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The heat is on full-blast. Are you riding?


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With the exception of california, the taxes are not what you think. Speaking specifically to property taxes, the "affordability" of texas is a bit of an illusion. 

Stay out of the metros and you'll be fine. I'll take vast amounts of beautiful public land and mild weather any day. 

IMHO, Boise is one of the best kept secrets out there.

 

 

 

Edited by ATXZJ
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15 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

 

IMHO, Boise is one of the best kept secrets out there.

 

 

I strongly contemplated a move out there about 5 yrs ago.  Revisited it recently since I'm currently unemployed.  Boise is (also) no longer a secret.

-CJB

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Yeah man, slc was the same way when I lived there from 05-12. On a Sunday I could probably change a flat tire in the middle of the highway on the city loop. There were just no cars on the road. During workweeks I could go 20 miles from my house to my work in 19 minutes. Not any more.  

Boise was cool as hell to visit though. Watched a gravel stage rally in the mountains above there. 

 

Edited by ATXZJ
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2 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

 Speaking specifically to property taxes, the "affordability" of texas is a bit of an illusion. 

I much prefer property and sales tax to state income tax. With property tax a person can choose to live in a $10M house on Lake Austin and pay a ton in taxes or choose to live in a $20K trailer in Killeen and pay a pittance or anything in between. Same goes for sales tax. You can buy that $100K Escalade and pay more in sales tax or you can buy that $15K Kia and pay less. A state income tax removes that choice and most states with an income tax still have property and sales taxes albeit they are less than what they are in Texas in general.

Did a quick google and I'm actually surprised that Oregon and especially Washington are actually similar to Texas in overall tax burden. All three are in the middle of the pack of US states. I expected the PacNW to be on the high side.

But we are digressing from the intent of this post. I'm heading out to Brushy this afternoon and hitting 1/4 Notch for the second time since I busted my collar bone. It's a beautiful day and I'll be wearing my Camelbak Skyline for hydration. I highly recommend it as it sits lower in the lumber region and is super comfortable with a 2L bladder.

Edited by quixoft
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I used the Osprey Seral 4 hydration hip pack for the first time last night. so far, it's great! my only complaint is that the hose attaches to the pack when not in use by a magnet, and the magnet is difficult to attach while riding (not a design flaw, just expected) not that strong. so if you try to drink while riding a rocky trail, you have to get really good at finding that magnet again, or just let it dangle and bounce of your thighs. (insert junior high schooler joke here.)

I will try this solution: retractable badge holder lanyard. I have one of these to clip at my waist and wrap the little strap around the hose. when I am done drinking, I can just let go and it will snap back in pace without any fuss. I've used this same method (borrowed it from some bikepacking article, here's an example) when using a hydration bladder in a frame bag to good effect.

466032105_ScreenShot2021-05-06at9_30_57AM.png.8663d49bc072891be17300c86fc46f92.png

Not exactly ground-breaking stuff here, but I thought this solution might help some of you who what drink hoses just flopping around and want them to stop.

Edited by mack_turtle
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32 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

I used the Osprey Seral 4 hydration hip pack for the first time last night. so far, it's great! my only complaint is that the hose attaches to the pack when not in use by a magnet, and the magnet is difficult to attach while riding (not a design flaw, just expected) not that strong. so if you try to drink while riding a rocky trail, you have to get really good at finding that magnet again, or just let it dangle and bounce of your thighs. (insert junior high schooler joke here.)

I will try this solution: retractable badge holder lanyard. I have one of these to clip at my waist and wrap the little strap around the hose. when I am done drinking, I can just let go and it will snap back in pace without any fuss. I've used this same method (borrowed it from some bikepacking article) when using a hydration bladder in a frame bag to good effect.

 

That is a brilliant solution. The magnet thing has always bothered me.

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19 hours ago, quixoft said:

Did a quick google and I'm actually surprised that Oregon and especially Washington are actually similar to Texas in overall tax burden. All three are in the middle of the pack of US states. I expected the PacNW to be on the high side.

I moved from WA State ~4 years ago. Can confirm. No Income tax, same base state sales tax (8.5ish%). However, depending on where you live in both places... County/City sales tax was over 10% pushing 12% in the bougie areas. Property tax was nearly half but home values (used to be ~2X so it was nearly on par for Texas. Comparing utilities with Austin proper friends I am happy to be in the suburbs paying far less for Water, Garbage and Electricity. That being said, when we moved, gas, groceries were noticeable cheaper. I used to joke that I could pump gas into my car while looking at the BP Cherry Point Refinery and was paying nearly the highest gas price in the state/country. 

Austin is well below nat'l average for gas. Seattle area is always well above. 

image.png.95ffc9248137654a8fece46c5946e57e.png

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2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I used the Osprey Seral 4 hydration hip pack for the first time last night. so far, it's great! my only complaint is that the hose attaches to the pack when not in use by a magnet, and the magnet is difficult to attach while riding (not a design flaw, just expected) not that strong. so if you try to drink while riding a rocky trail, you have to get really good at finding that magnet again, or just let it dangle and bounce of your thighs. (insert junior high schooler joke here.)

I will try this solution: retractable badge holder lanyard. I have one of these to clip at my waist and wrap the little strap around the hose. when I am done drinking, I can just let go and it will snap back in pace without any fuss. I've used this same method (borrowed it from some bikepacking article, here's an example) when using a hydration bladder in a frame bag to good effect.

466032105_ScreenShot2021-05-06at9_30_57AM.png.8663d49bc072891be17300c86fc46f92.png

Not exactly ground-breaking stuff here, but I thought this solution might help some of you who what drink hoses just flopping around and want them to stop.

They also have a little blue pill that you can take if you have a floppy hose.

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1 hour ago, RedRider3141 said:

I moved from WA State ~4 years ago. Can confirm. No Income tax, same base state sales tax (8.5ish%). However, depending on where you live in both places... County/City sales tax was over 10% pushing 12% in the bougie areas. Property tax was nearly half but home values (used to be ~2X so it was nearly on par for Texas. Comparing utilities with Austin proper friends I am happy to be in the suburbs paying far less for Water, Garbage and Electricity. That being said, when we moved, gas, groceries were noticeable cheaper. I used to joke that I could pump gas into my car while looking at the BP Cherry Point Refinery and was paying nearly the highest gas price in the state/country. 

Austin is well below nat'l average for gas. Seattle area is always well above. 

image.png.95ffc9248137654a8fece46c5946e57e.png

Well, just south of you in Oregon you would not be able to make that statement because you can't pump your own gas there. I think NJ is the other holdout on self-service pumps.

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I used the Osprey Seral 4 hydration hip pack for the first time last night. so far, it's great! my only complaint is that the hose attaches to the pack when not in use by a magnet, and the magnet is difficult to attach while riding (not a design flaw, just expected) not that strong. so if you try to drink while riding a rocky trail, you have to get really good at finding that magnet again, or just let it dangle and bounce of your thighs. (insert junior high schooler joke here.)
I will try this solution: retractable badge holder lanyard. I have one of these to clip at my waist and wrap the little strap around the hose. when I am done drinking, I can just let go and it will snap back in pace without any fuss. I've used this same method (borrowed it from some bikepacking article, here's an example) when using a hydration bladder in a frame bag to good effect.
466032105_ScreenShot2021-05-06at9_30_57AM.png.8663d49bc072891be17300c86fc46f92.png
Not exactly ground-breaking stuff here, but I thought this solution might help some of you who what drink hoses just flopping around and want them to stop.
Do you have one of these? I bought a bunch years ago and they go on the bladder tube
Works much better than the magnet on the bite valve 3644017b977cfab7ba9b5e7534757aa7.jpg

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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9 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

Do you have one of these? I bought a bunch years ago and they go on the bladder tube

Yeah, I used one on my gravel bike previously and it worked well to attach the hose to my handlebar. I'll use the same method on my hip pack next time.

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You’d be amazed at what you can be used to, move and find it incredibly unbearable when you return. My college summer job was on a cable tv line crew. 10+ hours climbing poles, drilling to hang hardware and the steel wire, then reversing course to lash the cable line to the steel guide. This in 90-100 temps and 95% humidity in S La. along roads and fields under power lines there is no shade. Just to make it more miserable it would rain pretty much every afternoon for 15 min so you’d get a nice steam coming off the asphalt for an hour plus. Still that was better than when you had to slug it thru sugar cane fields or swampy sections you can’t get equipment into. Dragging 3-400 lbs of steel wire pole to pole then having to climb the pole with spurs, which meant knee high leather climbing boots, long sleeves, leather gloves and heavy assed tool belt. Best incentive to finish college ever invented, but covered 2 semesters room and board and then some. Now I just hate it and avoid going there in July and August unless there’s some sort of family must attend thing. Austin ain’t humid but it is hot as fuck and there is no tree canopy.


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You can always go for a ride in the morning when it's "cooler" and then deal with the humidity. When speeds slow way down for the usual switchback ledge rockbike riding, things get miserable. Quick.

On a gravel bike it's not bad. 

 

Screenshot_20210508-081118-158.png

Edited by ATXZJ
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Rode with the new EVOC lumbar pack twice now. Can't say I have been immediately won over. It's either on loose enough to bounce around on rough stuff or its on so tight I have gut squeezing out above and below the belt. Used up all the water in the bladder and then I was annoyed because I couldn't figure out how to 1 hand the bottle back into the sleeve. Hopefully that's just a skill to develop. I'll keep using it for shorter rides this summer. Maybe unlock some secrets with experience.

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12 minutes ago, taco_junkie said:

I was annoyed because I couldn't figure out how to 1 hand the bottle back into the sleeve.

On the Dakine Hotlaps 2L the mesh bottle holder is floppy but surprisingly easy to one-hand the bottle in or out after some initial getting used to it. It has a secondary retention but I stopped using it because it requires two hands and I kept forgetting. Never dropped a bottle (22oz or 26oz).

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Yeah maybe once it breaks in and get's used to holding a bottle it will be easier to slip in on the go. I almost ate shit riding one handed through a rock garden trying to put it in once.

Also most of the bouncy feeling was when the bladder was full. Not so much with the bottle. More testing needed.

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Didn't ride Sat or Sun because it just felt too damn muggy. Got out today though around 1pm and had a great 90 min ride at Brushy between meetings. It was still a bit muggy and I was pretty soaked after my ride, but the cool air more than made up for it. Drank 16oz of water before heading out, and carried a single bottle in the cage.  

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