Mud,
sweat
and
gears
HOW TO RIDE THROUGH
MUD IF YOU CAN’T AVOID IT
R
ESPONSIBLE MOUNTAIN bikers always
try to preserve their riding environment. This means evaluating the trail
condition and avoiding damage as much as
possible. So I cringe every time someone
asks how to ride muddy trails on a mountain
bike. The answer involves two responses.
First, in a perfect world no one would ride
a bike on muddy trails. This activity contributes to trail erosion and closure. Not good.
Second, because I know that some people
will ride muddy trails, I offer this advice:
Don’t get dirty if you don’t have to. If you’re
not racing, stay off mud. It’s that simple.
If you have to ride what looks like a large
surface of deep muck, charge straight
through it. Why? Riding around it only
damages and widens the trail further.
Although blasting straight through isn’t
ideal, it will contain the damage and prevent
the mud bath from getting wider.
Sure, riding mud is fun but try a spa mud
bath instead. Not only will soaking at a mud
spa save the cycling trail, but it will protect
your bike from grinding abuse. However, if
you’re racing you may not have the luxury of
choice, as Rocky Mountain pro-riders show
on these pictures.
What follows are tips from Ned
Overend’s book, Mountain Bike Like a
Champion, as well as from Mountain Bike,
and Bicycling magazines.
1. Keep your weight centred between the
wheels, keeping your bike as
perpendicular as possible to whatever
muddy slippery goop you are riding over.
The same principle applies when going
around a muddy off-camber turn. Keep
your weight changes subtle, and have
the self-discipline to stay off the brakes.
2. “Ride light.” Be balanced, centred and
gentle, especially when braking,
descending, turning, and accelerating.
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Riding in mud is like driving a car on an
icy road. Be gradual when steering. Don’t
exaggerate anything. Be aware that once
a wheel breaks loose, the bike can get
away from you really fast. Stop slips
before they start by riding one gear
higher than you would in dry conditions.
This reduces torque to the back wheel,
reducing the slip.
3. When climbing a muddy trail, stay seated
so you can keep pedal pressure as even
as possible. This means “pedal in circles,”
creating a circular motion with your
downstroke, as well as your bottom,
upstroke, top. The rounder and
smoother the pedal stroke, the more
efficient it is. Use a slightly higher gear.
Fight for traction and momentum.
4. If descending a very gooey trail (even
with gravity’s help), pedal hard to keep
your speed.
5. Stay cool. As mud coats your drive train,
you’ll get poor (or no) shifting. Often this
will cause you to lose the use of the small
chain ring and the smaller cogs. Your
chain can skip because the rear derailleur
is too fouled up to provide enough tension. At that point, just use the middle or
large chain ring, and hope for sufficient
gears with the available cogs.
6. Lube liberally. Wet lube will serve you
better in mud since it goes on wet and
stays wet. The most basic wet lube, with
excellent results, is motor oil. The more
high-tech versions of wet lubes are
synthetic oils and Teflon.
7. Get a rear tire (1.8- or 2.2-inch) that
won’t plug up and become a de facto
slick. Some tires are designed to provide
top self-cleaning and traction (see the
Barro Mud tire by Geax at www.geax.
com/prodgeax/mtboffroad/barro.htm).
8. For the front tire, plugging is less of a
concern. Use low pressure; not so low that
you get a pinch flat, but almost that low.
9. Maintain brakes and cables and wash
your bike with a low-pressure hose or
soapy brush, and keep the water
stream well away from seals and
bearings.
Next time you absolutely must go
through mud you’ll know how to do it
safely and quickly.
~ Dominique Larocque is owner and
director of LaRocca XC Mountain Bike School
and Creative Wheel Consulting.
PHOTO BY ROCKY MOUNTAIN BICYCLES (RIGHT) PAVEL1964/FOTOLIA (TOP)
By Dominique Larocque
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