The Surly Mountain Biking Thread

[wd40 1976]

and some footage by mere mortals.

 

[Your Mom 4985]

Those jump lines out there are so great.  Last time I was there that whale tail was on the ground, half finished.  

Sunday mornings I've been riding the BCGB from Barton Springs while my son is running the hike and bike trail for cross country practice.  Anyway, these Sunday morning rides are taking me back over terrain I was riding 25 years ago when it was the only spot in town.. at least that I knew of.  Today I made it up the Elephant Butt for the first time ever.  Been up it hundreds of times but never made it.  I always went for the not-as-steep line diagonal up the rock and then got stuck in a hole near the tree.  It took seeing someone on FB taking a line I never even considered to show me how it's done.  Got up on the rock today and turned right, straight up the steep part... easy peasy.  Can't believed it never occured to me to go that way.  Felt good to take another spot I'd never cleaned before off the list.  

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Your Mom

[wd40 1976]

nice work, Mom!  I just don't venture down that way anymore (I avoid the main trail as much as possible, these days), so it's been many years; but I remember when I finally discovered that line.  the mental approach has kind of stuck with me:  "Earl up the Middle" goes through my head when I see stuff like that.  square up for best traction, and keep pedaling. 

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

16 hours ago, wd40 said:

and some footage by mere mortals.

 

That looks incredibly fun. Except for the drop at about 2:45. I could see myself eating shit there for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Is this a private park near Austin? Lots of work sculpting those jump lines. Some of those table tops are purty big.

[KuЯdt 248]

Yeah that's a private ranch like 5 minutes from Spider Mountain.  I didn't know they had been building so much out there, guess I'm due for a trip. 

 

Re: elephant butt - funny, I had the same experience.  One day after failing once again to get up it on the left off camber side, a buddy and I were standing at the top looking at it and probably chatting about our suckage.  Then 3 dudes came through and went right up the steep part and on past us.  We kind of looked at each other like WTF just happened?  

[wd40 1976]

7 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

That looks incredibly fun. Except for the drop at about 2:45. I could see myself eating shit there for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Is this a private park near Austin? Lots of work sculpting those jump lines. Some of those table tops are purty big.

that drop used to rollable. I guess when they started doing a lot of enduro stuff, they had to make it tougher.  on that same run (Super D) there's a huck (about 5') with a nasty landing zone full of sharp babyheads, followed immediately by another one, about 3'.  we took the B line around it, yesterday.  lot's videos out there of less than perfect attempts at it.  there's nowhere to fall that won't really, really hurt, up there.

anyway, lunchtime ride-to-the-ride up and down St Ed's today.  lots of de-web stops.  when I took my shirt off when I got home, I had 4 inchworms on my chest, and at least 4 more still in the shirt fabric.  can't wait til this shit is over.  scares off all the wool.   anyway, stopped to say hi to some perch.  I guess someone took the bass that lived under the big rock.

colors in the pic are off.  kinda yellow and washed out over the water.  fapple

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

20 hours ago, wd40 said:

that drop used to rollable. I guess when they started doing a lot of enduro stuff, they had to make it tougher.  on that same run (Super D) there's a huck (about 5') with a nasty landing zone full of sharp babyheads, followed immediately by another one, about 3'.  we took the B line around it, yesterday.  lot's videos out there of less than perfect attempts at it.  there's nowhere to fall that won't really, really hurt, up there.

I applaud their work, especially on that jumpline. It seems to start out small and progress up to those relatively intimidating tabletops, gappers, even a whale tail.

Wish we had something like that here. Hell, wish we had a basic pump track.

[sasquatch69 627]

On 4/12/2021 at 8:04 PM, wd40 said:

 lots of de-web stops.  when I took my shirt off when I got home, I had 4 inchworms on my chest, and at least 4 more still in the shirt fabric.  can't wait til this shit is over.  

 

[Pescado_Rojo 19593]

Got a ride in this evening on the local. Caterpillars are out of control

[midtown 3357]

Got a ride in this evening on the local. Caterpillars are out of control

You don't say.. One of the 17 I carried on my last ride. Evey time I'd get a few off I'd ride through another web.

