Rank in difficulty austin area trails/segments

[skinned elbows]

even tho it's Christmas I'm calling bs on this one. There is no way in hell. Nut is pg13, Jorge is xxx.

Haha...well maybe little exaggeration

Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

[ATXZJ]

5 hours ago, natas1321 said:

I would be happy to get a lap under an hour at city park
 

Don't know which is more depressing to me. Guys in their 50s pulling a lap at CP in under an hour or actually having to "ride" CP.

 

Hard pass on both

Edited December 25, 2020 by ATXZJ

[AustinBike]

16 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Don't know which is more depressing to me. Guys in their 50s pulling a lap at CP in under an hour or actually having to "ride" CP.

 

Hard pass on both

Most of my sub-hour runs were ~2015 vintage so I was probably on the border between 40 and 50.

https://www.strava.com/activities/786276063

That one was 52 minutes, I think it was my best. Gave up on trying to beat those numbers, the problem with trying to do the sub-hour CP is that you are really hammering constantly. It takes the fun out of it. Now that I have a few under my belt I am more likely to do a 1:15-1:30 and enjoy myself, maybe session a few things, maybe stop and take a break. #OldManProblems 

[AustinBike]

Also, the more I think about it, speed around CP is not necessarily the biggest indicator of a challenge. In cool weather, back in my prime, I could do 3 laps at a time. Of course those would be 1 hour+ laps, more like 4 hours for the whole thing. THAT is a bigger challenge in my mind.

There was a year, a long time ago, where it rained every goddamn week. I think it was an El Nino year (Spanish for "the Nino.") In the old mojo days, Bear, TrailSurfer and a few others of us had a standing CP Sunday ride that was probably almost every week because of the rain. Once we even rode in the rain because it started the first mile in and we really wanted to ride - you could do it back in those days. Typically there were two laps so we probably did 50-100 CP laps that year alone. 

Oh, and another great endurance challenge is ride to the ride. From my house in Central Austin I would ride to CP, do a lap and come home. That got me a good ~20 miles and tons of climbing.

I really miss that place but with all of the solo riding I have to do in these covid days, the wife is not happy about me going out there.

[throet]

17 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Don't know which is more depressing to me. Guys in their 50s pulling a lap at CP in under an hour or actually having to "ride" CP.

 

Hard pass on both

Haha five years ago when I was in really good shape at 57, I clocked 2 laps in under an hour each. Haven't been riding out there much though since they changed trail direction to clockwise. Definitely prefer CCW. 

[AustinBike]

59 minutes ago, throet said:

Haha five years ago when I was in really good shape at 57, I clocked 2 laps in under an hour each. Haven't been riding out there much though since they changed trail direction to clockwise. Definitely prefer CCW. 

Two sub hour laps is really good, regardless of your age.

[ATXZJ]

4 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Most of my sub-hour runs were ~2015 vintage so I was probably on the border between 40 and 50.

https://www.strava.com/activities/786276063

That one was 52 minutes, I think it was my best. Gave up on trying to beat those numbers, the problem with trying to do the sub-hour CP is that you are really hammering constantly. It takes the fun out of it. Now that I have a few under my belt I am more likely to do a 1:15-1:30 and enjoy myself, maybe session a few things, maybe stop and take a break. #OldManProblems 

 

3 hours ago, throet said:

Haha five years ago when I was in really good shape at 57, I clocked 2 laps in under an hour each. Haven't been riding out there much though since they changed trail direction to clockwise. Definitely prefer CCW. 

 

 

Being humbled by being outpaced by riders a decade or two leaves a mark for sure. Had a 70+ y/o hiker pass me on a fire road in NM when i first started.........brutal.

Probably three years or so since @Chiefand my wife and I hit CP so who knows what direction we did or how hard it was then vs now. Seemed like a lot of it was unrideable and was totally blown out by the trials motos. Wife wanted nothing to do with emma after that. Would be open to revisiting but it's way, way, way down on the list.   

 

 

On 12/24/2020 at 6:26 PM, skinned elbows said:

Agreed...not sure what way would be best way to break down, really need different categories but that gets difficult

 

Sometimes this is just about impossible to qualify/quantify. 

What's difficult to some, is cake to others. Wife gets lost in the whole trail difficulty designations all the time. She convinced herself that black diamonds are too hard and she wants to only ride blues. We've been on some blues in AZ that were clearly blacks and some blacks that were somewhere between green/blue. Erosion and maintenance also has a lot to do with this too. In the end, I just stopped telling her what they were. I really like where builders are currently going with signage. If i see mandatory gaps/drops I know that we aren't going on it. If it's black just "because" i have no issue dragging my wife on it. It's just so subjective to the capabilities of the end user. I can run a double black that has steeps/tech/drops, but i'll end up in an ambulance on double black jump lines. 

With the exception of cat, (which is not open access) most of the stuff here is the same. Cat really pushes not only skillset/bravery but also fitness for the climb back up. I'd put that at the top of my list of local white whales.  

 

[bear]

4 hours ago, AustinBike said:

... and a few others of us had a standing CP Sunday ride that was probably almost every week because of the rain....

