PMBAR Training Ride?

Sunday I went up to Pisgah to ride the 69SS for the first time up there. Not knowing what to expect, I ran a 32x20 or 41.6in gear. Jonathan and Rob met Dennis, Jim, and I at the Black Mountain trail head, which is the start of the PMBAR. We did two warm up loops on Sycamore Cove and ???? (close seasonal trails), which took about 2 hours. I do not think that I have ridden either of the trails. They were a blast. It also gave Dennis and Jim an opportunity to see what it was all about before embarking on a bigger journey. We got back to the cars around 12noon and decided to head up Black in true PMBAR fashion. Up until this point I had climbed most everything out there. Not as much as Rob who seemed unstoppable and was running like a 44.2 inch gear. At the club gap intersection Jonathan wanted to take the fire roads, which in hind sight would have been a good idea to test the gear. But I talked the group into climbing over the top of Black, which is really more of a hike. Once we got to the top we hung out at the overlook and decided our fate for the rest of the day. We thought of taking black to bennet, but that was probably a good 2 hour ordeal, so we decided to reap the fruits of our climb and ride back down Black. I have ridden that down hill at least 8 times from club, but only once from the top. It is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of riding, but this time riding rigid was going to be a different experience. About 10 minutes into the descent my arms and hands were killing me. It probably took 35 minutes to get to the bottom and I was the last to get there. PAIN best describes that experience.
Reflecting on the ride I think I am going to ride a 33x22 or 32x22 at PMBAR. Hopefully it will not be too slow, but I should be able to ride a little more of the trail. The 69er rigid set up rocks in Pisgah!!! I have better control of the bike on climbs and as long as the descending does not get too fast, it is easy to keep control. The 29er front wheel roles over just about anything. The bike is more limited by my fears than anything else.
The ride was a good one. No mechanicals, injuries, flats, or bonks. Even though Dennis tried to test the coefficient of friction on a wet bridge and found there was none.

On a side note: I can not wait to get this bike to Dupont!