[sasquatch69 627]

On 4/12/2021 at 12:11 PM, Braff Zacklin said:

That looks incredibly fun. Except for the drop at about 2:45. I could see myself eating shit there for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Is this a private park near Austin? Lots of work sculpting those jump lines. Some of those table tops are purty big.

 

On 4/11/2021 at 7:37 PM, wd40 said:

and some footage by mere mortals.

 

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.

Edited April 14, 2021 by sasquatch69

[wd40 1976]

RPR is pretty unique.  not a lot of public parks with granite domes with mtb trails.  like, none -- at least in central Texas.  the jump lines are all isolated to one corner of the park.  there's miles of XC single track there, for all skill levels.  

10 bucks day use fee is pretty freakin reasonable, considering the amount of trail, plus all the new circus stuff.  they were build a second progressive drop zone when we were there.  the biggest drop in the older one is maybe 3ft.  on the new one, the big one launches you through the upper branches of a large mesquite tree.

but yeah, lots of dirt singletrack, jeep roads, and trails up high on the pink moonscape that are super fun.  

my biggest gripe about the place is the signage.  there's lots of it, yet it's all kind of meaningless unless you were the guy who put them up and just need a refresher to get your bearings.  Trailforks app has a decent map (better than the one they hand out at rpr), but cell coverage is spotty.

just know that if the signs says "Trail", it's a jeep road (except for the original "Flow Trail").  if it says "Loop", it's singletrack.  great place to get lost.  we got all fucked up and went on a (frowned upon) night ride during a camp out, one time.  and we still made it back.  so don't be discouraged.

highly recommend tubeless tires with fresh Stan's.  no shortage of cactus and mesquite out there.  also recommend an early start, especially in the summer, and doubly so if you venture up on the Inner Loop, Decision Point (4star views!) or anywhere you would be on those slabs of granite/afternoon frying pans for any length of time.

and watch out for cowshit.

check their calendar.  for example, I think there's a race, this weekend.  a buddy was out there preriding with his son's team, on sunday when we were there.

[Your Mom 4985]

5 hours ago, wd40 said:

my biggest gripe about the place is the signage.  there's lots of it, yet it's all kind of meaningless unless you were the guy who put them up and just need a refresher to get your bearings.  Trailforks app has a decent map (better than the one they hand out at rpr), but cell coverage is spotty.

Those hieroglyphic signs are the reason I signed up for premium on Trailforks and the downloadable maps.  

 

9 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

Is this combination of jump lines and major chunk pretty common on trails down in Austin/SA area, or is this unique to RPR?

There's no shortage of easy single track in Austin. 

[TwiceHorn 32121]

23 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

 

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.

If you're interested in trying out a jump line, see my post about the Red Loop at Oak Cliff Nature Preserve.  It's mostly free of gnar, but you can kind of get a flavor for what one of those jump lines is like.

[TwiceHorn 32121]

Geez.  Rode Harry Moss today trying to squeak one in before/if it rains.  About all I can say is a mile further and an mph faster than last week.

I need to get back to riding daily/near daily before it gets Africa hot.

[sasquatch69 627]

7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Geez.  Rode Harry Moss today trying to squeak one in before/if it rains.  About all I can say is a mile further and an mph faster than last week.

I need to get back to riding daily/near daily before it gets Africa hot.

You chose ... wisely.

[TwiceHorn 32121]

On 4/15/2021 at 8:03 PM, sasquatch69 said:

You chose ... wisely.

Yeah, it was a frog-strangler today.  Imagine that's gonna be the case for about a week.

[Your Mom 4985]

Here’s Palo Duro Canyon this morning just after sunrise. Givens Lowery and the Lighthouse trails. Driving through a snowy Colorado now. 4 more hours to Grand Junction to ride Fruita 18 Rd tomorrow. Will try to put together a video tonight.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Looks like a brand new rig, sir. Got any more pics of it?

Apologies if previously posted. As my father would say, "I've slept since then."

[Your Mom 4985]

14 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Looks like a brand new rig, sir. Got any more pics of it?

Apologies if previously posted. As my father would say, "I've slept since then."

