Riding Rigid, Riding One Gear

While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

Since PS I've been busy working and didn't have time to ride (nearly two
weeks). I finished the job and decided it was time to dust off (lots of saw
dust) the rigid ss. Now every time I've been out on this thing I've flatted
on the rear which is a pain to fix. This time I use mucho air, close to 60
psi in these not so fat Kendas, to avoid the inevitable pinch flat that has
plagued my inadequate riding skill. Riding the ss has not been a fun
adventure until this ride.

The first mile of the ride was on blacktop to the trailhead. I'm thinking
this is great, full transfer of power to the bike, smooth....say what?
Yeah, on the blacktop the rigid is smooth as silk but........

I hit the trail and began an experience of jarring, bouncing, teeth
rattling, butt busting, hand numbing pleasure that I hadn't experience on my
previous rides. I thought I was going to take it easy but after meeting up
with my buddy John (riding a ht) we took off and never stopped (until
hitting the coffee shop). I made all but the steepest of climbs and
downhilled some stuff as fast as I could have done with my double boinger or
at least it seemed that fast. Who knows with my head and body vibrating
this much it sure seemed as fast.

There were sections I was doing the hamster dance trying to keep up with
John and did so to at least keep him in sight. No spin class could have
prepared me for that! It would have been fun to know what pedal rpm I was
actually managing!

After coffee we hit the canal for the smooth ride back to the trail. This
is a short section of trail with a steady climb up through a mtn saddle and
then slowly back to the start area. It's nice to push this climb and I did
leaving John gasping (well, he is 62 for craps sake) at the top but staying
within 20 yards or so.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.....no flats.

Tonight I ride the rss again, canal only, with one of my other riding buds
that just got a new 24" wheeled beach cruiser.

should be fun.

Gary

GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

Did you send it to Push?


Since PS I've been busy working and didn't have time to ride (nearly two
weeks). I finished the job and decided it was time to dust off (lots of

It's about time you became a contributing member of society again.


There were sections I was doing the hamster dance trying to keep up with
John and did so to at least keep him in sight. No spin class could have
prepared me for that! It would have been fun to know what pedal rpm I
was actually managing!

I can only imagine what that had been like. It was hard enough keeping
up on the paved path in the big ring.


After coffee we hit the canal for the smooth ride back to the trail.
This is a short section of trail with a steady climb up through a mtn
saddle and then slowly back to the start area. It's nice to push this
climb and I did leaving John gasping (well, he is 62 for craps sake) at
the top but staying within 20 yards or so.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.....no flats.

Tonight I ride the rss again, canal only, with one of my other riding
buds that just got a new 24" wheeled beach cruiser.

should be fun.

Gary

Nice!

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

Since PS I've been busy working and didn't have time to ride (nearly two
weeks). I finished the job and decided it was time to dust off (lots of
saw dust) the rigid ss. Now every time I've been out on this thing I've
flatted on the rear which is a pain to fix. This time I use mucho air,
close to 60 psi in these not so fat Kendas, to avoid the inevitable
pinch flat that has plagued my inadequate riding skill. Riding the ss
has not been a fun adventure until this ride.


Might I suggest bigger tires and a little lower pressure? I also put a
shock on my SS and I like it. I know it's not as pure, but it's fun and
that's what matter the most to me.

The first mile of the ride was on blacktop to the trailhead. I'm
thinking this is great, full transfer of power to the bike,
smooth....say what? Yeah, on the blacktop the rigid is smooth as silk
but........

I hit the trail and began an experience of jarring, bouncing, teeth
rattling, butt busting, hand numbing pleasure that I hadn't experience
on my previous rides. I thought I was going to take it easy but after
meeting up with my buddy John (riding a ht) we took off and never
stopped (until hitting the coffee shop). I made all but the steepest of
climbs and downhilled some stuff as fast as I could have done with my
double boinger or at least it seemed that fast. Who knows with my head
and body vibrating this much it sure seemed as fast.

There were sections I was doing the hamster dance trying to keep up with
John and did so to at least keep him in sight. No spin class could have
prepared me for that! It would have been fun to know what pedal rpm I
was actually managing!

After coffee we hit the canal for the smooth ride back to the trail.
This is a short section of trail with a steady climb up through a mtn
saddle and then slowly back to the start area. It's nice to push this
climb and I did leaving John gasping (well, he is 62 for craps sake) at
the top but staying within 20 yards or so.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.....no flats.

Tonight I ride the rss again, canal only, with one of my other riding
buds that just got a new 24" wheeled beach cruiser.

should be fun.

Gary

Cool. Spin (and grind) on!

Matt

GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

should be fun.

Gary

Here's what helps keep me in relative control and comfort. I have the
2.35 kenda kinetics at about 28lbs, and a fairly soft seat, and I stand
a lot. Going up, and going down.... but I still love it. Not for all
the time, now that Rev Titus has converted me to double-squish, but
it's still fun once a week or so.

Spin like a hamster, sting like a bee...

CDB

"Ride-A-Lot" wrote in message
...
GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

Did you send it to Push?

Yes, probably get it back after xmas



Since PS I've been busy working and didn't have time to ride (nearly two
weeks). I finished the job and decided it was time to dust off (lots of

It's about time you became a contributing member of society again.

eat my shorts, amy!



There were sections I was doing the hamster dance trying to keep up with
John and did so to at least keep him in sight. No spin class could have
prepared me for that! It would have been fun to know what pedal rpm I
was actually managing!

