Last week was sort of shit for riding. High wind and rain were the biggest factor, fallowed by family activities and ongoing general mental malaise. I did get out for a bit on Saturday up at Hanson Hills. It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but it was something, and something is better than nothing.
Hanson is one of the sandiest trails nearby so I thought it might be a good idea to ride the Farley instead of the Superfly or El Mariachi: It wasn’t.
I don’t know WHY I consistently force myself to try to like riding a fat bike on (snowless) trails. I just don’t have that much fun without the snow. Sure, I blasted through the sandy washouts of Hanson with ease, and that was awesome, but the rest of the time I just felt slow and sluggish, feeling trapped between the want to go faster and the inability to do so without a shit-ton of effort.
Oddly enough I feel better riding the fatty on dirt, sand and gravel roads than on trails. I think that is mostly due to the lack of quick cornering and/or accelerations. Once the beast is up to speed it just plows along like a diesel train conducted by a beer bellied goofball with a cycling blog. I also find it odd that I felt more at ease riding the Pugs on trails than I do the Farley. My guess is that the Pugsley was so incredibly heavy I KNEW that I couldn’t go fast on singletrack, so I just plodded along like a Tiger Tank. The Farley on the other hand, with its lighter weight and racier geometry, fools you me into thinking that you’re I’m on a “regular” mountain bike… except you’re I’m not and you I end up wishing for one of my other mountain bikes.
So with yet another lackluster, singletrack fat bike ride under my lengthening belt, I am finished trying to force myself to like riding my fat bike on snowless singletrack. I am going to reserve the fatty for the winter snow and ice, fat bike racing and my semi-occasional (but kind of frequent) gravel road rambles and ORV trail ‘splorin’. This is no way a reflection the bike, it’s a good one, it’s a reflection on me and what I want out of a ride on singletrack.
Hope to get some fall-riding mojo back this week.
Later.