Is It Hard Going Rigid?

A few weeks ago I noticed that there were still entries available for the SSWC10. Karen and I had booked time off to go up and watch and I thought since I was going up I might as well ride.

So I spent a brief amount of time online and found a frame and wheels. I then purchased a single speed kit, "borrowed" Karen's cranks and brakes, borrowed Josh's bars, bought a seat post and forks and with a few bits and pieces lying around I had put a bike together.
At first, the tensioner didn't tension enough and the half link didn't hold and during the bike's first outing I found myself half way up Aratihi with no chain. I pushed to the top of Makara Peak and no chained it to Lazy Fern and down to the car park.
Now, I hadn't been having fun up to that stage anyway. I was used to very plush full suspension bikes. I hadn't ridden a rigid mountain bike for a number of years and somehow the memories I had of those early days on a non suspension bike all seemed to be of fun times.

What the hell went wrong? My memories had played a nasty trick on me and was laughing all the way to the car park. I moaned and bitched. I told people that that ride sucked. I treatened to sell said bike. And then I fixed it and rode it again.

What happened next is I hardened up. The ride wasn't great but it wasn't that bad either. There were times I wanted at least front suspension but it wasn't for long. I'm going to ride the bike again, soon. I want to get used to it, I want to tame it, I want to feel like I can smile when I ride it.