I'd suggest sewing. I'm fixin to take it up in hope that I can make some lightweight flexy hammock-like banana seats out of a snowboard(which might have some carbon fiber in there somewhere).
Might have to get one of them fancy wood handled butter knifes.
Something similar to your bike build is what I'd like to aspire to in the future.
I've only recently gotten back into riding after a near four decade hiatus. There was a Proflex 856 that I bought used about 20 years ago, but never loved the bike and never really rode it a lot. There was a lot of moving parts on that bike. And I don't think it really fit me all that well, as I bought it from a guy who was around five inches shorter than me.
I raced a little motocross and cross country on a motorcycle in my late teens and early 20's, but never rode or raced in any sanctioned bicycle event.
The endurance type riding sounds like something I'd like to attempt. Not really racing against a bunch of more experienced riders. Just trying to find the will to finish in one piece.
I don't know if I could get myself in condition to complete such a race. But I'd like to try.
Right now I'm still feeling my way around bike building. Have collected a bunch of parts bikes and have kind of figured out which frames fit me and what I will be looking for when I go to build something higher end like you have done. And have started to realize that I like lightweight fast bikes that are easy to carry when I have to.
So I've spent about 800 or so figuring all this out between my 15 or so parts bikes, a new seat, six new tires, a couple of cheap BMX bars, and a chrome fork.
Once I get all these situated and unload about two thirds of them, I'd like to take on the task of either building or buying a higher end lightweight bike with a bunch of gears.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Like you I quit biking in about 1990 and started up again about 7 years ago. I had never mountain biked before. I also raced a little motocross and enduro in 1966 - 67 - 69 and that helps because body position is similar for motorized and pedal power. I had a problem getting it in my head that the rear brakes is on the right. I rode Europe a few years ago on a rented bike and they have the front brake on the right hand. Some motorcyclists have their mountain bike cables reversed. What I did is research frame geometry, decided on the frame size, and bought slightly outdated technology because it was cheaper. I bought new in the wrappers Velocity Blunt 26+ wheels for less then the hoops cost. They were old but the hubs were new enough that they could be converted to through axle. 26 inch is lighter but tire selection is limited. I bought a SCRAM full carbon crank with 3 x chainrings and converted it to a 2 x and used the last chainring area to mount a bash guard. I didn't go with the super wide handle bars but something in-between because that is lighter. The rigid fork on my frame isn't slack but more upright so it steers better than the new jobs at a slow rate so I didn't need wide bars. Once you decide what you want spend the whole winter on eBay and only buy good deals that are new. Chinese carbon frames and forks had a price drop after Christmas before the new models came out.
This bike accelerates like mad, climbs well and steers like a dream but for real rough stuff (like the race I just did) it is not as easy to ride as my full suspension jobs. Still, overall, for me, the light very low gearing with tuff tires worked better than a heavier full suspension bike. I'm not kidding, I think I pushed 20 miles. Heck it only weighed 20 pounds before adding the heaver tires, saddle, 3 frame bags, water bottles and dropper post. It was like a walker, held you up and steadied you in the rainy night when you tripped on a rock or root you couldn't see in the dark. I really didn't need the dropper post for the way I rode this. You could stop and put the seat up and down as my goal was just to finish. I did like the dropper because you had to mount and dismount so many times and that made it easier, but I could have lived very well without it. You need to drink a lot. I had 5 large cans of Arizona Energy Drink with ginseng, 3 cokes, 3 beers, half a shot of Irish whiskey, 4 bottles of water, half a bottle of pickle juice, 2 cans of V8 juice and one bottle of a coconut milk energy drink. Eating is hard as everyone seemed to feel pukey from exertion. The whiskey was a bad idea as it made me more puky but I drank it about 6 miles from the finish as I thought it might help with the pushing. You need real food besides the sweet gel stuff they are pushing as the latest and greatest. instead of Gell (like Hammer or Carbo Rocket) I used peanut butter that was manufactured with added flax seed oil and mixed it with honey and maple syrup. I put it in zip bags in a front shoulder pack. I also had a nut and fruit mix, pharmacy grade tubes of glucose for diabetics with low blood sugar (expensive but it goes into your blood stream right away), a dark chocolate bar, two granola bars and Rice Krispie bars. In my drop bag I had two cheese sandwiches (I could only eat one), a can of sardines, jerky, Carmel Corn and sausage sticks. I refilled food into my chest bag from my drop bag. I think baby food in the squeeze tubes might be good to take along but I didn't try any. I stopped about every 2 hours for a short brake. For leg cramps (I got them) I had Morton's lite salt which is half potassium, magnesium tablets, calcium tablets and pickle juice. I took these electrolytes about every two hours but had to ride for many miles with the seat way up high to avoid cramps. It settled down for the last 25 miles. Something like this is very doable with the right bike and attitude. If anyone around you starts talking negative, dump them. I was a little discouraged when I had the hardest part of the course, the last 15 miles to do, in the dark, when it started to rain about as had as it rains and there was fog so the visibility was extremely bad and the soil is clay so it got like grease. I figured I could walk 15 miles so I just kept going, hauling and occasionally striding (like a kids no pedal bike). The light bike really came into it's own here. I got passed by riders in the 100 and 200 mile class and it was unbelievable to watch the stuff they rode. Two guys were riding the 200 on single speeds and had encountered a mountain lion. They really got going fast then. Thats not me. I had a 2 x 10 gear set up with the low being 21 x 46 and the high side 36 x 11, worked good. I had a headlight on the bike and one on the helmet and 4 batteries. The cell phone high capacity recharge batteries lasted through all this and I also used one on my GPS when that battery died. This is the only way to go for batteries, the other systems only last two or three hours. I ended out pushing with a guy who only had one headlight and one battery and he was in the dark. My lights kept him able to see enough. I offered him my helmet with the light but he didn't want it. I never really thought about quitting, but a lot of people did quit. As long as you have food and nutrition and are not hurt you can keep moving through space in some manner. The right bike for your style is the most important thing, then hydration and nutrition and then going slow and pacing, unless you are racing. I walked over many things I had ridden over in the past, no reason to get hurt because you are too tired to ride an obstacle cleanly and strongly. These endurance races are always worse than you can imagine. Once you make the last cutoff in time then you have it made for the rest of the race, just keep moving, as slow as you can. Ha.
