sasquatch69

"Gotta go - I still need to do 200 sit-ups before nightfall."

I'm not focused on it. I noticed it, looked it up, and found it interesting/unsettling enough to post about it.

Searched for previous posts on this and didn't find any, so starting new thread. I was visiting my parents in North Dallas the other day and noticed a neighbor flying a white flag with a pine tree, with the words "AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN". I hadn't seen this before, and wondered about it, but promptly forgot. Yesterday we went out for Father's Day lunch and saw a couple with two kids, and the husband/wife were wearing matching shirts with the same logo/text. This got me really curious, so I looked it up when we got home - and the truth about it is unnerving. Turns out it's an old flag flown by Continental Army naval vessels under Washington's command. Now, it's a growing slogan/insignia for Christian Dominionists/Nationalists, and popularized by nationalist leader Dutch Sheets - and was apparently flown at the Jan. 6 insurrection, although I don't recall seeing it (the one I remember is the Gadsden flag). More at link below, including this quote. Are y'all seeing this more frequently? https://towcenter.medium.com/the-pine-tree-flag-how-one-symbol-at-the-capitol-riot-connects-far-right-extremism-to-christianity-f02314a5f759

Never ridden it, but have been curious to try it.

Honestly, it's likely the heat. CS rarely/never gets the combo of temps/humidity we have right now.

Had a bunch of places to be today, but I had a window of about three hours this afternoon in between commitments, and noticed that Big Cedar switched from red to green in the DORBA app. I hauled ass down there and was able to squeeze in 5 miles. It was hot, trails were overgrown and the bugs were worse than usual, but it was glorious.

I swear… 😡

I don’t think either of them want anything to do with elected office.

The Breckenridge trails are technically hike/bike, and I see both out there, but they’re city-maintained and off most peoples’ radar since they aren’t on any MTB lists.

It’s way out on the far eastern border of Richardson, close to Murphy and Sachse. Huge park. Eastern half has several miles of paved trails. Western half (on opposite side of creek) has all the unpaved trails, with two bridge connections across the creek. Best place to park is the lot along Moroney Drive south of Renner - you ride down the hill towards the woods to the south and follow the trails (they’re all marked “Breckenridge Trail” on Google Maps). It takes some exploring - and the trails deeper in the woods under tree canopy are still tacky/muddy/underwater.

Even though all the DORBA trails are still closed, got in a really nice 5mi tonight at Breckenridge Park in Richardson. I’ve hiked out there enough to know which trails to avoid after lots of rain, but there are enough that are either open pasture or Austin chalk so they were nice and dry. I’ll take it right now.

Hate all you want, but I’ve had a 2nd-gen Ridgeline for nearly three years and it’s pretty much exactly what I needed. Comfortable for family of four on long trips, engine feels strong (plus the VTEC kick on acceleration), trunk is incredibly handy, lined bed has handled loads of everything from dirt to decomposed granite to massive piles of scout troop gear with no issues, and I haul my kayaks and bikes around with it too. Gets decent gas mileage, and after nearly 50k miles it hasn’t had a single issue (although I’d think that’s expected these days). Almost bought a Taco, but after trying both, the Honda was much more comfortable for both driver and passenger - and the dealer gave me a great deal on it. Also, I’m too old to give a shit that it’s a unibody.

Had to get back on the bike somehow, so I rode about 8mi last night on some newish paved trails along PGBT in Garland (combined with surface streets in Sachse). The trailhead also has a gravel road for utility easement access that leads into the back side of the Rowlett Creek Preserve, so I rode in. What little I could see of the trails was still muck/underwater. This sucks - and the forecast isn't any better for days.

Just got home from our first plane trip since Covid hit, to New Orleans. Arrived on a late-night flight, and checked both Uber and Lyft apps. Lyft’s fare to our place was $15 cheaper, so we went with that. We ended up doing Lyft the entire trip - 7-8 times in total - and never had a bad experience. Additionally, their “save if you wait a bit” feature was fantastic - we’d be finishing up a meal or drinks and I’d go ahead and choose that option, and once a driver was en route we’d actually settle and leave, and car was usually rolling up as we walked outside. Each time that fare was $4-8 less than the normal option. Drivers were all friendly and cars were generally clean - and if you’ve ever done traditional cabs in NOLA in the past you know that’s far from guaranteed. We also tried a new service, Turo, on the one day we needed to actually have a car. It was also a great experience but that’s for another thread.

There are trails, but they’re not open to public - they are used for the BSA programs mentioned above. I’m still an active scout leader, and these days Wisdom is used a ton, but mostly for day programs and training programs. Our troop usually prefers to camp further out due to highway noise at wisdom.

Well, this sucks. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10226591609003170&id=1435150460

Our troop did our canoeing campout this past weekend, with a group of 30 scouts/adults paddling 10 miles down a particularly beautiful stretch of the Brazos downriver from the PK dam. After a late start Friday due to storms, we made it to the campsite after 10pm, had to set up quickly and get scouts to bed, and then wake up at 6am to eat breakfast and do a 30-minute class on the safety aspects of the merit badge before we hit the water. It was great - had a few of the new scouts who struggled, so we moved scouts around to even out the strength level on the boats. Water was great - not too swift, and mostly high enough to avoid portaging (except for a few short stretches). Our top adult grubmaster was on this trip, too, so the grownup meals were incredible. Scout meals varied widely by patrol, as always

It's no Fruita, but I've been riding Rowlett Creek Preserve a lot lately to kill time while my kid has swim practice nearby. I've been spending more time on the northern trails on the other side of the creek crossing, which are new to me. Generally they're great and pretty flowy, but tonight I tried Loop 13 for the first time. It's one long rock garden - really kicked my butt.

I do wonder if it will get to the point that the school itself goes after the message board owners (not sure how they'd do that, but they can probably find a way) because of how badly it reflects on the school. The new TAMU president seems like a reasonable sort, so who knows.

You chose ... wisely.

Does have a bit of a Private Pyle thing going here.

I've really only been back into MTB for just over a year after a long layoff, and other than riding BCGB 15 years ago, all my experience is up here in D/FW area. Is this combination of jump lines and major chunk pretty common on trails down in Austin/SA area, or is this unique to RPR? I've been thinking about heading down there for a weekend of riding, but this looks a bit above my experience/comfort level.

I'm still pretty slow, but I just try to push myself to keep going a bit further when I'm ready to quit, even if it's just an extra mile or two on flatter trails. I'm having some gear slippage issues on harder climbs which has bogged me down a bit - I've greased up the chain, cassette, etc, which helped, but I think it's mostly due to the bike's age. Erwin was gorgeous last night, even in the open field sections. Getting second vax dose tomorrow which may take me out for a bit, so trying to squeeze in what I can this week.