back I stuffed everything including my carry on stuff in it. I’ve done shipping vs flying and it just depends on where you are. If you can’t get to the place you shipped to same day as you land you can lose a ride day. And you may have to plan that last day around cleaning, packing up and getting to the shipping point before it closes. That logistics PITA has made me usually fly the bike. Done renting too on trips with less than 3 ride days. You really have to do some leg work on finding decent bikes in some places you’d expect easy access to quality bikes. $100+ a day is about the norm, so 3 days riding is my cutoff for bringing my own usually. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, flip them around. You want the brightest lights where your eyes are pointed. Your bars aren’t always pointed in the direction you want to aim the bike. Your eyes will be. By micro adjustments I’d assume you mean moving the bars left/right which will shine the light away from the ledge. Your eyes will still be focused first on the ledge then on the runout. Old MTB mantra, where your eyes go your ass follows. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I guess I need to charge my lights since it’s not getting any cooler after work lately. I’ve ridden only Niterider lights since I got my first 15w halogen in the late 90’s. I’m up to a 1400 lumen LED but I rarely use high and mainly l upgraded because I can easily get 3-4 hours out of it on a single charge. Every Niterider helmet light I’ve had since the early 2000’s has a limp mode. They don’t just go dark. When it drops to dim you’ve got at least 15-20 min to get out before it dies. I have several all in one Lumina lites of various lumens I used for commuting over the years and run one on medium when I ride stuff like brushy to add some shadows to pickup rocks. I learned this setup tip early on so I got comfortable with less light and reduced peripheral vision. Put helmet on, walk up to your car/a tree and mark a spot at the height of your eyes. Backup 2-3 bike lengths and fix your eyes on that spot while adjusting beam center to hit that spot. I.e. the peak of the beam falls where your gaze tends to fall on the trail. Set your bar light to fall between bike and headlight beam to create shadows for better depth perception to pickup obstacles. I find when lights are super bright it tends to wash out the white limestone and I’m hitting more stuff. I also ride with yellow lens cheapo shooting glasses to up the contrast. I love all the cool stuff you see at night and there’s no dogs to dodge at walnut. But watch out for the killer bunnies! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those are some monstrous brake levers! Repack run time! Put on some jeans, hiking boots, and a flannel shirt, roll a fatty, and point it downhill!

I was reading a bunch of posts on SC owners' Farcebook page about reserves recently. There's always a bunch of knuckle draggers that break everything and piss and moan about speed of warranty claims, but the general consensus was they stand up to the warranty without question on the reserves, and most were riding within a week. This was even on overseas posts. Pretty impressive. Just can't justify the expense on the wheels yet. I eventually break frames not wheels. 😞 I found on frames it's the shop not SC that makes the difference. BSS did great on mine.

The hardest thing to find is where it continues at each park. BUT you can just drive to each and poke around. Some of the gate attendants know the trailheads but not all. On trail the one confusing spot to me is on the south shore. there’s a Y access trail that meets the main on each side of Cedar Hollow primitive camping area. Going west you’ll see the access trail heading to the left but if you look straight ahead about 50 yds you see the sign for cedar hollow on the main trail. so easy to figure out where you are. The access trail rejoins the main trail a few hundred yds ahead. It’s a loose steep trail to a dead end road up top with no water so only useful as a bailout. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That the downhill right hander right at TC? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Correct. Got to be a PITA having to pull out a wrench to load my bike twice every ride so swapped it for a QR axle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here’s the thread pitch info. Don’t know if you can look up your fork. Have it with me today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Chuckles, I have a non-QR one for a RS Pike gathering dust. If the threads will work ping me and I'll try to bring it to the R&I.

I leave my tires inflated as is so the rims don't possibly take a hit. Flown bikes 6-8 times and never had them burp sealant. Edit: So as we're changing planes on the way back my kid looks out the window and says wow you should see the way that guy just thru your bike. 😕 EVOC bags the wheels protect the frame. So I'd leave them inflated fully just to keep wheel from wacking frame and a rim from getting dinged.

No Pics? I was blown away when a group of us went to the Durango World Cup way back in 00/01. The jumps were insane back then. Can't imagine how much bigger they are now. Rode the XC stuff out in Snowshoe in the late 90's. That was some knarly slate and had this big ass plunge at the bottom.

"...you can only carry an EMPTY compressed gas cylinder onboard a plane. To be permitted (in either carry-on or checked baggage), it must be clearly visible to the TSA officer that the cylinder is empty." Got told by the TSA guy I could take them if I emptied them first. 😞 He was unaffected by me telling him WTF good are they empty. It was an experiment so no biggie. Grabbed a 5 pack from Walmart which I left at the trailhead for good bike karma before returning. There's a dozen + REI's nearby open later than bike shops, so I grabbed a small bottle of lube and chamois butter packets (FU TSA under 3 oz's) easily too.

I had read a pro tip from an actual pro that they won't take CO2's from your carry on (pressurized cabin) so tried w/2 without the inflator. WRONG! Forgot I had suncreen & chamois butter in the side pocket of my pack...gone. freakin' chamois butter isn't cheap!

Borrowed an EVOC for my trip. Much easier than my old Thule box. It took a bit of extra time initially but less than an hour. My bikes kinda long even for the XL bag so I unbolted my rear der and ziptied it to the chainstay. Der was pressing up against the bag and I didn't want my hanger bent. Didn't have a rotor issue, but not a bad idea if you have the time. I always carry full size tools to tear down re-assemble. Too easy to screw up a bolt with pocket tools and you may not have time to go to a shop when packing to return if you do have issues. Pack extra zipties, painters tape, etc. to keep stuff from rattling around. If you have any fear of scratching your frame, cheapo pipe insulation from Home Depot works great. Do NOT leave CO2 cartridges or chain lube in the bike bag. TSA guys are trained to look for them and will pull everything out to get to them. The Austin guy specifically asked if I had either when I brought it to the oversize luggage checkin. The trails there are pretty rain proof, so definitely bring rain gear and extra riding gear with the assumption your stuff will get wet. Super humid, so things don't dry out so quick when hung up. It was showering and fairly overcast 2 days of my trip and my camelbak & shoes were a bit damp the next day.

There was a grom camp going the day I was at Duthie. There were a bunch of 9-10 y.o. On $5k+ bikes killing it! Another friend was raving about Tiger Mountain. His comment was it fun once you make it to the top, but it’s a hoof up the fire road to the top. Next trip! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So if I get the founders’ concept it’s because the person on the other end of the phone may not be able see your GPS location direct from your phone. I wouldn’t expect that in a remote mountain S&R team or if they’re in the field. So you would have to tell them. If you’re giving that long string of Longitude/latitude numbers for a precise GPS location and you transpose a number or they write it down wrong or punch it into their handheld wrong you could be off by a county or more. You’re talking lost, hurt, panicked people relaying precise digits. 3 unique words is a lot harder to screw up on both ends. I do like the text your location feature. Need to get my kid to actually use it. The Life360 iPhone lowjack app has a ton of drift. Hard to tell which location she exits school at times and she can’t get a phone signal in that concrete prison of a building. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I know they’ve had Enduro events at Iron Mtn but didn’t know they did one on LOViT. Yeah, it’s got great views, good flow and there’s a volunteer group that keeps it up pretty well. Womble and ouachita trails seem to go months before anyone tries to clear downed trees. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk