Apparently, my reputation precedes me.

[drevil]

What’s wrong with riding on sand?

Sandy Point State Park by ricky d, on Flickr

I’ve done some sand riding on my fat bike in different parks and beaches on the East Coast, and when the sand is fine and dry, it’s a helluva workout. First, you have to get your PSI to 5 or lower, you have to keep a consistent tempo, and you can’t turn much. If there’re dunes, you’re only going to get anywhere if you’re going downward

The closer you are to the water, the easier it is. Get any salt water on it though, and fuggedaboutit. I had a new chain start to rust overnight after riding a little bit in the ocean

[cvcalhoun]

@drevil 157975 wrote:

What’s wrong with riding on sand?

Sandy Point State Park by ricky d, on Flickr

I’ve done some sand riding on my fat bike in different parks and beaches on the East Coast, and when the sand is fine and dry, it’s a helluva workout. First, you have to get your PSI to 5 or lower, you have to keep a consistent tempo, and you can’t turn much. If there’re dunes, you’re only going to get anywhere if you’re going downward

The closer you are to the water, the easier it is. Get any salt water on it though, and fuggedaboutit. I had a new chain start to rust overnight after riding a little bit in the ocean

Well, “closer to the water” could be an issue in the desert.

[drevil]

@cvcalhoun 157976 wrote:

Well, “closer to the water” could be an issue in the desert.

Depends on the desert

[hozn]

My dad rides a Pugsley as his primary means of transportation in southern Madagascar. It is not quite a desert, but it is pretty close. (One of his projects some years ago was sand dune preservation.) The big tires + low psi work better than anything else for riding down there. I just hope I am riding like he is when I am coming up on 70!

[consularrider]

@hozn 157993 wrote:

My dad rides a Pugsley as his primary means of transportation in southern Madagascar. It is not quite a desert, but it is pretty close. (One of his projects some years ago was sand dune preservation.) The big tires + low psi work better than anything else for riding down there. I just hope I am riding like he is when I am coming up on 70!

Doesn’t have to be anything like a desert. When I got off the pavement in Kyiv, the soil was very sandy and there were lots of places on the forest road where I encountered deep sand and really appreciated my Pugsley. Also one of the popular cycling locations was an island in the Dnipro River that was nothing more than a sand bar several miles long and about a mile wide at its northern end. FYI: I’m coming up on 65.

One particularly sandy spot on Trukhaniv Island.

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[hozn]

(Yes, I hope I am riding like CR when I am coming up on 65!)

[huskerdont]

One of my favorite rides ever was camping at False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach. Had just regular old mountain bikes. We took the paved trail south from the campsite until it was covered with sand, then stopped. It was dusk and the mosquitoes descended on us. We could hear the surf through the trees so I had this crazy idea to bike/carry across the dunes to the ocean and ride back along the beach. Part way in we luckily came on a hiking trail so made it through the swampy stuff and dunes fine, then got to the beach. Down near the water line the sand was so firm that we could fly on it. It was dark by this time and the tires, when they went through the water, threw off a phosphorescence, which was a rush. (The bikes needed attention the next day–chains were already rusting, like drevil said–but I would have sacrificed a mountain bike for that ride).

[dasgeh]

When we were staying outside Charleston, SC a few years ago (Isle of Palms, to be exact), one of my favorite things to do was duck out with the toddler and ride the cruiser along the beach with him in the front seat. We’d ride through water, chase birds, watch boats generally have an awesome time…

[Vicegrip]

@hozn 157996 wrote:

(Yes, I hope I am riding like CR when I am coming up on 65!)

I wanna be able to ride like CR when I am 56.

[cvcalhoun]

@Vicegrip 158044 wrote:

I wanna be able to ride like CR when I am 56.

I would have been satisfied if I could have ridden like CR when I was 20. But somehow, it never happened that way.

[rcannon100]

@Vicegrip 158044 wrote:

I wanna be able to ride like CR when I am 56.

I wanna be able to ride like CR.

[Author]

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