Change is different

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
07/13/2017 at 14:29 • Filed to: None

one of the biggest parts of moving I was worried about was leaving the trails behind my house. There are trails behind my new house. For the most part, they are not very technical (neither were the others) but dame these ones are beautiful. Its a bit flatter and higher speed but at least there are a few bridges still

DISCUSSION (20)

benjrblant > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:33

Do you use MTB project? There’s a lot of great trails documented on their website/app but it varies based on how active the cycling community is in your area.

BeaterGT > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:38

Nothing like having trails near home! Looks like you lucked out.

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:42

Wow, nice. Being able to ride from home is such a huge difference from even 5 minutes away.

I am jealous of some nice easy trails, though, we are severely lacking in things that aren’t seriously technical. Even the connector trail from my house to the “real” trails has a few parts I can’t always do.

A local trail I ride a lot has many “bridges” that are made by the high schoolers who ride them, and they’re just single logs with scrap broken pallet boards nailed - sometimes with a single nail - onto the log roughly in the middle, spaced 2-6" apart in no particular pattern. I’ll have to take a picture sometime, but I’m usually concentrating on not dying.

Beautiful pond too by the way!

OPPOsaurus WRX > functionoverfashion
07/13/2017 at 14:44

yea I was thinking of going out there and making some stuff to give it a little more excitement.

having to pack up and bring your bike somewhere is a pain in the ass.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:44

Kinja'd!!!

By definition, yes.

Rock Bottom > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:44

We’re machine people. We want bike pics.

CalzoneGolem > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 14:45

I really need to explore the snowmobile trails around my house.

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 15:03

I made a little tiny trail by my house for my kids, it goes down to a little stream; I had not imagined it for biking at all, and so it turns out it’s possible to ride, but very very difficult despite being easy for kids to walk. It’s amazing how much fun I can have just trying to get end-to-end on a 200-foot-long trail without putting a foot down or a shoulder into a tree. It doesn’t take much to entertain me...

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 15:39

Seriously jealous over here. I have yet to live less than half an hour drive away from any trail.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/13/2017 at 22:06

Time to move. Didn’t you just break yourself?

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/13/2017 at 23:25

I’d love to move somewhere with trails close by, but I hate commuting. There’s also that need to have a decent job. I haven’t found an alternative yet.

I think it was HammerheadFistPunch who broke a wing over the weekend. I’m fine, thanks.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/14/2017 at 08:04

haha i think you are right. If I moved closer to my job i would most likely lose the trails. They are scattered all over my town, but the town I grew up in has like 2. My commute today was 30 minutes cuz I guess i’m the only schmuck that works on a Friday !?! yesterday it took 45 minutes.

OPPOsaurus WRX > benjrblant
07/14/2017 at 08:08

no, there is only one guy who has posted in my area but holy crap I need to find this

https://www.mtbproject.com/photo/6307476

OPPOsaurus WRX > CalzoneGolem
07/14/2017 at 08:11

I bert those would be good for a mountain bike. I’d be a bit scared riding up there. You have a lot of animals that could eat you. The worst I run into down here may be a coyote and they don’t hang around to talk. Bears on the other hand, fuck that.

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/14/2017 at 09:10

You aren’t the only Friday-working schmuck. The topic came up just yesterday during our luncheon with the division HR Director. It seems nobody in Louisiana works Friday afternoons. I don’t say that facetiously. Many of the state agencies, including our primary client, work four nines and a four so they can have Friday afternoons off. Some of our engineers wanted to know if we could alter our work schedule to match.

When they say “trails” around here, they are usually talking about meandering sidewalks. We do have some MTB trails on the north side of town, but they are in the Amite River flood plain, so they are often flooded. There are also a lot of chemical plants on that side of town (stinky!), the airport is nearby, and the area is economically depressed. These things make that area an undesirable place to live. For me, that’s especially true since I work on the south side of town and would have to commute through the worst of the traffic.

We are looking at moving closer into town, but we have to find the right balance between the size of the house, the cost of the house, the location (proximity to schools is a primary concern), and the traffic we would have to deal with.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/14/2017 at 09:12

choosing a house sux. We wanted to be in the town we are because of the schools and low crime. the town next over is 1 town further from my office, low crime but worse schools. for the same price as what we just paid for our house, we could have had the same house but with a 2 car garage

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/14/2017 at 09:33

In Baton Rouge, the houses are either older and smaller at the same price as ours, or slightly bigger and double the price. We don’t want a smaller house, so we are looking at a 50-100% increase in our mortgage. The thing that’s really driving me crazy is how the condition of the neighborhood changes block-by-block. One block is nice, the next block is a hell-hole.

CalzoneGolem > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/14/2017 at 10:26

I’m not quite deep enough in the woods to worry about bears. That being said I wouldn’t be too outrageous for bears to be around if food was real scarce.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/14/2017 at 10:34

one thing that amazed me is that the house I bought was $415k and the house I sold was $375k but because the ‘new’ was newer (1965 vs 1900) my insurance cost went down. Now dont get the impression i’m rich either cuz I bought the original house at $235k and put 5 yrs of my life into making it better.

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/14/2017 at 10:49

That’s some pretty good sweat equity!

The houses in the neighborhoods we are interested were built in the ‘40s in some areas to just last year in others. Prices have been driven up by the housing shortage caused by the flood last year. Our house is about 1,700 sq.ft. Similar sized houses in Baton Rouge that are 50 years older are selling for $150,000 more. If we want to get into something a little larger, we are looking at half a million for something that didn’t flood.