what haven't i broken

In May my mountain bike frame bit the dust.  Got a darn good replacement- I might even be happier with my new Orbea than I was with my Kona.  Things were going well.  Then the creak started.  Seemed like my bottom bracket, so I reinstalled it with new grease and teflon tape.  That should have fixed it- I had ridden on some gnarly muddy trails over 4th of July- probably got some water or dirt inside my frame. 

My creak still persisted, so Sideburnz took my bike to the shop for a more thorough inspection.  Then I got the dreaded phone call.... "Welllllllll seems like the creak is coming from your fork, and the FOX guys gave me an RA number so I can send it in.  What do you want me to do? " "Could it fail catastrophically?" "I spose so."  Hmmm. Tough decision.  It might be nothing.  I'm going to Maui in 4 days to ride mountain bikes.  I need a fork.  I'm racing the Xterra qualifier in 10 days.  I need a fork.  I don't need to be hurt.  drrrrrrrrrrrr

I had to whip out some logic to solve this issue.  My gut instinct was to wait 2 weeks- ride on Maui, race Mountain Man, then send it in.  but...... There's a little bit of bad mana in Makawao Forest Reserve.  That's where the Kona to her last ride. That's where we're riding this weekend on Maui.  Undoubtably, Makawao Forest Reserve would do my fork in.  And even if I wanted to throw out the bad mana idea, logic continued to prove that the fork had to go.  If a 125lb girl can bust an aluminum frame, she can probably kill any bike part, including a fork.  Logic won 2-0, my fork is on its way to FOX.  The rigid fork is supposed to be for Eye of the Tiger, whenever I get around to building it.  So how much is Maui going to suck now that I'm fully rigid?  

Thought I'd better give it a test drive tonight so I have an idea.  Theo Wirth and Elk River are great for rigid forks, but I was skeptical about lava rocks and thousands of feet of elevation change.  My test ride at St. Louis had lava, roots, loose gravel and cinder, berms, jumps, and ~1000 ft of elevation.  The rigid fork passed, almost with flying colors.  I just have to remember to keep my weight back.  I also remember how lazy suspension makes you.  I can only imagine how little skill one must have to ride a double-boinger bike.  I think my lil' rigid Orbea is going to rock it for the next few weeks, but I'll enjoy getting a suspension fork back on my bike.  This weekend will be a major upper body work out.  I'll probably develop some man hands from hanging on to my handle bars.