warning: items in pictures are muddier than they appear

After more than a week of rains brought about by a passing typhoon, I decided to ride. Nary a drop fell on Friday and Saturday, and I was hoping the trails would be in good (read: dry and ridable) condition on Sunday. As you can see from the pics, that was hardly the case!

The ride started pretty much as it normally would- dancing on the pedals with Mary to get up the climbs...I did have to dab on the second climb as I picked the wrong line heading up. Not good. Walked the bike a few steps and then hopped on with a curse.

Soil conditions going up were pretty nice. Loads of traction. The same couldn't be said once we entered the singletrack, though. Ruts and thick mud are not the best trail companions. And believe me, I ended up with around 5 pounds of mud on my ride. Not to mention the loss of traction. I had to stop twice to scrape off Mother Nature's goo...

The downhill sections were fun though. I was trying to catch up with Polly on his blinged out 5-spot! Got nothing to lose! I already don't have gears and suspension hehehe

Altogether a good ride, despite the mud. It was great to be out, and the mud was a welcome challenge (even though it smelled, uhh, funky). Hope things dry out next weekend, so Jay can give his now-rigid Hard Rock (hehe) a run out.