April Recap
THIS MONTH WAS exhausting, and jam packed with activities, and I am completely worn out.
The big news is that I was invited to join Victory Racing along with my good friend Cullen. We are both obviously excited and totally nervous and also a bit confused considering our race results are pretty much mid pack, but one does not question these opportunities when they come around. This is going to push my progression and for that reason alone it will be worth it.
In just under two weeks, 25 riders from Austin will saddle up and head north to Arkansas to ride the OZ Trails for five days! We have rented five Airbnb’s right in the middle of Slaughter Pen, and a few of us even snagged an ebike rental from Smiley Bike Rentals which came highly recommended. Expect one hell of a May Recap next month.
There was so much going on this month that there will not be an episode of Ride Reels. I am terribly sorry. The good news is that all the footage is there and ready for me when I have the time.
There is a ton of content from April so let’s dive in…
ARR Group Ride
The month got started with the Austin Ridge Riders all level ride at Walnut Creek Metro Park on April 3. This was a great opportunity for a bunch of folks from the upcoming Bentonville trip to meet each other before we head to Arkansas in May. I was so glad to have a chance to see Renee and Eric again, since we live on opposite sides of Austin, we don’t have a whole lot of opportunities to ride together. Renee did a stellar job of leading our intermediate group.
For more information on ARR Group Events visit the Meetup group.
Groadie Rides
I recently put Maxxis DTH DJ tires on my Trek Hardtail so I could start joining a few of my friends for Wednesday night gravel/road rides. I was able to do two of those this month; Unfortunately, on the second ride I wound up with two flat tires thanks to a very small piece of glass that got embedded in the rubber. Sadly, the DTH is not designed as a tubeless tire. These rides have been awesome though. I love the vibe riding along Town Lake, and the Montopolis bridge is a perfect spot for a photo opportunity. The second half of the ride coming back down Southern Walnut Creek trail is a ripper, and then we finish with a cruise down fifth street.
Walnut Creek Pump Track
I went to Walnut Creek in April more often than all of 2021. I have a ton of friends who live and ride up north and it was good to venture to their turf to party for once. Walnut Creek Pump Track is my favorite dirt jump spot since it’s a great place to progress and all the shapes are dialed. The day started early to do some dirt work, and water and sweep. It’s especially neat when one of my friends lends me their DJ so I can ditch my oversized full suspension in favor of something I can actually rip. I did grab some footage from this session, which will end up in Ride Reels at some point.
Hippie Josh will be hosting Dirty Church every Sunday this summer at the Pump Track!
Spider Mountain DH2
Round two of the Team Trail Party Downhill race series at Spider Mountain was sick! The stage for my category was Vipers Den to Tarantula to Vipers Den. I am much more comfortable these days with upper Vipers Den, and Lower Vipers Den is one of my strongest segments at Spider Mountain So I was feeling relatively good about these. Tarantula is not a trail I typically attack and I was more than just a little nervous about the wall ride so this was my area of focus during practice. I was stoked to finally get on and off the wall cleanly, but during the race run I opted to stay fairly low on the wall and came off of it early to avoid any crash here. I was not reserved when it came to the final drop on Tarantula. I sent it deep!
In addition to the typical DH format, there was a bonus category for Klunkers to race down the fire road. The Klunker race was a treat to watch, and Charlie Kelly himself was there to see it. I think I may try to build a Klunker for next year. and give it a go.
I wound up finishing 21st out of 35 riders, 13.68 seconds slower than the leader. This was a stronger result than round 1 in March.
View Full Gallery featuring photos from Jordan Long and Mike Cartier
Cat Mountain Dig Days
I’ll be helping Victory Racing and North Austin Trailbuilders construct a new trail at Cat Mountain called ‘Catillac’. This is intended to be a more flowy addition to the trail system at Cat, and features a ton of Sharkfin step-downs, drops, rolls, g-outs, and berms. This is by no means an easy trail and will have plenty of challenges which is the name of the game at Cat Mountain. I consider it a privilege to be able to work out here since this place is the ultimate riding challenge in Central Texas.
Walnut Creek Build Day
There was an Austin Ridge Riders trail workday led by Cullen McMorrow on April 24th to build a log jump feature at the end of the BMX Loop. This feature is basically a gap jump that has been filled with logs and is rollable which will make it possible for both bikes and onewheels to enjoy. It adds a lot of fun to a previously sterile section of trail. There was a solid turnout and the whole project was knocked out in about four hours. We had a post dig meetup at Austin Beerworks. A future build day will add a right-hand berm just following this new feature.
Visit Austin Ridge Riders to learn more about trail workdays.
South Austin Trail Network
The SATN Social is fast approaching and a new ‘SATN Smooth’ team has been formed by the event organizers to prepare each route for the big day! I volunteered to adopt the trails ‘E Spank’ and ‘Bowie Gnar’. E Spank is one of my favorite trails in the network and is home to a few of my projects. Most of the work has involved clearing face slappers and opening up sight lines through blind corners; however, I did take an opportunity to craft a new berm.
Beyond the preparations for the SATN Social, I have been hard at work on a big project that will add a ton of fun and give the network its biggest jumps. The project is called ‘Tunnel Vision’ and - once complete - will include pump rollers, big tabletops, and perhaps a step up as well. This is a massive undertaking with a lot of material being moved and wide corridors cleared. This actually began on January 1st but is moving along much faster this month thanks to a team of nine volunteers! We managed to gather what is likely more than ten tons of stone and dirt.
to Cullen, Clint, Brian, Gage, Devon, Alex, Marcus, Jake, Luka, and Hippie; Thank you so much for believing in this vision and volunteering so much back breaking effort.
Crank N Drank
I wound up skipping a day, we had another Thursday edition, and the debut of Drank N Drank, where we meet to ride bikes but then it rains so we just go straight to the beer.
April 5, 2022 - South Austin Trail Network
April 28, 2022 - South Austin trail Network
Merch Update!
I have a new Graphic Tee in the works! It is sure to be a hit with my Southie friends. Hopefully next month!
Hats are on the way! These hats will be the trusty Yupoong Snapback in Heather Gray with the Wheelie Silhouette from my holographic stickers embroidered on the front. I expect these to be available in a few weeks.
Limited stock of T Shirts; Only Medium and Large remain!
This merch is how I intend to cover the cost of building this website, bringing you content (think camera gear, etc), and also how I will fund some of my trail building activity in select locations in Central Texas. Current projects involve South Austin Trail Newtwork.
We double checked our math here and it looks so good! Printed on a Bella Canvas 3413 that’s as plush as a Fox 36, this tri-blend tee looks great at the taco stand or on the trail. Cheers!
