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South Austin Trail Network, The SATN


The Tip

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What a great time. The fantastic weather brought'em out for sure. We had 75 people which is probably a record for a Crank and Drank. It was an impressive sight to see everyone stopped at the light at Slaughter. I'm sure the cars were thinking wtf as we crossed. lol

I sure hope that the majority of those riders will volunteer to lead a few folks during The SATN Social. 

Edited by The Tip
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Some random musings after my fantastic ride yesterday. Fantastic as the tread was just about perfect and the weather was perfect.

-It would be worth a 20 mile drive just to do 45 Flow/South Bay/House Fire. That is grin on your face fun. And it's just getting better and better as it gets worked in.

-Finally decided while riding that rocky part of South Bay that it's easier just to power over the 6-10" rocks than trying to pick a line.

-Came up with a routing solution to prevent repeating trail when I want to do the loop of Firehouse out, 45 Flow/South Bay/House Fire back. (6.5 miles by the way. The same as the Valero Loop more or less. I thought that was interesting.) Anyway, there is a double track trail just south of Kiker Elementary that runs from Escarpment to south of the St Augustine University. I came out of DiscGo DiscGo, crossed Escarpment/LaCrosse, jumped on the dirt south of the pool, and went straight across to the start of Firehouse. 

-There is a tunnel under Mopac at the north end of House Fire. It is the same height as the bridge tunnel under LaCrosse that connects Phoenix East to Phoenix North and South. It will be just another option to access the Veloway trails.

-I think the SATN Social is going to be a hoot. There wasn't a lot of activity yesterday because I was riding during the start of the football game. But when the trails are loaded up it is going to be fun.

-I finally get why the downhill counterclockwise run in Bauerle is fun to folks. Someone has cleared a lot of the loose rock off of it so it's faster and not as hazardous to your bike.

-I passed two bikers, without earbuds, that didn't even acknowledge me when I said, "Hi, how's it going?" Not even a reciprocal "the nod." So creepy. So now even I hate mountain bikers! Just kidding, but judas priest, how hard is this concept?

 

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2 hours ago, The Tip said:

I passed two bikers, without earbuds, that didn't even acknowledge me when I said, "Hi, how's it going?" Not even a reciprocal "the nod." So creepy. So now even I hate mountain bikers! Just kidding, but judas priest, how hard is this concept?

 

I try to greet everyone I meet on the trails. It's easy, and it promotes a positive image for *us*.

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More musings:

-People are a lot LESS adventurous than I use to think they are. Whenever I see a trail that I haven't been on I immediately take off on it. But I've come to discover that the majority of people have to be cajoled and educated into taking a new-to-them trail. Strange to me.

-Slaughter Creek Trail is not my favorite part of the SATN. But I was enjoying it yesterday thinking, "hey, this is growing on me." But then I came to realize, and formulated a new saying to add my list of many personal sayings and mottos, "EVERY trail is fun in 60 degree weather." 

-The SATN Social is going to be lots of fun. I met some folks out yesterday following their GPX routes practicing. We talked a bit about strategies on what routes to do first etc. I did the south and north routes yesterday. All 58 miles will be able to be done by anyone that can maintain an 8 mph pace all day. That leaves 45 minutes for rest and refueling. A bonus to how the routes for  the ride bring you back to the start point two times during the 58 miles is that it is very easy to self support by stopping at your car.

Crank and Drank this week will be practicing the end of the north route and the beginning of the south route.

Also, we are looking for non riders to volunteer with helping out for The Social on the day of the event. 

 

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50 minutes ago, The Tip said:

-People are a lot LESS adventurous than I use to think they are. Whenever I see a trail that I haven't been on I immediately take off on it. But I've come to discover that the majority of people have to be cajoled and educated into taking a new-to-them trail. Strange to me.

 

Spent a bunch of time on suburban ninja (Brushy) yesterday doing this. I can understand why people are less adventurous. The work:payoff ratio can be low, especially when you have places to go and beer to consume. Early on a ride I am more adventurous but when you are already 15 miles in, the choice to hit something you've never seen before can fade. 

Also, if I am riding alone I am more inclined to try a new offshoot, but if I am dragging people along with me, that is more of a challenge.

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I love exploring. That's how I got into mtb in the first place.

About the SATN route:

Where exactly am I supposed to pass the carwash on Brodie?

Does the Latta Creek Greenbelt bypass Chunk Truck? I think I followed the route 99% on Saturday but missed the truck.

No Meridian? That might be for the best to have that volume of riders in there day-of, but was that intensional?

The diagonal bypass at 1826/Slaughter is nice. That intersection was terrifying.

I would like to see if the downhill leading to 1826 behind Gozycki MS is back open, or ever will be.

The culvert at the bottom of the hill leading to SCNP might still be a hazard. I keep putting large rocks in front of it to warn people of the rim-killer right there.

Edited by mack_turtle
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2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I love exploring. That's how I got into mtb in the first place.

