Thursday, March 17, 2011

Springtime Muddin'

With the snow fast on the way out and the sun shining brightly, I decided it was high time for some springtime muddin'. I got in a Bontrager Mud X 29"er tire, slapped it on the rear end of the Sawyer, and headed out the door.

I was definitely over-dressed, and before too long I was shedding my outer coat and gloves to stay cool.

<==I'm as happy as this alien to be riding without a coat again!

I headed down to The Green Belt to ride, since those trails are unaffected by early season mud riding. In fact, the next time it rains my tracks will be all gone. The old Blackhawk Creek overflows the Green Belt so often that you'd be hard pressed to cause anything that could be construed as trail damage on a bicycle.

So, it is the perfect place to test tires in the mud for performance and there is plenty of sticky, gooey river bottom mud to play in there.

Besides the tire testing I was just enjoying the fact that I was riding on a sunny day without having to be bundled up. In fact, all I had on for most of the ride was a long-sleeved jersey. Gloves? pssshaw! Too warm for that too. It was definitely the first ride like that since last November.

Amazingly, there was little snow left in the woods. In fact, if we could stay dry for a week, the trails would be bone dry and hard. Right now the frost is oozing out, so that is why the mud is so easy to find at this point. Normally it doesn't stay muddy for all that long out there.

The mud was thick and gooey, so I stuck to a steady, slowish pace to keep the flying clods at bay. It was a great resistance workout, that's for sure!

By the time I made it over to the lake cut-off trail,my front tire had turned into a mud version of an Endomorph 3.8"er. I had to head over towards the lake, out of all the mud, and clean up a bit. Then I headed around the lake where I ran into the only patches of snow left on the trail. Probably won't see that again until next December.

I figured that was enough mud testing, so I headed out for a longer bike path ride, just because it was too nice to go back home. Welcome spring, and the mud, and everything else that comes with it. It's been a long time since we've seen you around these parts!

Hope you are getting out for some early springtime riding too.

7 comments:

Wally said...

I really love the lines of that Sawyer...Terrible time to show those pics since the last thing I need right now is to be thinking about another bike!

But it just looks so right out on the trails....

Guitar Ted said...

@Wally: The Sawyer is one of the best- if not the best- renditions of a cruiser style mtb that their is. At least I think so.

Captain Bob said...

Looks like fun! I have fond memories of the Greenbelt remember the days when there wasn't hardly any sand on the trails. Good times....

Guitar Ted said...

@Captain Bob: Yeah, it is where I first mountain biked myself. Lots of sand in there these days. Has been since '93.

zoovegroover said...

I agree about the Sawyer - the lines are not over the top retro like other frames I have seen. It is funny that the big bad bike corporation guys got it right and the one off custom guys seem to push that aesthetic too far. My opinion, of course, but it does seem to be a very popular frame for those same reasons.
BTW - what bars are those?? They look like they have no ride, only sweep - exactly what I am looking for...

Guitar Ted said...

@zoovegroover: Those are Bontrager "Crivitz" bars, and you can get them through a Trek dealer. Ragley Bikes also makes a no-riser version of the Carnegie's Bars, which are similar.

Unknown said...

Man, that is an awesome looking bike. looks fast standing still!
hope to get out in the mud this weekend!