Very nice collection 
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Oh, how times change.
Not too long after that post, I took a couple spills on the BMX bike, which really bummed me out on riding. I wound up selling off all my bikes in a fit of depression.
This year, shit, 2024 has been a fucker for me. But I realized that the times in my life when I’ve been happiest, both emotionally and physically? Those times are when I have a bike, and I’m actively riding it. But… I’m well over BMX. And I lost my nerve for road cycling in traffic (getting hit by a car a couple of times will do that). So, I decided to pick up another MTB and get out on the local trails.
It’s a brand-new Kona Lava Dome. 29" hard tail, 1x9 drivetrain. Great frame, decent components. Nothing real aggressive, but easy to ride. Definitely a great “ride it until something breaks, then upgrade it” bike. I’ve been hitting the Fullerton Loop trail and taking it down to the beach on weekends. I’m woefully out of shape, but I’m really enjoying being back out on a bike.
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Super relatable. I’m doing mostly mountain biking lately as well because I get worked up and want to chase down a driver most of my road rides recently (and what makes it worse is that I mostly can catch them at intersections).
I’d say I’m happy that you can attend the church of the big ring again, but I’m not sure it counts on a 1x 
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I mean… if it’s a 1x, then it IS the big ring. Of course, it’s also the small ring. And the middle ring. 
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Oh yeah. I was a motorcycle commuter in the Bay Area traffic. People do the damndest things. Ask me anything 
Seriously, I think my favorite was the time I was up in a lane next to someone driving impatiently, I honked briefly to make sure he saw me, he turned and waved at me, and then pulled in to my lane anyway. “Yes, hello, I see you, and now I will kill you. Have a nice day!”
Or the protesters running from the cops that ran a red light and hit me, but I sympathized with them and asked the cops to let them go.
Good times 
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You ever take it off any sweet jumps?
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Oh and swap out those crappy plastic factory pedals for some nice flats with replaceable pins. It’ll make a world of difference. $40 and it’ll change your life!
Flats for the win @JustTim
But they do eat through your bike shoes. Hey ho!
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We’ll just agree to disagree lol
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More efficient climbing absolutely , but pinned through blown out dusty flat corners and you want to get a foot down fast then flats are your friend.
Fine for XC but I’ve ridden them both for years and you won’t get me hitting drops on clipless any more
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I don’t think there’s a difference for this TBH. I cannot imagine not having feet attached to the bike through bouncy rooty stuff, but I also came to MTB from the road → cyclocross → MTB side. Last time I watched downhill and Enduro world champs it was quite unusual to see flats though so I don’t think it’s just climbing.
I rode Whistler bike park for years (3 to 4 nights a week) and have a basement full of old pedals. I tried a season on clipped flats. A set of CB Mallets I think.
They were good, but I had my foot step out on a landing once on Clown Shoes and I went down pretty hard (cracked the chin guard on my helmet, broken ribs etc). I never had that issue with decent flats and Five Ten Freeriders.
I’m at a point where 20+ years of MTB riding and crashing means I’m not going back to clip less because I don’t have the confidence in them that I do with flats. I get that all the pros run them now.
I never approach a drop and wonder if my feet will stay on the pedals. I’ve never lost a foot through fast rooty sections.
Now the only thing I think as i approach a big drop is, if I crash at aged 52 how long will it take to recover this time
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Yeah, whatever gives confidence is definitely the answer.
Took my Water chopper out Sunday! 2023 Yamaha FX Limited Cruiser SVHO. This one is bone stock, will do 68 MPH. My other is a 2018 GP1800. The GP1800 is a little hopped up, it will do 86 MPH.
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How much plywood can you get in the truck bed @Tommydogg?
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We did Fullerton loop in reverse a few times on Night rides. It’s a lot more fun but really kicking ass. I wish I go back to ride again.
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Clipless? Nah! I was a diehard Clipless then I discovered 5.10 and light weight flat pedals. They are different but not better or worse especially when it comes to power delivery for an “average” rider. Pros may be able to squeeze out the last few percentage but it comes at the cost of lots of practice and condition.
I was one of the first adopter of the dropper post, 650b and flats, lots of XC guys were against it, I just watch the mountain bike olympics, they are using the dropper post.
Most insane push back from the clipless people usually were something like you can hop by pulling up with the pedal. What??? Go back to riding school people.
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Well flats is not that forgiving, unlike clipless. Clipless give you degree of floats. Flats is pretty much zero, it just stuck to your shoe but you have the flexibility of adjusting your footing, it’s much harder to ride than clipless.
I was top 5 on one of the race simply because of flat pedals. I got off the bike and ran about 50 yards on the side 2nd corner hugh bottle neck and sealed the deal on the first series of switchbacks bottleneck, just ran and skipped the traffic. Clipless shoes are useless especially the good ones as they are so stiff and stable on the pedal but not for running.
The year before I finished almost last, then the tactic came to me while I was bringing up the rear.
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Not much unless cut it up first! I do haul tools, recovery equipment, bag chairs, pop ups and even a 9 foot werewolf once!
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We do a Jeep or Treat every year for the kids. I picked the spot under the tree because it was sunny when we set up. I had no idea a full moon would rise in the background!
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I wonder what kind of tone you can get out of that Yamaha? 
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