Norfair wrote:I have a Garmin 540 and it's been fine for me. I've only had it for a year now. Before that I would just kinda memorize routes and double check my phone once in a while.
You can change the screens so if you don't want to see heart rate and speed or anything and maybe just look at the map you can do that.
Same on the bolt. I don’t want to always, maybe not ever, be staring at my numbers while riding.
I think the only numbers I would be interested in would be cadence, watts, and heart rate and only when I am on an indoor trainer.
If I am on the road, I am primarily interested in navigation until my ride is over.
Went out to ride a local trail for the first time. This particular trail was originally unsanctioned when it was cut and built in 2020 by one guy and it got city approval once they found out about it. It is obvious that it didn't have professional trail building on it, but it's not entirely a bad thing as the challenge is bit welcome. Every corner around a hill is off camber, trees sit on the inside of corners, jumps only work if you are really pushing and lined up just right, and one area of the trails is littered with glass and other objects dumped over past decades of a undeveloped site in a city. A safe, some pool dividing lines, tires, and more. It was still a fun ride, but more than I expected when combining my total ride length after doubling back in a number of places. There's even one spot that really should get a gap jump added as it's a hard left at the bottom of descent to climb up along a wash only to turn back down it. But they've been working on the system, so I imagine it will get there eventually. Along with the creek management and beautification project, they're making good use of this space.
Yeah. That’s what we call a “social” trail. The issues you pointed out are only a few of the reasons trained trail volunteers and professionals hate them so much. When they are poorly designed, folks will actually take the logical path despite where the trail directs them causing the erosion to migrate. Improperly cambered trails lead to soil erosion. Without engineering the path to account for water pathing will lead to even more erosion.
There is a lot involved in doing it right which is why we get so annoyed when unqualified if well meaning folks alter public spaces on their own.
Thankfully, there have been official trail building days for that trail now that the city has acknowledged it. I didn't notice any spots of big erosion issues, either. I will say that I'm more concerned at how much they are clearing on some of the new addition as they're reclaiming the worst of the dumping grounds so a lot more than just the trail has to be removed, causing a lot of removed vegetation and exposed dirt on the hill side.
Thankfully, there have been official trail building days for that trail now that the city has acknowledged it. I didn't notice any spots of big erosion issues, either. I will say that I'm more concerned at how much they are clearing on some of the new addition as they're reclaiming the worst of the dumping grounds so a lot more than just the trail has to be removed, causing a lot of removed vegetation and exposed dirt on the hill side.
I have been doing trail building, trail maintenance, search and rescue, invasive species eradication, and habitat restoration for state and county park systems for the last 15 years. Most of the work we do is centered around rebuilding trails that have been destroyed by folks taking "short cuts" down fall lines, rerouting "social" trails, and removing unauthorized trail modifications. It really limits what we are able to do in terms of building new trails when folks use up all our cycles correcting their mistakes.
Our latest project is building 2.5 miles of sustainable trail through the wilderness preserve at David Force Park in Howard County, MD. I often tell folks I encounter hiking or dogwalking in the area that they are welcome to join us for volunteer days anytime they want to improve the trail system. We have a work box out on site that I can access anytime I like and we stock it with loppers, Pulaskis, Council rakes, gloves, saws, shovels, and a first aid kit. My guess is that most park systems will have similar programs for folks should they wish to get involved without making unilateral decisions regarding public land.
In fact, one of the areas where we just finished putting 200M of fresh trail is under reforestation after the homeowner next to it decided to "beautify" it by chopping down half an acre of old growth black walnut trees. The county charged him $45k but it really should have been three times that. I was half tempted to post a sign saying "this homeowner is an asshole".
Civic responsibility begins with not being selfish.
I sold my entry level Raleigh Mountain bike during the pandemic and have been waiting for a deal to upgrade. I just scored an Intense 951 XC for $2000 on pre-black Friday sale. This thing is nimble and it came with everything I needed to put it together including pedals and a tubeless kit! I had purchased my own MTB pedals anyways but I'll throw the Intense ones on my ebike.
The free toolkit included a torque wrench and shock pump! I was super impressed with the step by step directions.
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That's a very nice bike and a pretty nice little toolkit (especially the torque wrench).
Thanks! I'm hoping my knees will appreciate me getting some other cardio than sidewalk running.
Thanks! I'm hoping my knees will appreciate me getting some other cardio than sidewalk running.
