Down in the Dirt by
Timm Muth A
monthly article by the author of Mountain Biking in North
Carolina. Rants, raves, reviews and chain grease.
Mud Doggin' It - How to Ride through
Smooshy Substances April 2003
Quagmires - they abound in the woods,
lurking around dark corners, along seasonal streambeds,
inside corners, or even drainages across an otherwise dry
trail. Could be mud, sand, horse poop, or some other
smooshy substance. You're cooking along, zipping through
the trees with a smile on your face, when suddenly, both
time and motion seem to slow down. Like an ornery horse
with a mind of its own, your bike balks at crossing a
mudhole; instead of gliding across, your trusty steed
slows suddenly and sinks away beneath you. Gooey mud
sucks your front wheel down, and your body, still moving
at the same speed as before, begins a graceful flight
over the handlebars and into the waiting quagmire.
Secret Mudhole Riding Tips:
ö So, the first rule of
mudholes is - keep your butt back. This lets the front
wheel float some, and travel over the mud, rather than
sink and dig in.
ö Then, the second rule of
mudholes must be - keep your butt back, and push the bike
ahead of you as you enter the squish zone. If you can get
the bike past the deep stuff first, then you can pull
your body back into position, and let your momentum carry
you the rest of the way across.
ö And the third rule of
mudholes is -keep pedaling if at all possible. Mud and
sand both suck up momentum like they were starving for
it. And keeping your butt back won't help you any if you
stall in the middle of the hole. Accept ahead of time
that the back end is gonna wobble around some. Don't
sweat about that: just try to keep the front wheel
pointed towards the other side, continue to crank it, and
enjoy your buddy's howls from behind you.
ö If the trail is a old double
track, the mudhole will be shallower in the middle than
in the two tracks.
ö If the trail is contouring,
the hole will probably be deeper on the inside edge.
ö When in doubt as to the
depth of a mudhole, pretend you're having a problem with
your pedal, slow down, and let your buddy (or honey) go
first.
The Mudhole Wheelie Sometimes
if the mudhole is short enough, I like to just wheelie
across, and avoid the whole issue of the sinking front
wheel. Just loft it up, keep pedaling a bit, and keep the
front wheel straight if possible. The wheelie mostly
eliminates the problem of the sinking front wheel, and
keeps you a good bit cleaner besides. Plus if the mudhole
is really deep, a wheelie is your only way of getting
across. On a recent West Virginia trip ( the land of many
mudholes), I figured out that you could wheelie across
half a monstrous mudhole, touch your front wheel down on
a protruding rock or grass hump, and bounce the front end
back up to continue the wheelie across. Try the move on
dry land first. It's not as hard as it sounds, and it
looks really cool besides.
Mudhole Etiquette There's no
small bit of controversy surrounding the proper way of
crossing a mudhole. Some say "Never, ever, ever ride
if it's muddy. Walk your bike around every mudhole, or
you'll damage the trail. Keep your bike clean at all
times." This may sit well with some hardliners in
the Sierra Club (no offense, I'm a card carrying member
myself), but it's just not practical if you really want
to ride on a regular basis. In my neck of the wood, it
seems like it's always rained in the past few days. So we
try to ride the trails that drain best when it's wet, and
save the swampy runs for other days. For local trails
that dry quickly, check out San-Lee, Regency Park, and
Governors Creek. Avoid Devil's Ridge and Chapel Hill
High. And for pity's sake, don't disregard the
"Closed" signs and bandit ride Hog Run or
Crabtree when they're flooded, cause that'll get you
fined and get the trails closed for the rest of us.
Ok, back to the mudholes - here's the
truth - trying to avoid the deep mud and ride around the
edges will definitely make the mudhole bigger. So if
you've got to ride through it, cutting through the middle
at least doesn't make things worse. The best thing to do,
in reality, is stop and lay down some corduroy over the
mud (sticks aligned with the flow of water and hopefully
perpendicular to line of travel), then continue the ride.
The corduroy lets you ride across, keeps the mudhole from
getting deeper, and lets things dry out some. If the
mudhole is a perpetual trail item, then consider looking
for a new alternate route through the woods. If you're
new to the trail, or not set up for trail maintenance,
then best to get off and push your bike through the trees
around the mud. Note that walking around the edge of the
mudhole will do as much damage as riding around it.
On the other side of that issue, few
things make you feel more like a real mountain biker (or
more like a little kid, for that matter), than to be
slathered with mud from stem to stern. If I'm dirty, I
know I had a good time, even if that meant taking a dive
or two. So every time I see my wife's bike covered with
mud, I just smile, cause I know that means she's getting
our money's worth out of them. I love to ride, and mud is
a standard trail feature, in my book; in fact, I prefer a
muddy ride to a hot, dusty one. So shame me if you like,
but when it's yucky out, I'm still gonna try to find
somewhere to ride. You'll know me, cause I'll be the guy
with the muddy grin on my face.
