Muddy Muni

My muni friend Robi came to town from Albany today.  He was here to buy a 29er from Mj and wanted to go for a ride after.  Fortunately I had vacation time to use and Dustin was able to use some of his.  Unfortunately Mj wasn't able to, but maybe next time.

It's been frozen around here for some time, but we've experienced a thaw for the past few days.  It was just over 50°F today and I knew the trails would at least be soft, but feared they might be muddy and slick.  Robi had visited in the past and we rode at Whiting and Webster Park.  Given that, I thought Bay Park West would be an ok choice.  With it's hills and sustainable trail design maybe the trails wouldn't be too muddy, despite the melting snow water and overnight rain.

Wrong. The trails were messy.  Normally I avoid riding in these conditions, but when another muni rider comes to town, we gotta ride.  There were occasional sections of trail that were just moist dirt and rode well, but most of it was wetter than we like and we left tire marks or varying degree.  Wheels spun on steeper climbs and slid on steeper descents and off the side of off-camber trails.  At times the best we could do was tread lightly and prepare for the inevitable slip.  Occasionally we actually found riding off the trail was easier and safer.  The ground leaves and lack of anything green made that possible.  Robi and I both fell on our asses on some slippery downhills, and Dustin got a nice ding on his shin, but thankfully no one got any serious injuries.  Mostly we just rode what we could and laughed about the rest.

more Red Trail rock features

Bay Park West is a lot of work when it's dry.  But today with all the dismounting, walking, and waiting for each other, I think it was actually a bit easier than normal.  We were able to cover most of the park, only missing a few of the middle trails.  Dustin had some impressive log-over moments and continues to improve.  Robi demonstrated his hopping skills nicely, and had a few record breaking mud slides.  I tried to demonstrate my hill climbing abilities when conditions allowed.

yet more Red Trail rock features

Hopefully Robi and his muni-riding wife, Liz, will be able to visit in the summer and see what Bay Park West is supposed to be like.  Maybe Dryer Rd Park too.

Aside from the good time of riding with friends, I was also glad to get out and ride muni this time of year.  I've been exercising almost daily with P90X and similar workouts in an attempt to stay fit through these cold months.  My quads were moderately sore when I started today's ride and on fire at times during it.  I hope that means I'm building more strength.

Update 2013-12-07:
Robi sent me the images below.

Robi was the only one to make it over this particular log pile. Nice!

Muni at Bay Park West - 2013-12-05 at EveryTrail