Helldorado

I love gravel riding. Love it. But I hate it when it gets muddy. If I know that the ride will be muddy - I don't go. If an otherwise dry ride has a muddy patch or section, I grit my teeth really hard and squint as I traverse it. Can't stand the sticky slimy stuff. Hate washing it all off at the end of the ride; loathe getting it all over my shoes, socks, legs, etc.

There, I said it. I feel better now.

Thank you.

wheelsmcgee

Yea, I kinda feel the same way. I ride to enjoy myself and get some good cardio and fresh air. One thing I don’t enjoy is white knuckling it to keep upright as I navigate through miles of slippery mess. If it’s just a few muddy patches here and there, it’s not so bad, especially after the first one and you come to terms that there will be a post-ride cleaning.

On that note, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a budget SS gravel rig that has good clearances and minimal risk of component damage...something to take to race day when it’s nasty and tool around town with.

Rolla

Guess we won't be seeing you in any cyclocross races...

unterhausen

This isn't the cyclocross racing forum any more though.

We have some roads that have really deep puddles for a week after a rain. It's never particularly pleasant to ride those. I have thought about putting mtb fenders on my gravel bike. The ice really hasn't melted on our gravel roads quite yet and they are pretty muddy if you can ride them at all.

msu2001la

I race CX and have done some ultra-sloppy mud fest races, and while that can be a ton of fun, I still generally agree with the sentiment here.
Outside of CX racing and training, I generally avoid riding on wet trails/gravel roads. This is true even for paved road rides. For the most part if it's wet outside, I'll just ride indoors on Zwift.

GrainBrain

Where's mstateglfr with that awful muddy gravel pic? I made the mistake once of getting buried on my mtb, never again will I do this to my bike or trails.

Caliper

Another mud hater here for sure. Our roads don't make peanut butter mud, instead it's a fine slurry that coats everything and gets grit into every moving part. Riding on wet roads here is just too expensive in parts.

biketampa

I don’t mind mud as long as I can ride through it without a big struggle. If it’s long sections of mud that it’s sapping my energy riding through then I won’t be happy. I few mud bogs that may require some hiking don’t bother me. I just wipe the chain and frame or if very muddy might rinse it off.

Helldorado

That is correct.
I'm not into competitive cycling, at all.
Takes all the fun out of it for me.
YMMV.
Cheers!

mstateglfr 

it was a dry winter ride, up until I came upon some recently completed road construction and the gravel used to fill in the road I was on.
The construction was building Grand Prairie Pkwy and I was on an E-W gravel road west of Maffitt Lake. Went down a hill towards the intersection with the newly paved road and it got sloppy. I decided to trudge through which was a mistake since the following uphill was just as sloppy.

Paint rubbed off the inside of both fork legs and washing the bike after the ride was quite the experience.

dwmckee

That looks more like potato salad mud than the peanut butter variety.

Russ Roth

Dislike mud with the gravel bike, that's why if its muddy I grab the cross bike, purpose built with lots of clearance. Really I try not to ride dirt if I know its muddy to try and avoid long term damage to the trail, other then that I don't really care.

Koyote

I guess you'll never do the Hillybilly Roubaix.



(Photo pulled from the 'net - not mine)

woodcraft

Can be trying at times...

Hmmm

It depends. Mud and bikes have their place and time.

Noonievut

Those are some classic pics, I shouldn't complain with the little bit of mud I've dealt with over the years. When it's muddy I ride my road bike on paved roads. Or if I didn't know it was going to be muddy, I simply turn around and find better roads. I can usually tell what I would be getting that day. Once I'm in bad though, no point complaining...make the most of it (so long as you don't expect any damage).

m2244

I spent too much on my bike to get it dirty!