"ah, those were the days"

Brutal with all the wet, but taught me how much you only really needed to watch out for the black clay.

well, that and so many dang morning rides with Daisy out at CP. I think one year I went insane and did over 200 morning laps.

someone should dig up an old finisher list from one of the CP-TT events ... I remember there being a few - just a few - 30 minute laps recorded. Nuts.

 

[throet]

3 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Two sub hour laps is really good, regardless of your age.

If I remember right, I was chasing a youthful Seth Buckgnar that day! Not likely something I'll ever repeat, and like you said, sometimes trying to go fast just takes the fun out of it! 

[AustinBike]

4 hours ago, bear said:

"ah, those were the days"

Brutal with all the wet, but taught me how much you only really needed to watch out for the black clay.

well, that and so many dang morning rides with Daisy out at CP. I think one year I went insane and did over 200 morning laps.

someone should dig up an old finisher list from one of the CP-TT events ... I remember there being a few - just a few - 30 minute laps recorded. Nuts.

 

Miss riding with you sir.

[bear]

32 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

Miss riding with you sir.

Likewise. 

With some luck we'll be able to close that gap a little in '21, let's see what happens.

At some point i'll need another "get the f**k out of dodge" weekend like I pulled in November, if nothing else.

[AntonioGG]

10 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I think it was an El Nino year (Spanish for "the Nino.")

Props for the Chris Farley reference.  Miss that guy.

10 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Oh, and another great endurance challenge is ride to the ride. From my house in Central Austin I would ride to CP, do a lap and come home. That got me a good ~20 miles and tons of climbing.

I used to do that.  The volume and speed and entitlement of the drivers on that road have gotten worse though.  I only ever ride that road if I'm on the EB or the TdH.  Well, I've done it a couple of times since, but it's no fun.  Also, one of the last times I rode to CP from home, my rear hub exploded, no drive.  I had to phone a friend to come pick me up.

[Bart]

I remember riding from East Austin down and around those trails to 360, climb up to CP for the Wednesday 1 lap bike race that Willy Ross used to put on, then back home right before dark. Real ass kicker

[AustinBike]

Yep, all of this proves my point. Difficulty is what you make it. If you want more challenges start doing things differently.

[bear]

12 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Props for the Chris Farley reference.  Miss that guy.

I used to do that.  The volume and speed and entitlement of the drivers on that road have gotten worse though.  I only ever ride that road if I'm on the EB or the TdH.  Well, I've done it a couple of times since, but it's no fun.  Also, one of the last times I rode to CP from home, my rear hub exploded, no drive.  I had to phone a friend to come pick me up.

I can only imagine how Suck the traffic has become in A-town since we left ... I really wouldn't mind finding some scenic road paths around Raleigh, for my Issac, but for now at least there's a lot of paved greenway that can be linked up. Not as good as singletrack but a great alternative if the trails are closed, even "those" trails.

[TAF]

2 hours ago, bear said:

I can only imagine how Suck the traffic has become in A-town since we left 

It's been pretty awesome this past year! You can get anywhere in town in ten minutes or so.

[Yosmithy]

2 sub hour laps...SMH....I was always happy with sub day laps.

haven't had a date with Emma for quite a few years now. I probably have no business out there anyway.

[TheX]

49 minutes ago, Yosmithy said:

2 sub hour laps...SMH....I was always happy with sub day laps.

haven't had a date with Emma for quite a few years now. I probably have no business out there anyway.

The last time I was there, the bike had a motor...of the gas variety.

[Yosmithy]

2 minutes ago, TheX said:

The last time I was there, the bike had a motor...of the gas variety.

Definitely a cool place on a trials bike.

I will say this about riding CP. I always had a goal set when I started. Which is not typical for me, because I pride myself on not having goals.

I would get certain features in my head that I convinced myself I would attempt on that particular ride. All I would think about the entire ride was that specific feature, and not really pay attention to what I was riding. By the time I would get to whatever feature I was obsessed with that day, I would basically be so gassed that I wouldn't bother trying, but then I would think back on the ride and realize that since I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, I had just cleared 3 other features I had never even considered trying.

Long live Emma

[The Tip]

4 hours ago, Yosmithy said:

Which is not typical for me, because I pride myself on not having goals.

Yes, my current goal is to never set a goal again.

[TheX]

39 minutes ago, The Tip said:

Yes, my current goal is to never set a goal again.

What about resolutions? I refuse to set myself up for failure.

[AustinBike]

1 hour ago, The Tip said:

Yes, my current goal is to never set a goal again.

I have goals, but they are achievable and require me to be on a bike almost every day. So that is not too bad. 

[Sluggo]

My goals are fluid. 

[TAF]

4 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I have goals, but they are achievable and require me to be on a bike almost every day. So that is not too bad. 

Is one of them to look like you plan to rob a bank, but getaway on a bike? Because that’s what you looked like when you cruised past Pinthouse the other day.

[Shanerpvt]

All the talk of goals reminds me of Lloyd Dobler.  I really appreciate Lloyd’s approach.