It’s a Pivot Switchblade I picked up used a little while back.  I love it. I had the Mach 5.5 before and the Switchblade is very similar but in 29”. It’s way more bike than I need, but you know...

Heres yesterday’s ride to the Lighthouse and back to my campsite.  

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Your Mom

[Al_4_ISU 12669]

Squeezed in 70 minutes yesterday in the middle of a very busy day. It was 60 degrees, sunny, with a mild breeze.

[KuЯdt 248]

2 hours ago, Your Mom said:

It’s a Pivot Switchblade I picked up used a little while back.  I love it. I had the Mach 5.5 before and the Switchblade is very similar but in 29”. It’s way more bike than I need, but you know...

Heres yesterday’s ride to the Lighthouse and back to my campsite.  

 

That is awesome.

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

6 hours ago, Your Mom said:

It’s a Pivot Switchblade I picked up used a little while back.  I love it. I had the Mach 5.5 before and the Switchblade is very similar but in 29”. It’s way more bike than I need, but you know...

Heres yesterday’s ride to the Lighthouse and back to my campsite.  

 

Great stuff! Those DT Swiss hubs are distinctive, aren't they?

Got me nostalgic--been more than 25 years since I camped at PDC.

Thanks for sharing.

[KuЯdt 248]

Went out to RPR on Saturday (wd40 inspiration strikes again).  Such great terrain out there.  Super D was fun, though we skipped the 2 big drops.  We went back up later on for a 2nd run and it started raining on the way up, which made for a sketchy descent.  I think the sketchiness was mostly mental though, since that granite is grippy even in the wet.

I really like the drop area they're building.  We only did the baby drop a couple of times, but the first 3 are easy progression as it is only a foot or 2 higher up to the next one.  Fourth one looks pretty big.  And that 5th one they are building is a damn monster...don't think I would ever hit that.
I need to get back out there and try some of those other jump lines.

 

 

 

 

 

[Your Mom 4985]

Here’s a little bit of Fruita. Rode for about 3 hours and it was a blast and an asskicker.  These are the funnest trails I’ve ever ridden and each one was better than the last.  This was the best but Zippity Do Dah had more holy shit moments. I upload load that one later as service here is sketchy. I’m in Moab now about to hit Slickrock. 

 

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Great vids, guys. Super jelly of those RPR jump lines, and I've always heard Fruita is flowy--now I know.

[wd40 1976]

FUCKYEAH, boys!  great stuff.

couldn't keep the smile off my face on that Fruita run.  jumping gaps?  blind?  what balls.

nice rain run at RPR, K.  messes with your head for sure, but the traction is almost better without the dust on the slabs.  the only downside is that sand sticks to your drive train in the wet and just grinds it down.

[midtown 3357]

Other than Spider and Flatrock. Any other fun trails I should be checking out within a, few hours of SA?

[TwiceHorn 32121]

2 hours ago, wd40 said:

FUCKYEAH, boys!  great stuff.

couldn't keep the smile off my face on that Fruita run.  jumping gaps?  blind?  what balls.

nice rain run at RPR, K.  messes with your head for sure, but the traction is almost better without the dust on the slabs.  the only downside is that sand sticks to your drive train in the wet and just grinds it down.

I mostly admired that he refrained from cursing non-stop.  I'm such a fucking pottymouth.

[Your Mom 4985]

Oh there was plenty of cursing... just keeping it family friendly.  And the gap jumps were fairly short with smooth run-ups and landing zones... easy to carry speed.   I just figured it was so much work to get to the top of those trails I probably wasn’t going to see them twice and might as well make the most of it. 

Slickrock was outstanding and I’m glad I did it. I read lots of folks say there are too many better trails out here and to skip it. It wasn’t crowded at al. There’s almost no tech to it, just some steep grippy climbs. It was physically hard but so rewarding. 

I’m about to go do HyMasa and Captain Ahab.  I almost certainly won’t do Portal tomorrow. I’m not above walking the scary parts but I’ve been reading they have problems with people clogging up the trail at those points for those who could otherwise clean it and I do t want to be that guy. There’s plenty of fun on the upper Mag 7 trails, but it means you have to have the ride be half as short or spend a lot of time going back uphill. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Your Mom

[Your Mom 4985]

 

 

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

More awesomeness. What are the temps out there, @Your Mom?