About the SATN route:

Where exactly am I supposed to pass the carwash on Brodie?

The first time or second time? The first time you are on Boulder League and barely see it. The second time, when you come to the end of the berm, you turn towards Brodie and ride on their grass. The people vacuuming their cars are on your left and you are as close to the wooden fence on your right as you can be. This is by far the grayest area for the SATN Social. But nobody has looked at me twice yet on the several times that I have done this now.

Does the Latta Creek Greenbelt bypass Chunk Truck? I think I followed the route 99% on Saturday but missed the truck.

Yes. You will not see the blue truck. You will be on the wide gravel path that parallels it.

No Meridian? That might be for the best to have that volume of riders in there day-of, but was that intensional?

Yes, it was intentional to not visit the Meridian Bowl. That is such a special place, and even though we are allowed in there (NOT a gray area), it was best to not potentially strain that so far good relation we have with the HOA  by running a herd through.

The diagonal bypass at 1826/Slaughter is nice. That intersection was terrifying.

The new cut from the far west end of Slaughter around the water tank and up to 1826 creates a little longer way to get to Slaughter Creek Trail with a little bit more climb. It also makes a super fast run downhill past where the storage place's road (the more popular route to SCNP) comes out.

I would like to see if the downhill leading to 1826 behind Gozycki MS is back open, or ever will be.

No clue. Climbing is not my forte and that climb up to 1826 was stout.

The culvert at the bottom of the hill leading to SCNP might still be a hazard. I keep putting large rocks in front of it to warn people of the rim-killer right there.

It is a hazard and I worry about it too. I have also put limbs and brush in front of that to try to block it and force riders to go right of it. It would be very bad if someone was to be too far left coming down the hill at 25 mph. Maybe a ramp?

 

Edited by The Tip
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1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

Also, someone with heavy equipment cleared out the creek bed next to Reproductive Cycle. The bridges are gone but that area and the route to Poke Eye Man is much clearer now! Maybe that happened a while ago but I just noticed it this weekend.

Yes, I just saw  this for the first time yesterday. I was a bit disoriented because it looked so differently there. Flood control work I assumed. 

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9 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Does the Latta Creek Greenbelt bypass Chunk Truck? I think I followed the route 99% on Saturday but missed the truck.

I missed the truck last week when we did the N route too. There are just enough parallel trails in Latta for me to get confused even when my GPS is supposed to be giving me directions.

 

9 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

The culvert at the bottom of the hill leading to SCNP might still be a hazard. I keep putting large rocks in front of it to warn people of the rim-killer right there.

Is that the creek crossing just before the park? If so I've never seen a rim killer in there but maybe it was covered with brush 👍

Anyone want to do a pre-ride this weekend? 30-40 miles?

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The Rocky Trail/Chunk Truck is NOT on any route. It will NOT be seen during the SATN Social.

The dangerous culvert is right outside the gate that blocks the beat up asphalt road that we normally take when coming from Circle C going to Slaughter Creek Trail. The "bottom of the hill" he was referring to is about the hill down from the corner of Slaughter and 1826. By going further up Slaughter on the south route, you climb even further up the hill that the water tank sits on coming out further uphill on 1826. The storage place will be on your left as you go west on Slaughter until you turn left to climb a little bit more to 1826. You then zoom downhill at 20-25 mph as you pass the gate that we normally have to slowly wind around to get out to 1826. That culvert would be annoying and bad at 5 mph as you turn left from the gate to head downhill. But it will be really, really bad if it's hit going 20+ mph.

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8 minutes ago, The Tip said:

It will NOT be seen during the SATN Social.

I wouldn't be so sure. We've already established that I am bad at directions. Maybe it SHOULDNT be seen 🙂 if I see it I won't tell anyone.

Ah yeah didn't think of that coming from the new path higher up. Anyone who doesn't know that route might get caught up. Good call. Whatever group I'm leading I'll be sure to point that out.

2 minutes ago, The Tip said:

Meet at ATX 8 am Saturday and we'll ride the south and north routes. 43 miles.

I just read on the internet there is a ride at ATX Saturday 8am. The plan is to do S and N routes. I'll be there and can lead a group.

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No, the path is still there. A few people have veered off the path in that spot and plowed into that culvert instead of going around it. You have to stay right, closer to the street to avoid it. The culvert is nothing new. It's probably been there for years before more than a few people started using it as a mtb route.

It's not hard to avoid at all if you know it's coming. In fact, if you know it's there, you'd have to intensionally veer into it to hit it. The problem is that it's at the bottom of a hill that allows you to hit that spot going pretty fast, so if you don't know to dodge it as it is hidden in the weeds, you might not have time to avoid it when it becomes visible.

Edited by mack_turtle
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Before. Very narrow safe passage.72901443_2728258210526376_19981457453324

After. The trail into has been moved to the right as well as the trail being widened to allow you to stay further right.72207206_2728258247193039_49414919399973

Also a little more brush has been added in front of the hole. Folks will have to work to crash into now.

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