I've continued to ride several times a week. I've ridden a number of different bikes: Mike's road, Scott's cross, my Epic, and my single speed.
The two borrowed bikes felt super fast - which matches their super light frames and skinny tires. Riding the cross bike in the forest was odd because of the handlebars and the skinny tires - I did make it safely (if a bit uneasily) down the single track.
My Epic had an unfortunate encounter with the library parking structure. I'd been tweaking the setup to fit well, like adjusting the grips, moving the brake levers for single finger braking. The front shock is beyond repair an I'm going to replace the bike with one from the Team Dirt special order in about a month.
In the meantime, I've been riding my single speed. I've been happily surprised that I can actually climb up to the top of Dimple Hill. The descents are a little shaky because the ancient shock is worse than useless and I'm still adjusting to having no suspension in the rear. I've got a rigid fork on order and am looking forward to riding with that. I also plan on putting the tubeless tires which should also improve traction.
Last winter I rode my Epic a lot and because it has full-suspension, there were a lot of parts that suffered from the wear and tear due to all the mud and water. My thought is to ride my single speed for a chunk of this winter (with full-wrap fenders if they fit) to keep costs down. Plus, it'd help me improve my bike handling skills to put some serious miles on while riding a fully rigid bike.
Enough blabbing. Here are some snapshots I took on recent rides. It's been a great fall for riding.
