Muddy Musings

Gooey mud!

I've been doing some purposeful forays into mud and clay of late with both the fat bikes I have up and running now. The reasons are many, and fun is definitely way up there on the list. I may be old, but the "boy" in me still likes playing in the mud!

The main reason for all the muddy mud puppy action is that I know some riders are showing up for next Spring's Trans Iowa on fat bikes. This has not been tried before now. Having seen first hand what the mud does to "normal" Trans Iowa rigs, I was curious as to what the Iowa mud would do to a fat bike.

The typical river silt mud I get to ride on around here is one thing, but out on the gravel roads, it typically is clay you'll run into, more often than not, and this isn't something I get to ride on around here much. Fortunately, the powers that be dug up my little stretch of the former Starlite Theater grounds I used to cut across on my way to work every day. This uncovered a swath of clay right where I can still ride through until they fence me out, do something to block my way, or make it uninteresting to ride through there.

Anyway, the temperatures and moisture have conspired twice in the past week, week and a half or so to make for a perfect trial run. It was........not very surprising what the results were. If Trans Iowa V11 is wet at all, the fat bikers will be getting schooled in the ways of Iowa dirt. I won't say that they should or should not show up on fat bikes. I will say that it could get very, very interesting out there if they do. Anyway, my curiosity is satisfied. Back to my regularly scheduled programming for now......