Dammit, I suspected that would be the answer. Yeah, hardtail would be the more sensible choice. But I'm still pining for something *fun*, and as different as possible from my tricross. I hired a dual suspension bike in france once (weirdly enough, it was like their standard bike, even though we were using it for light touring), and it was *fun*.
Hmm. Guess I'll hire a DS for a one day stint on the local XC course and see if it's something I want to spend money on.
Steve