SS is great, as long as where you live is mostly flat. I have done it in louisiana and texas, and its been wonderful. i just run a low ratio (34-20) and coast when i run out of gear. normally i ride with my dog following me, so its pretty laid back.

this summer i have plans to tackle some mountains in north alabama, north georgia and tennessee, and I am putting gears on my bike. there is a chance i might regret the simplicity of a SS rig, but the extra terrain i will be able to conquor will be worth it, as well as a good chance i will be racing this coming fall. for recreational riding, even somewhat fast pace, i love the SS- so much in fact that i have considered tracking down another frame and just building a second bike- as im having to replace most of the parts on my stock bike in order to build the geared version. maybe at a later date, when i get rid of a few extra bikes im not using... but for now im in college, i have the space, and use all of four of them.

I also rode a fixed cross bike on the levee of louisiana because other than the trails, it felt like the safest place to ride where i was. If you are used to riding a fixed, i would look closely into 29ers, because when you ride a SS, its all about carrying as much momentum as you can. It takes a while to learn this, but its a great feeling- knowing when to pedal and when to lay back and pick the good line.