I’ve seen plenty of hardtails out there. Everything is rollable or has a chicken bailout line. I tried following Josh from @chickensendies when he was on a Manic hardtail and I couldn’t keep up!

I’d say take the gnarlier parts a little slower while practicing a neutral position. The brain tends to make you push away from the perceived danger but that unweights the front tire which can result in a washout. If you’re doing the drops off the walls, I’d avoid that last log roll - it’s bucked many of us since it comes right after the second drop.

I do have a whole Palos playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PLLHrBfNwqEQ1pwIYUBM4dFBJbhJK1LHu1&si=10u_zn20LzqOvtNV I do need to add more videos showing our new trail Resurrection.

@@decoherence926 in general, the afternoons are less busy on all days except Wednesday. We have a standing group ride on Wednesday afternoon/evening which anyone can join. Weekend mornings are busiest with traffic typically reducing after noon.

I only ran 2.5 laps in the dark. I was suffering from some bad chafing. You can run an external pack to supplement the internal battery. For the fire road sections, I only ran the handlebar light and it was on the lowest setting. I would have run the fire roads in the dark but it was a new moon and absolutely dark w/o lights.

You mean the arms that fold down onto the wheels/tires? I don't think I've ever seen those bent.

We camped at Palace campground in Galena, which was overpriced IMO. We might try Blanding Landing next time but I hear it is next to busy railroad tracks.

It’s amazing how many different types of bicycles they have!

Woah, that would be scary for both parties. Usually for mini bike park type trails they don’t allow hiking or there are hike specific trails because of the high bike speed.

@@TheMediocreMountainBiker all but a few if the trails here are multi use and bi directional

We almost died! 😂

We had paceline training on our gravel ride yesterday. 😛

Yea, pretty fast. Probably worth a return trip to really session some of my favorites and get comfortable with the ones we only got one run of.

I wish I had a bike to put them on!

whats your solution? I'm looking for the same thing

@@DavidandLynnTownsend-xx1lv I should have it implemented within a week or so. I'll let you know how it turns out

I bought a padlock that fits through the hole. It's and ABUS Titalium but it does hang a little low so it's taken a few hits. My rack is a little loose in the tilt bar - it becomes pretty apparent when I hit a dip in the road as the rack bounce up. Bikes stay in the rack though.

@@DavidandLynnTownsend-xx1lv I have part of it done, the rest in another week probably

I think my friend had the SQlab grips on his hardtail which I’ve tried but also thought they were extraneous. This bike typically doesn’t see long rides of smooth straight trails - is usually on twisty singletrack with ride no longer than 20 miles. I could see merit in these inner bar ends for a flat bar gravel bike - they just don’t benefit me on my singletrack bikes.

@@TheMediocreMountainBiker yeah I get you, I guess it's a tool for a specific task, although having researched some more, the typical flat bar hand position does put a lot of pressure on the nerves in the hand and wrist, that plus your body weight and trail chatter is what causes the issue with flat bars. I ride the Thames path from where I live in to Central London and back as my training run, which is around 40 miles, I'm pretty much sold on needing a solution, just need to identify the right solution at the right price. I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of Spiregrips I think

I added my links to the Strava recordings in the description, but my iPhone recorded between 670 and 690 feet of elevation per lap.

That mud was brutal and climbing Grass Hill was also exhausting!

Oh. and I do have shirts at my merch shop - which I have a few of. 😀 themediocremountainbiker.myspreadshop.com/

Yea, my assessment puts it in the “nice to hit up if you happen to be in the area” category.

@TheMediocreMountainBiker Would you recommend Proving Grounds over this one?

Definitely ride Proving Grounds over IPP.

We spent a lot of time at Galena Brewing Company in Galena where our campground was. The burgers next door at Durty Gurts were fantastic!

Toppling Goliath brewery is in Decorah, IA - not Dubuque and worth the trip - plenty of bike trails there too

@@johnwrycza gotcha my bad, I commonly get toppling Goliath out here in SoCal thru Tavour & it’s totally worth it

Ooof, that’s a pretty fast part too!

@TheMediocreMountainBiker yeah happened Monday my shoulder still a bit purple

I've folded over an Absolute Black oval ring but I think that's more of a design weakness rather than failure from impact. The bash seems pretty sturdy to me but we don't really have sustained high speed runs here.

Give Dirksen and Ft Creve Coeur - I didn’t have a chance to ride those but I heard they were also fun. I’ve ridden. Farmdale a few times and it’s just not all that exciting for me anymore.

@@TheMediocreMountainBiker thanks! Comparable meant to say Comlara.

@@shawneggers4484 I haven’t ridden Comlara so I can’t say

I like mine a lot. Shimano GRX 400 isn’t that great but ok. I now have WTB Riddler tires, much better rolling. I’m running an REI top tube bag and a Revelate half frame bag now to hold a jacket and snacks. The Revelate fits ok but the long steerer tube makes the bag fit weird. It’s not the lightest gravel bike but works very well.

There’s been a few times with a downed tree that I feel I can ride over but it would’ve smashed my chainring - so now I think I can try those without penalty now.

It's not a road bike so you can get away with extra grams for your safety.

Oh no, where’s the good stuff at??

I’ve heard good things about Dirksen and Fort Creve Coure (sp?) too, nearby.