It's August! Riding through the heat.

[north woods gal]

Crankin, I'll bet that's a first ride you'll always remember. Really is just the kind of use that bike was made for. Sounds like you have a great utility bike in your new Ariel. Enjoy.

As for me, my strength may be back, but my patience for riding those big fat tire bikes on pavement has waned since I started riding my super easy rolling single speed bikes. Those fast rolling bikes really do spoil you. Rode the old Pugs, this morning, on our morning ride and could just keep up with my hubby on his fat bike, instead of pushing way out ahead of him like I always do on the single speeds. Even with the low rolling resistance fat tires on the Pugs, it still rolled like the tires were glued to the pavement compared to my two single speeds with their super easy rolling 2.25" tires. Have to wonder why I am riding monster plus and fat tires on pavement, now. Probably time to be thinking of a more conventional road bike with standard gearing and normal tires, now, to supplement my road riding with the single speeds for summer riding. Just when I thought I had too many bikes, as it is, I'm thinking of another one, now. This is nuts. The two single speeds really changed my tastes in bikes. I was not expecting that.

A steel bike at 23 pounds and lively and responsive XC geometry really is a joy to ride. The Log Lady, after all is a racing single speed MTB. Pretty thing, too, my Log lady. Have since changed out to smoother rolling XC race tires for even easier pedaling and more roll. That's a very important factor when calculating gearing on a single speed. You have to calculate and consider more than just gear inches when deciding what gear combos to use. How easily the tires roll is a big factor. Yet another factor when deciding on gearing is that single speeds are more efficient than derailleur bikes because the chain on a single speed always runs in a perfectly straight line and runs tighter, too. Lots more to this single speed stuff than I thought.