Category Archives: News

Ride Review: The Ilsa ‘Bad Ass’!

I recently had the good fortune – and the immense pleasure – of spending a week riding a pre-production version of Velorangutan’s in-house full-suspension Ti build. To be sold under the Ilse brand, the ‘Bad Ass’ ate up everything I could find to throw at it. Fast on the straights, snappy on the corners, and with some rather fancy wireless technology, the bike pretty much rode itself. I hit the new bermy trails at Forrest Creek, the chunk and climbing of Steiner Ranch, a lap at Walnut Creek, and a long, humid ride on the South Austin Trail Network.

The build:

  • The flowing line of the Ti lower tube means two water bottles!
  • 29 x 2.4″ Pirelli Scorpions – based on the legendary Euro car tire
  • Rockshox Pike 140 fork
  • Rockshox Deluxe Ultimate 130 rear shock
  • Head angle: 66 °
  • Seattube angle 76 °
    • SRAM AXS wireless shifter and dropper
    • T47 bottom bracket
    • Magura quad piston brakes

For more info, contact Wes@Velorangutan.com.

Forrest Creek Ranch – new trail report!

It’s always nice when private landowners allow singletrack to be built on their land. Forrest Creek Ranch, out past COTA in Dale, Texas, now has around 10 miles of sweet, bermy, flowy singletrack on it – and plans are in the works to add to this. With about 600 feet of climbing, it’s not the hilliest trail in Central Texas, but each small climb pays off with fast-rolling dips and berms, so it’s really fun to ride.

Plenty of lovely, fast berms built by the crew at KOM Trails
A Paul Uhl-grade mud pit
A stock pond in one of the few unshaded areas
A rock outcrop has been used to add a little kicker on this short downhill
A nice straightaway with a great view to the left and a herd of young deer ahead

The trail is 95% shaded, so definitely a good option on a hot day. It is not open to the public at this time – open hours and events are posted at https://www.facebook.com/groups/659192675547555, or you can email Todd@Endurarace.com.

Castell Grind 2021!

After skipping a year in 2020, the Castell Grind – and consequently, the Team IPA annual birthday celebration – returned with a vengeance! The weather and the increasing availability of vaccines came together to ensure that we had a great ride and a wonderful weekend getaway. Many thanks to the organizers!

Team IPA riders at the start line (photo by Dawn Skinner)
Halfway round the 32 mile North Loop
Left-to-right: Castell Grind organizers Debbie Richardson & Mike Drost, adventure writer Pam LeBlanc & her husband Chris.

Getting back into racing!

We all know how 2020 went. The team continued to ride, solo or in small groups – one of the advantages of no traffic meant we could move around town more easily, and there have been a lot of Southside and Brushy Creek rides! Hopefully these will continue, even when traffic picks back up. The race calendar is picking up – you can see our upcoming events on our shared calendar: http://www.teamipa.bike/calendar/

TMBRA races are firing back up – two of us went and swept the Spring Series ‘Rocky Hill Roundup’ this past weekend – a little too crowded in the start gate area for our liking, but we hope things will smooth out as the season progresses.

Some sweet Castell Grind gravel is coming up in a couple of weeks, and several of us are looking forward to the Big Sugar 50 and 100km races in Bentonville this fall. Meanwhile, our friends over at Capital City Racing will be putting on some local gravel races for us to enjoy.

Let the good times roll, and keep the rubber side down!

Castell Grind 2019!

A huge storm system rolling through in the morning meant a 2 1/2 hour delayed start, and the 50 km route for all riders, but boy – with that headwind, it sure felt like the 100!

[Photo credit to Pam LeBlanc and Mike Drost]

John R
Carrie, the youngest racer on the team
Barbara and the chase car
Ben sporting the new team kit
Dawn S enjoying herself
Reverse arrow formation!
John S looking pretty cheerful
That sand — the notorious Keyserville Road sandy eight-miler
Lucie and Don – Lucie went on to take the Women’s Hammer!
Tom F busting it on a sandy uphill stretch
Hoss crosses the line
Padre crosses the line on his singlespeed
Mike, Race Director

GranGravel 500!

Good luck to our Team IPA racers on the GranGravel 500 this year. Keep it up, Hoss and the Sheilas!

You can follow along here.

Gears and Guns!

A few of the team were able to attend the 2018 Gears and Guns biathlon, held at Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort, TX. No podium finishes, but several top ten in both the male and female categories.