caloso

I had built up a single speed for my son to ride to school. Last night he asked me to flip the wheel to the fixed side. So I showed him how to do it, readjusted the brake pads, etc. As we were finishing up, I asked him "What's the one thing you have to remember?"

"Never stop pedaling."

Attaboy!

Flatballer

Very cool.

He'll still forget though. Probably won't get bucked though, especially since I'm guessing it's not a huge gear. I've almost gotten bucked multiple times at the track. I remember to pedal again about halfway through the pedal stroke as I start coming off the seat.

caloso

Oh, I know it. The bike will remind him in ways that Dad cannot.

Flatballer

Yeah, with some wicked awesome skids, bro.

Heathpack 

You should have,! I'd have rented a bike if I had someone to ride with!

I'm actually here for a work-related conference that occupies all day Fri & Sat. I had planned to rent a tourist bike & tool around each morning. But the traffic just seems a little dicey to me.

Sunday starts the mountain biking phase of my trip, I am riding Glentress, Ballater, Culzean Castle and Drumlanrigh Castle.

Doge

Daniel got his collegiate C MTB license. By request USAC bumped him to a B before his 1st race. Two weeks ago won his B (double lapped half) and got his A upgrade. Yesterday he did his 1st A. Got dropped at start and DNF. Facebook posted that he got to ride around a nice ski resort and see the view which does not happen in racing - much.
So mom is telling dad that the upgrade was too soon and there will be a lack of confidence.
Coach talked to Daniel and dad talked to coach (that is how it works) and seems he did about everything wrong. Good wake-up call. For some very odd reason I think Daniel, like dad, need's some crisis to get going. Or, mom is right. Mom is usually right.

TMonk

Where is he at school?

Some road and mtb collegiate programs have harbored some seriously elite riders for sure.

big john

Today near the end of the ride a guy ran a red light as I was entering an intersection. I saw his truck and realized it was too late, but steered right and wondered when he was going to hit me. Then he started skidding and I thought I might make it but my friend behind would get nailed. Somehow neither of us got hit, but it was a pretty screwed up thing to have happen.
I can still see the truck coming toward me, it was surreal.

Doge

Colorado. US Air Force Academy. Plenty of things were done wrong and he slept in a tent the night before the race. Just "fun" right now and learning that the little things just might matter.

TMonk

gotcha.

geez! glad that you're OK.

Heathpack 

Spent all day yesterday at Glentress Mountain Bike Park with a guide/instructor. What an awesome place! It was perfect for me since I just took up mtb-ing 8 weeks ago. We climbed up to the top from the lower parking lot on a combo of fire roads & blue trail and even a little bit of red. We wound up going up above Spooky Woods on a fire road that T-intersects with the black trail because there's a new section of blue up there, at the very top there's a tower if that helps describe where we went.

Then we rode every blue trail back down. And up and down all day until I'd ridden all of them 2-3 times.

So nice too to see so many people out riding and especially so many kids. Everybody again completely well-mannered and reasonable.

I really enjoyed the guide too, worked well for me- I got a some good instruction & didnt have to pull the trail map out 50 times to figure out where I was.

mike868y

how dare he have fun in college.

gsteinb

I got a sneak peak at the forthcoming list of top party schools. Air Force academy? #1

rideaz

Awesome! Glad you liked it! :-)

himespau 

After chuckling at your post, I had all sorts of getting tail in Tailhook puns forming in my head when it occurred to me that having a hook on the tail probably meant it was naval pilots, but my memory is hazy and I'm too lazy to look.

Edit: not in any way to demean the service of topflightpro's friend or any other service person.

topflightpro

I went to a wedding this weekend. The groom was a Naval pilot.

As for Daniel's mtb racing, he'll get there. The technical nature of it is different from road, and that is where he likely is going to be challenged. With his fitness and strength, he likely will crush guys on trails with lots of climbing. But they'll catch him on the downhills.

furiousferret

Had the nephews over to rip out our kitchen flooring which consisted of glue down vinyl. Give them a simple task, and kids are borderline useless. Give them a power tool, and suddenly they become employees of the month. One was about to pass out from heat but still didn't want to hand it over!

Doge

Pretty cool pic and looks like a great trip.
Do they go both directions on the trail?
AND...
When you come head to head with another cyclist do you dodge to your left or right?

mattm

**** man! Glad you got out alive and unscathed.

jdms mvp

me and friend went riding through a wildloop preserve loop and we were leisurely riding (17-18mph on flat) , when we passed two guys riding together. As we passed and minded our own business, one of the guys we past decided to sprint , full on in drops out of saddle , on our inside line nearly brushing shoulders with us..... Albeit coming to a sharp right turn bend. He proceeds to lock up the brakes, skid, go off the road, and nearly hit a tree. I was literally in shock and awe. We have determined he was trying to race us? The whole situation made no sense whatsoever. lol

Heathpack 

The trails are mostly one way (in theory). But right when we first got started, there was a guy mistakenly coming down a climbing trail, heading straight for me. He managed to brake to almost a stop. I dodged right and we nearly collided. Otherwise though, everything was very orderly.

Doge

I noticed even walking on the island - and in Kenya where I lived the reflex collision avoidance is the way traffic goes. I could see issues on mixed direction trails.

mattm

Awesome.

Did you ask him wtf was going on?

TMonk

+1
this is awesome lol.

I would have said something like: "Nice!", "Nice one" or "Sweeet!", unless he looked hurt. Then I would stop and see if he was OK.

Hopefully he was OK, which of course makes it OK for you to laugh at him .

Homebrew01

Speaking of Scotland, here are a few pictures:

Beginning the hike up Ben Nevis, that peak on the left (Highest in U.K.).
It's about a 7 hour round-trip hike at a steady, but not crazy pace.



A little over 1/2 way up Ben Nevis:



3/4 of the way up. Stopped to text back & forth with work about some server problems. Sketchy signal



Scenic stop leaving the Highlands, heading south to England



Canoeing on Loch Ness