I’ve just come back from a 2 hour loop on my XC MTB. I have washed my bike & shoes and left a pile of laundry and muddy footprints over half the house. I’ve probably swallowed half a pint of wheel spray and I have realised that my summer tyres probably aren’t going to cut it over the next 6 months…
As I was riding along I was day dreaming back to the long dry summer of super fast dry trails and never having to wash my bike and slightly wishing that it was worse weather so that I could just ride on the trainer without outdoor FOMO.
Does anyone actually like winter and the mud or does everyone secretly hate it a bit like I do?
I would race in the mud because I won’t sit out of a race due to weather, but I’d skip a training ride in the mud. I’ll ride in the rain on the road tho np.
It can be fun sometimes - bur usually not! I don’t like riding in the mud. Last ride I did, I got stuck in the mud. Just like you ended having to wash everything.
Parts wear out so much faster in the mud. I used to ride in all weather but realized when I started using TR I went through 2/3 fewer drivetrain parts.
Racing XC, yes. Because I’m from upstate NY and riding mud there was required, so I learned how to do it effectively. So the fun comes from being better than average at it, as far as training, riding, or seeking it out? No.
Same here. Riders mostly respect the trails and don’t ride if it’s too wet. But at some point if you don’t ride a bit of mud you’d miss a lot of days. Well, in normal years. This season was very dry. We can use more water this fall.
Muddy days are my favourite days to ride my MTB. I only ride established/maintained Forestry Commission parks when it’s wet though as they seem to be designed to be a bit hardier than the stuff us amateurs build elsewhere and don’t get as messed up.
Hate wet/muddy road rides though. Getting back from a road ride covered in a film of slurry from the lanes is not my idea of a good time.
Wet and slick conditions are really fun, ideally, you get that in an area where there is sandy soil, lots of rocks, and not a lot of mud. We have a few trail systems locally that will take an inch of rain and still be ridable, it’s just awesome. I love the challenge of riding a trail as fast as possible at the lower speed you need in tricky conditions rather than a max-speed race run on a dry track where with speed comes an increase in major crash risk.
The best riding day of my life might have been the day we got dumped on at the top of Bennet Gap on a fall day in Pisgah. The run down was 3+ minutes slower than the previous year on a dry day, but with the sliding on the roots and leaves it was 100% riding on and over the limit.
Deep mud isn’t fun unless in a CX race where nothing about it should be fun but we just keep coming back for some reason.
Winter miles, summer smiles. This goes for riding in the muck as well as winter training. You can’t beat wet, muddy, slippery MTB rides for improving your bike handling. In the UK we ride pretty much all trails all year round.
All that being said, I hardly ever ride in the full slop. I would LOVE to but of course family obligations prevent me from being able to include the 2 hours cleaning faff post muddy rides. If I was a bachelor with unlimited time I’d be out in it for sure!
45yo 
