Psycho-Cross

I had a hankering to ride the cross bike I bought this week, so I loaded it up for the Wednesday group ride up Hog's Hollow.
No, I have never ridden a cross bike on anything other than a cross race. Thank you for asking. Also, I have been riding a five inch travel bike all summer, with a Camelbak, and 2.4" tires. And baggy shorts, and hairy legs. Okay, I still have hairy legs, but I did get all decked out in spandex for the occasion. Mostly out of fear that I would have to dismount suddenly, and I didn't want to catch my baggies on the seat and die.
From the end of Hog Hollow Road, we set out. Nate, Sally, Retro Bill, and Riley. Oh, did I mention that I talked Riley into riding his cross bike too? More on that later.
The first few hundred yards were a little disconcerting. Much rougher than a five-inch full-suspension bike in case your wondering. But I settled in and grabbed the low gears to climb Hog's. No granny gear on this bike, but I do have a compact crankset(36T). How'd it climb.
Here is a photo of me at the top of Hog's..............It was frickin' awesome. The taller gears forced me to go faster to keep up my momentum, and the rigid frame was efficient as hell so it all went to the wheels. It just felt.....fast. This is the best I have felt for weeks on a bike. Maybe it's just because I was on a new bike, or maybe it's because that bike is seven pounds lighter than the one I've been riding, or maybe it's because I was in spandex(Crossdressing?), or maybe it's because I finally got to the top of a hill in the front of the pack for once. Either way, it's a blast to climb dirt on. Interestingly, the skinny little tires grab like crazy on off camber stuff. Much better than any fatties I've ever ridden. I found myself looking for sketchy ruts to try it on.
In fact, it climbed so well, I just kept going up to the top of Jacob's Ladder. Looking back, that wasn't a very wise choice. Because by going up Jacob's I would most likely have to come down Jacob's.
Riley's climb was not so glorious. You see, he caught a really bad case of IBoughtASingleSpeedCrossBikeItis from Ryan, which in and of itself isn't so bad. But, he is so burly, that when he puts a lot of torque on that single gear, the rear of his bike flexes, and the chain comes off. Not a convenient thing to have happen. He is currently re-thinking his life choices. So he turned around and went back the way we came. He does win coolest bar-tape award though. Twenty year old green and purple Vetta tape. It's the dope show.
And Sally had taken a different route so she wouldn't have to see me in Spandex anymore.
I figured, "how bad could it be?". It was pretty bad. 35mm tires at 90 or so psi aren't meant to take rocky ledge drops. Oh, but at least there are cantilever brakes being operated by road bike levers. Upper Jacob's Ladder was pretty damn scary. But, I made it, without putting a foot down. Okay, I made it with only one over-the-bars tumble. But it was into soft sand, so not a biggy.
Lower Jacob's was better, though the tight switchbacks were a little tough with those big ol' 700c wheels(read 29er). And I did discover another thing about the larger diameter wheels. At least with narrow drop bars, if you hit anything sideways, you are on the losing end of the leverage battle. Throwing you either off your bike, or down an unplanned line. So the rest of the downhill was an exercise in line-picking.
Ghost Falls was nice, again with the stupid switchbacks though. And with the weak brakes, I was a little timid about how fast I dared go. But I made it to Not Brock's and climbed up. I even made up the time I lost on the downhill to Bill and Nate.
Eventually, I picked my way back down Hog's. Which was also interesting, but with the road being so wide, it was a little easier to pick a cleaner line. I didn't win any downhill races, but I made it.
All in all, it was a hoot. I don't think I'll be taking it down Tibble or Mud Springs anytime soon, but you just might see it on some of the smoother rides.