[Your Mom 4985]

Lows in the mid 30s. Highs in the upper 60s and low 70s. 

[Your Mom 4985]

Lows in the mid 30s. Highs in the upper 60s and low 70s. 

[Your Mom 4985]

[Your Mom 4985]

Trying this with a direct upload without YouTube.  

[sasquatch69 627]

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. 

[Your Mom 4985]

^ That’s pretty gnarly. 

[KuЯdt 248]

On 4/19/2021 at 8:12 PM, midtown said:

Other than Spider and Flatrock. Any other fun trails I should be checking out within a, few hours of SA?

If you're up to making the Spider trip, definitely check out Reveille Peak Ranch which is 5 minutes down the road.  See my post a few above, and wd's somewhere above that.  It used to be at the top of my list for Texas until it seemed like they bulldozed singletrack in favor of xterra and spartan events.  However, it looks like they're back to building all kinds of good mtb stuff, so it's back to the top.  no other terrain like it in Texas.  signage is still only for aggys though, so have trailforks or someone with you who knows the trails.

Other than that, good places to ride in Austin or within an hour or so:

BCGB

City Park (Emma Long)

Brushy Creek
Flat Creek Crossing Ranch
Pace Bend 
Reimers Ranch
Pedernales Falls
Rocky Hill Ranch

[Your Mom 4985]

Finished up the trip today with Porcupine Rim. It’s the last 11 miles of The Whole Enchilada.  Plus a brutal 3 mile climb to get to it from Sand Flats. 1000’ up in 3 miles and about 3000’ down over the next 11 miles. It was great. Not as technical as Ahab but plenty of stuff to keep you on your toes. There are lots of ledges and they seem to get higher as you go along.  Easy lines to go around most of it.  It’s great for warming up before hucking off the bigger stuff. I hit the highest drop I ever have today, only because I watched a 12 year old kid do it right in front of me.  And it wouldn’t be a proper ride without a GoPro user malfunction... I thought I was starting there camera just before the big drop... I was stopping it instead.  Whatever. I’ve ridden 5 days in a row. My confidence on chunk and drops is higher than ever.  I’m still not gonna like some of the ones back home with awkward run-ups and sketchy landing zones though. 

Headed home tomorrow.  Bentonville will have to be the next trip but I definitely want to come back here. There’s so much more. 
 

[Mappable 37]

UPS and LPS in Moab are great trails.  I've never ridden up Sand Flats, just had the wife drop me off to ride down.  

[TwiceHorn 32121]

16 hours ago, Your Mom said:

Finished up the trip today with Porcupine Rim. It’s the last 11 miles of The Whole Enchilada.  Plus a brutal 3 mile climb to get to it from Sand Flats. 1000’ up in 3 miles and about 3000’ down over the next 11 miles. It was great. Not as technical as Ahab but plenty of stuff to keep you on your toes. There are lots of ledges and they seem to get higher as you go along.  Easy lines to go around most of it.  It’s great for warming up before hucking off the bigger stuff. I hit the highest drop I ever have today, only because I watched a 12 year old kid do it right in front of me.  And it wouldn’t be a proper ride without a GoPro user malfunction... I thought I was starting there camera just before the big drop... I was stopping it instead.  Whatever. I’ve ridden 5 days in a row. My confidence on chunk and drops is higher than ever.  I’m still not gonna like some of the ones back home with awkward run-ups and sketchy landing zones though. 

Headed home tomorrow.  Bentonville will have to be the next trip but I definitely want to come back here. There’s so much more. 
 

12-year-olds dude.

Isn't Porcupine or the Enchilada the one with that brutal exposure that I'm recalling is on the side of a dome?

You are a far braver man than i.

[TwiceHorn 32121]

Well, I finally had what I kind of consider to be a satisfactory ride in terms of distance and speed.  It was 8 plus miles at Rowlett Creek.  I pushed a bit and put down a pretty good speed, possibly a PR for that particular route.  Also might have been the GPS on my new phone being more or less accurate.