I hate running on hard surfaces. The only time I got out and did consistent running in my life was when I lived next to a park with a couple miles of single track and some gravel and paved paths as well. I also needed that extra motivation of wanting to keep up with a group of skiers on a trip to Colorado that I knew were better than me, so I needed to up my stamina / cardio. The next year I lived in a different neighborhood and did less than half the amount on prep running for the same trip. Have fun on the trails!
I’m down in South Carolina helping my sister move and went for an awesome ride at Stumphouse Mountain Bike Park. Highly recommend it.
EvilDead wrote:Thanks! I'm hoping my knees will appreciate me getting some other cardio than sidewalk running.
I hate running on hard surfaces. The only time I got out and did consistent running in my life was when I lived next to a park with a couple miles of single track and some gravel and paved paths as well. I also needed that extra motivation of wanting to keep up with a group of skiers on a trip to Colorado that I knew were better than me, so I needed to up my stamina / cardio. The next year I lived in a different neighborhood and did less than half the amount on prep running for the same trip. Have fun on the trails!
Me too. I wish I had trails, for running and riding, within walking distance.
mrtomaytohead wrote:EvilDead wrote:Thanks! I'm hoping my knees will appreciate me getting some other cardio than sidewalk running.
I hate running on hard surfaces. The only time I got out and did consistent running in my life was when I lived next to a park with a couple miles of single track and some gravel and paved paths as well. I also needed that extra motivation of wanting to keep up with a group of skiers on a trip to Colorado that I knew were better than me, so I needed to up my stamina / cardio. The next year I lived in a different neighborhood and did less than half the amount on prep running for the same trip. Have fun on the trails!
Me too. I wish I had trails, for running and riding, within walking distance.
If I ever move it will be a requirement to have a non-paved trail close to the house. We live one mile from a limestone gravel trail. It's a 7.2 mile trail with about 6 miles XC MTB trails off of the main trail. It's close enough that I can bike to it when working from home and get 10-12 miles of trail in and 2 miles of road (or 6 miles of MTB and 2 miles of road). Even with it that close I'm envious of the houses across the street from the trailhead. I would hate to be too far from a nice trail.
If I ever move it will be a requirement to have a non-paved trail close to the house. We live one mile from a limestone gravel trail. It's a 7.2 mile trail with about 6 miles XC MTB trails off of the main trail. It's close enough that I can bike to it when working from home and get 10-12 miles of trail in and 2 miles of road (or 6 miles of MTB and 2 miles of road). Even with it that close I'm envious of the houses across the street from the trailhead. I would hate to be too far from a nice trail.
I want both walkable restaurants and trails. Pretty much a white whale!
We have a pizza place next to a dirt trail. It's wonderful in the warmer weather.
My sister and I biked the swamp rabbit trail from travelers rest to Greenville and back. They have a bunch of restaurants and bars along the way and even a grocery store and a couple bike shops.
EvilHomer3k wrote:If I ever move it will be a requirement to have a non-paved trail close to the house. We live one mile from a limestone gravel trail. It's a 7.2 mile trail with about 6 miles XC MTB trails off of the main trail. It's close enough that I can bike to it when working from home and get 10-12 miles of trail in and 2 miles of road (or 6 miles of MTB and 2 miles of road). Even with it that close I'm envious of the houses across the street from the trailhead. I would hate to be too far from a nice trail.
I want both walkable restaurants and trails. Pretty much a white whale!
We have two sports bars, a coffee shop, a bagel place, 3 pizza places (though two are dominoes and pizza hut), and a cafe style place within a mile. The cafe and bagel places are some of the best in town. We have a grocery store within half a mile. Work for both my wife and I is within 3 miles and easily bike-able (no stroads) and some less busy side streets. My wife has more issues biking but she also has to take one of our kids to school and just has never done it. Now if we want to go to Target or Walmart it's about 6 miles each way but I can get to Target with mostly trail riding.
Cedar Rapids doesn't rank highly in bike-ability but I've always found the specific area I live in to be pretty good. Though I probably have a higher tolerance for car interactions than most people since I used to commute 3 times a week 12 miles on a busy narrow highway where there were multiple car-bike accidents.
It sounds like you guys have some decent areas.
I live outside of Boston and e-bike commute a bit so am very used to traffic. These roads weren't designed with cyclists in mind so you got to have your head on a swivel. I do have to drive around 20-30 min for good off road trails. There are some mediocre ones closer but I got bored of those fast.
On the flipside I probably have 50ish restaurants within 1.5 miles.
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