How fullsndr started.
Five years ago this was 50 lines of Google Apps Script texting friends when one trail closed. Today it's a multi-trail prediction platform backed by Google DeepMind's WeatherNext 2 ensemble. Same mission. Better tools.
The original 90-second pitch.
Recorded for the BizPitch Columbus 2022 Second Round Pitch Competition. It's awkward and earnest and only 90 seconds long — exactly what a 2022 pitch should be.
The timeline.
From a single Google Form to a real prediction platform — the long version.
- 2021 April
It started with one trail and a Google Form
A homemade Google Apps Script started scraping standingboy.org every few minutes and texting riders when conditions changed. No app, no website, no business plan. Just an annoyance ("did I just drive here for nothing?") and a Sheet of friends who wanted to know before they loaded the bike.
- 2022 Aug — Sep
fullsndr became a real thing
By summer 2022 the Google Form had 82 subscribers. Time to make it official. fullsndr.com was registered Aug 25, Fullsndr, LLC was formed in Georgia on Sep 7, and three weeks later Lucas pitched the venture at BizPitch Columbus 2022 — that video is below.
- 2023 — 2025 The quiet years
Kept running, kept learning
The Google Script kept doing its job for hundreds of riders while life happened. Each closure event, every rain band that crossed Columbus, added another data point worth thinking about. The seed of the prediction model was germinating on a Saturday morning when Lucas drove to a closed trail in a perfectly dry forecast.
- 2026 March
Rebuilt from scratch
fullsndr.ai launches as the modern platform: BigQuery for everything, WeatherNext 2 ensemble forecasts from Google DeepMind, real-time scans every 5 minutes, SMS plus email, free for riders, paid for trail managers. Same mission. Better tools.
- Today
41 trail systems, growing
fullsndr now monitors trail systems across Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee — from Standing Boy in Columbus to the entire SORBA Mid-TN footprint. A free service for riders. A real product for managers. Backed by 5+ years of operating data and the kind of obsessive detail that comes from being a rider first.
Here's the actual 2021 source.
Not a recreation. Not "inspired by." The real Google Apps Script that ran on a free Google account for years and texted hundreds of riders. Kept around because it deserves the credit.
// fullsndr Google Script v1.1 — April 2021
// Used by 200+ subscribers via Google Sheets + MailApp carrier gateways
function getAlerts() {
var url = 'https://www.standingboy.org';
var html = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url).getContentText();
if (html.indexOf('MULTI-USE TRAILS: CLOSED') >= 0) {
trail_status = "Closed";
} else {
trail_status = "Open";
}
if (current_trail_status != trail_status) {
getAndSendSMSDetails(); // fan out to every subscriber
}
}Why fullsndr exists.
Riders come first
Trail-status notifications stay free for riders. Forever. We don't monetize by gatekeeping who knows the trail is open.
Real prediction, not vibes
Our forecast model uses Google DeepMind's WeatherNext 2 ensemble at 4km resolution, scored daily against ground truth. We publish what works and what doesn't.
Trail managers are partners
We power trail-manager workflows without competing with the work they do on the ground. Their site stays canonical. We just help riders see it sooner.
Built in Columbus, GA
fullsndr is a one-person shop based in Columbus, Georgia, with deep roots in the local MTB community. Standing Boy was the first trail. It will always be the home trail.
Who's behind it.
Lucas got his first mountain bike at Trek of Columbus in 2020 (that's him picking it up with his youngest son Rhett, early in COVID) and built fullsndr the next year after driving 30 minutes to a closed trail one too many times. He runs a small marketing agency in Columbus, rides Standing Boy most weekends, and has been writing code that talks to weather APIs since before it was cool.
See Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for the long-form legalese.
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