Rowlett is an easier trail than many in DFW to put down miles because it has nested loops, so you can go farther without repeating.  It is also largely flat, but I did some of the climby bits on the northern loops and only dabbed once, so that was nice.  One gear/pedal stroke too high climbing up a ridge.

Temps in lower 60s, so thermal efficiency was excellent.

Severe weather tomorrow, so I will probably have a short twisty ride at Moss before it hits.

[wd40 1976]

19 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

12-year-olds dude.

Isn't Porcupine or the Enchilada the one with that brutal exposure that I'm recalling is on the side of a dome?

You are a far braver man than i.

I think your thinking of The White Line in Sedona?

 

[Your Mom 4985]

^^ I sure as shit didn’t do that.

Porcupine has as much exposure as you want but it’s easy to stay away from the edge. Some beautiful lookout points.  As with Ahab there are some spots along edges in smaller canyons as you descend but never as close as the camera makes them look. There were some awkward spots near the edge I walked.  Portal is the trail in Moab with the crazy exposure.  At one point there’s  a sign saying something like “Dismount Now.  Riders have died trying to ride the next rock.”

I’m on the road back home but I’ll put together a couple more videos when I get home. 
 

[Your Mom 4985]

3 hours ago, Mappable said:

UPS and LPS in Moab are great trails.  I've never ridden up Sand Flats, just had the wife drop me off to ride down.  

Yeah I should’ve done those two instead of the climb up from the lower point on Sand Flats.  I was going off the directions on mtbproject and didn’t realize until later that I could’ve kept going past that drop off point. 

[TwiceHorn 32121]

42 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

^^ I sure as shit didn’t do that.

Porcupine has as much exposure as you want but it’s easy to stay away from the edge. Some beautiful lookout points.  As with Ahab there are some spots along edges in smaller canyons as you descend but never as close as the camera makes them look. There were some awkward spots near the edge I walked.  Portal is the trail in Moab with the crazy exposure.  At one point there’s  a sign saying something like “Dismount Now.  Riders have died trying to ride the next rock.”

I’m on the road back home but I’ll put together a couple more videos when I get home. 
 

Yeah, the brave comment stands based on the video you posted.  I have to get used to exposure and wouldn't want to ride that kind of stuff at any kind of speed first time. I'm a giant weener.

[TwiceHorn 32121]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:56 PM, sasquatch69 said:

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've never been on 13, and 14 only once.  14 freaked me out with some exposed and severely off-camber that was uncomfortable to even walk.  And there's a bigass descent that requires a hard right at the bottom and it's always leafy as hell.

Because they're both black, I assumed 13 was more of the same.  I quite enjoy 10 and 11, though.

[KuЯdt 248]

13 hours ago, Your Mom said:

^^ I sure as shit didn’t do that.

Porcupine has as much exposure as you want but it’s easy to stay away from the edge. Some beautiful lookout points.  As with Ahab there are some spots along edges in smaller canyons as you descend but never as close as the camera makes them look. There were some awkward spots near the edge I walked.  Portal is the trail in Moab with the crazy exposure.  At one point there’s  a sign saying something like “Dismount Now.  Riders have died trying to ride the next rock.”

I’m on the road back home but I’ll put together a couple more videos when I get home. 
 

 

Epic trip, dude.  Thanks for posting all the vids so we could live vicariously.

[Your Mom 4985]

 

 

Catching up with the videos I made... Here's Slickrock, Ahab, and Porcupine Rim.  I've learned that I grunt and groan a lot when I ride, but I'm too lazy to add music to cover it up.

The trip was outstanding.  I can't wait to go back and hit some spots I missed.  Capt Ahab was probably my favorite.  The mix of climbing and chunky tech was difficult and rewarding.  I felt like I was a better rider after and hour and a half of that. I'd like to do the Whole Enchilada one of these days but the upper trails usually don't open until mid-summer.  Fruita was so much fun too and I only saw 3 trails there.  One run down each of those 3 plus the climbs up each time gave me 3 hours of riding that day.  2-3 days there would be perfect.  There are plenty of trails above them that I never even saw, plus the Kokopelli trail system nearby.  I guess Bentonville should be next for me though. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Your Mom