I can only imagine what that had been like. It was hard enough keeping up
on the paved path in the big ring.

This was on the trail in a smooth, gradual dh section (area right before
going under the freeway before we hit the canal.



After coffee we hit the canal for the smooth ride back to the trail.
This is a short section of trail with a steady climb up through a mtn
saddle and then slowly back to the start area. It's nice to push this
climb and I did leaving John gasping (well, he is 62 for craps sake) at
the top but staying within 20 yards or so.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.....no flats.

Tonight I ride the rss again, canal only, with one of my other riding
buds that just got a new 24" wheeled beach cruiser.

should be fun.

Gary

Nice!

yep


--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

"MattB" wrote in message
...
GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

Since PS I've been busy working and didn't have time to ride (nearly two
weeks). I finished the job and decided it was time to dust off (lots of
saw dust) the rigid ss. Now every time I've been out on this thing I've
flatted on the rear which is a pain to fix. This time I use mucho air,
close to 60 psi in these not so fat Kendas, to avoid the inevitable pinch
flat that has plagued my inadequate riding skill. Riding the ss has not
been a fun adventure until this ride.


Might I suggest bigger tires and a little lower pressure? I also put a
shock on my SS and I like it. I know it's not as pure, but it's fun and
that's what matter the most to me.


In time but if I can learn to ride better with this setup I might be able to
keep the Palm Springs guys in sight next year.....assuming I'm invited
again.

The first mile of the ride was on blacktop to the trailhead. I'm
thinking this is great, full transfer of power to the bike, smooth....say
what? Yeah, on the blacktop the rigid is smooth as silk but........

I hit the trail and began an experience of jarring, bouncing, teeth
rattling, butt busting, hand numbing pleasure that I hadn't experience on
my previous rides. I thought I was going to take it easy but after
meeting up with my buddy John (riding a ht) we took off and never
stopped (until hitting the coffee shop). I made all but the steepest of
climbs and downhilled some stuff as fast as I could have done with my
double boinger or at least it seemed that fast. Who knows with my head
and body vibrating this much it sure seemed as fast.

There were sections I was doing the hamster dance trying to keep up with
John and did so to at least keep him in sight. No spin class could have
prepared me for that! It would have been fun to know what pedal rpm I
was actually managing!

After coffee we hit the canal for the smooth ride back to the trail.
This is a short section of trail with a steady climb up through a mtn
saddle and then slowly back to the start area. It's nice to push this
climb and I did leaving John gasping (well, he is 62 for craps sake) at
the top but staying within 20 yards or so.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.....no flats.

Tonight I ride the rss again, canal only, with one of my other riding
buds that just got a new 24" wheeled beach cruiser.

should be fun.

Gary

Cool. Spin (and grind) on!

Matt

How's the skiing/snow? My friends that run the dogsleds in T-ride say
there's barely enough snow to run their sleds.

Gary

"Paladin" wrote in message
ups.com...

GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

should be fun.

Gary

Here's what helps keep me in relative control and comfort. I have the
2.35 kenda kinetics at about 28lbs, and a fairly soft seat, and I stand
a lot. Going up, and going down.... but I still love it. Not for all
the time, now that Rev Titus has converted me to double-squish, but
it's still fun once a week or so.

Spin like a hamster, sting like a bee...

CDB


28 lbs = mega pinchies for my big butt and lack of hardtail skills.

but it was way fun

I guess I could always through that White Bros 90mm (won in a raffle) on the
front and see if I like it any better......

Gary

GeeDubb wrote:

snip


How's the skiing/snow? My friends that run the dogsleds in T-ride say
there's barely enough snow to run their sleds.

Gary

It's not terribly deep (about a 35" base at either ski area) but not bad
skiing. We've been getting a little snow once or twice a week to keep
things pretty soft. The backcountry has been good above 9,000' too. I
just wish the deep snow would come a little lower. Hartman's has too
much snow to ride (easily) but not enough to ski. I've actually been
running a bit, which is almost never my first choice of activities!

It's still early and it was snowing hard this morning, so there's hope!

Matt

GeeDubb wrote:

"Ride-A-Lot" wrote in message
...
GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders
I've ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my
rear shock locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped
it off to be repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a
few weeks so.......

Did you send it to Push?

Yes, probably get it back after xmas


Cool. Let me know what you think. I want to send the Racer-X fox for a
push.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

GeeDubb wrote:
"Paladin" wrote in message
ups.com...

GeeDubb wrote:
While in Palm Springs riding with probably the best group of riders I've
ridden with I managed to do 6 miles or more downhill with my rear shock
locked out. Needless to say I screwed it up and shipped it off to be
repaired. This left me w/o my dear boingy bike for a few weeks so.......

should be fun.

Gary

Here's what helps keep me in relative control and comfort. I have the
2.35 kenda kinetics at about 28lbs, and a fairly soft seat, and I stand
a lot. Going up, and going down.... but I still love it. Not for all
the time, now that Rev Titus has converted me to double-squish, but
it's still fun once a week or so.

Spin like a hamster, sting like a bee...

CDB


28 lbs = mega pinchies for my big butt and lack of hardtail skills.

but it was way fun

I guess I could always through that White Bros 90mm (won in a raffle) on the
front and see if I like it any better......

Gary


Try a DH kinda tire with a thick sidewall. It'll allow you to run
lower pressures without pinch flatting so easily. The Inner Peace 2.4
Motoraptors on the Cha work really well that way.

JD