Mud

The middle of this country is soggy right now. The most mountain biking I've done on this trip has been inside. In Kentucky I totally stuck out, bike wise, but I had high hopes for getting some time on an IMBA Epic in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the weather killed that plan.

Riding muddy trails is not only no fun, it puts a hurtin' on your bike and most importantly destroys the trails. Trails that can often take a ton of advocacy to gain the right to ride on in the first place. (That was an awkward sentence, but you get the point.) So no riding in AR, no big deal, on to TX... Where I encountered more trail closures, due to sogginess.

 

I walked a little of this trail (I already forgot the name, but it was near Dallas), to see what was up. The trail was sticky muddy- kind of like what I found in Kentucky. It's weird. I'm no dirt expert, but the mud we get in New England seems to have more dead plant bits in it that keep it from getting really sticky. This stuff was more like clay than dirt. Sticky or not, I'm not going to ride on any of it.

I finally found a little trail system near Waco- it was nothing "Epic", but it was really nice to get out of the truck and stretch my legs. As someone who often worries about getting lost (we've all got our hang ups), I appreciated how very well marked it was.

The forecast has promised at least 1 1/2 days of dry weather, so I hope to get some more mountain biking in on this mountain biking trip. Wish me luck.