June Recap
I wish it would rain; these trails are dry, and while that would normally be a good thing, this is too dry and too hot. The surface is moon dust, you can’t build anything without moisture in the soil, and the daytime temperatures… well, you know. Despite this, June was a blast. So, what happened, aside from a lot of sweating? Read on…
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SATN Social
The SATN Social is an annual event that celebrates the South Austin Trail Network’s 130 miles of trail. Four routes were created for a total of 67 miles if you completed each one perfectly. The festivities were planned by community members – particularly Carl Zapffe – and sponsored by ATX Bikes, with more support from Shimano (prizes), Giant Bikes (food), Athletic Brewing, Austin Beerworks and Signs Express (official SATN jersey).
Each route was broken down into sections and we had over a dozen volunteers ‘adopt’ a section of trail to clean up and prepare for the big day. The ‘SATN Smooth’ crew took care of face slappers, trimmed back the weeds, cleared sight lines, and dropped flour arrows to keep everyone on track at intersections. The network has never been better!
In a shocking plot twist, June 4th started with a downpour which absolutely soaked the trails and forced the cancellation of the event. This did not deter a decent size crowd from showing up anyway, and so we still had a party in the parking lot under the tents and broke out the food and beer. By the afternoon, the trails began to dry, and in some spots, it was hero dirt. Folks started taking off on little mini rides, ensuring the day was not a waste. I joined some friends for a short little jump session.
The rainout day was the following weekend, and it was set to be a scorcher with heat advisory warnings. I started with the East route since it had less shade and would be a faster pace. I missed the big roll out by an hour as I had forgotten about my loose spokes on my rear wheel and needed to take care of that. Although the temperature was mild, the dew point was garbage and I returned to the shop absolutely soaked. My planning paid off though – I had a recovery drink, popsicles, and an ice water-soaked towel ready to go. A half hour was all I needed to recuperate for round two.
I finished the day with the North route and had some friends with me this time which was comforting because the air temperature at this point was 103 degrees, and nobody wants to die of heat stroke all alone! The North route was a logical choice for the weather conditions because it has a ton of shade and even a few gas stations on the way, which we wound up needing. I had already gone through six liters of water, and we had about five miles left to go. In cooler weather this would have been a non-issue.
Most people I assume wound up doing one or two routes. Zach Stirling did all four routes perfectly for a combined 67.38 miles and 2500 feet of elevation. He completed his ride in 6 hours and 17 minutes. Jeff Stuecheli also completed four routes plus some bonus miles as well. There was plenty of food and beer left from the rainout weekend and so everyone hung out under whatever shade we could find until the prizes were finally drawn late in the afternoon.
Zach’s SATN Social ride log.
If you missed out on the social, be sure to make room for it next year. Take some time to explore South Austin Trail Network when you can and come out for Crank N Drank on Tuesday to learn the land with a group. Speaking of Crank N Drank…
Crank N Drank
The heat is not keeping people away from Crank N Drank, in fact the evening is the only time when the temperatures are not triple digit, and the humidity not totally oppressive. Taco Deli is now open in the Alamo Drafthouse shopping center and this is now my favorite way to end a ride. BYOB and grab a bag of tacos to go. There was a rainout on the 28th and the redo was on Wednesday which was a total bamboozle (usually Thursday is the reschedule date) so I wound up missing that edition. I wound up doing the usual Wednesday gravel/road ride with the crew…
Wednesday Night Groadie (S)Miles
The first Wednesday ride of the month was exclusively road in Dripping Springs. Typically, I would not even consider it – I find no value in risking my life on the road; however, these were basically country neighborhoods and I saw a total of three cars on my short ten-mile journey. The ride was short because I was ill-equipped. I’ve been managing these “Groadie rides” on my 1x11 26” hardtail with Maxxis DTH tires. I had been suffering from a lack of top end speed and so I figured I would go crazy and bring the full squish instead, since I can hold a higher average speed. Big mistake. My homies were off on the horizon, and I couldn't even catch up to tell them that I could not keep up, so I turned around and rode home in shame.
The silver lining from this experience was that my friend Clint is now letting me foster his Specialized Crosstrail which is far more suited to this kind of thing. I gave it a proper shakedown run on our central route out to Southern Walnut Creek terminus and back and was happy to be able to carry water bottles instead of a CamelBak for once. We tried a new route the third week and did a run from ATX Bikes to the Long Center, and back. The second half was pretty much all uphill, but the asphalt miles were mostly protected or low traffic which was comforting.
The final Wednesday ride of the month was a departure from the gravel and more exclusively single track in Dripping Springs. Headwaters – aka Shredwaters is being quickly lost to development and so we wanted to have a chance to ride what is there, and scout for future trail corridor to recoup what has been lost. Most of the ride is tame but there are some spicy rock rolls to be found, a few random drops to huck, and a hillside that is ripe for short gnarly DH runs.
Maintenance
The dry trails meant there were not many digging opportunities; however, there was still plenty to do. The SATN Social meant it was time to focus on my adopted trails – E-Spank and Bowie Gnar – and take care of a few sightlines and widen the corridor just a hair here and there. I also floured most of the corners and a few extra on Bunny Gravel, Inside Passage, and the Violet Crown Trail, but the rain washed it all away before the event was cancelled, and I did not have the opportunity to re-mark them the following week.
My friend Marcus came with me to hang some signs on Northbank and Housefire at a few confusing intersections and there will be more on the way. If you are interested in donating for lumber, screws, paint, or sandpaper drop me a line via the contact form.
Ride Reels
After being super busy and unmotivated, and with a lack of any creative drive, I kind of stopped making Ride Reels. I did have some race run videos, and then of course the Bentonville stuff, but I finally put the footage I have been sitting on to good use and crafted a nice little edit for the fourth episode of Ride Reels! I am super pleased with how this one turned out; there are a few really rad sends from Dirty Church (particularly from Ommar), and some clips of the new step down at Walnut Creek that my homie Cullen helped build alongside Cullen MC. I threw in footage from the DH/Klunkerz race series at Spider, and a couple of clips from Cat Mountain. The other location is hush but that doesn’t mean you can’t see what we were up to! I finally cleared the creek gap at this place - big stoke energy.
Site Updates and Contributors
I’ve been making some quiet changes to the website in the background, mostly just formatting a few things here and there, and adding missing trail pages. That work is ongoing, and I have a ton of content still coming. There are numerous networks I have ridden but failed to get good photos and so when fall comes around there will be a focus on finishing this part of the site and making sure the Trail Networks page is complete. I am also working on a beginner riders page that will hopefully be a very good resource for rookies looking to find their way and ride comfortably in Central Texas. Finally, I am inviting a few contributors to the site who will be writing guest blogs, and I will have more info on that hopefully next month!
If you enjoy writing and taking pictures, and would like to share your adventures here, please feel free to contact me! I can only witness so much of the scene, and it would be great to be able to feature other people’s experiences when possible.
