The weather clears up here and Thom decides we should mountain bike. Now I had been thinking a nice tandem ride would be good. We've had like a week of rain, so I figured the trails would still be pretty wet. But Thom really wants to mountain bike. I have tomorrow off, so I can road ride by myself then. Off we go to one of the regional parks nearby.

Initially the trail is a little wet, but not too bad. But the second climb is so slippery and churned up by cows, I make it maybe halfway up. The downhill on the other side is like a slide! But I get down that okay and start up another hill, which again I'm only able to get about half way up. I walk my bike to the top of this one, where we get passed by some horses. This downhill is pretty dry, long and fun!

We're now in a valley and our plan is to cross it and climb up into the foothills of Mt. Diablo on the other side. Things are going okay until we get to a section, about two hundred yards long that is just sopping wet. We start through it and I can see the mud collecting by my front brakes. Eventually there is so much collected on the rear that it no longer turns. I stop, get all the mud off both tires so they turn freely and continue on.

The trail turns dry again and we're hopeful that it'll stay that way. But no such luck. I again have to clean my tires. We're both hoping that when we get across the valley and start climbing again that the trail will be drier.

Two and a half miles across the valley, we start the climb. It seems promising, the trail has a light coating of small gravel. But as soon as we start the climb in earnest the gravel disappears and the mud returns, but this stuff is stickier. I clean my tires again. Twenty yards or so later, we can see the remainder of the hill, it's still wicked muddy and my tires need cleaning again!

I mutiny and and we decide to turn around after a little friendly mudslinging.

The return trip was much the same. Ride some, clean your tires. I cleaned them off so many times I lost count. I think it was 5 or 6.

I was worried about what damage our riding would do to the trails, but seeing our tire tracks in the middle of the cow churned up mud, I decided it wasn't really a big deal.

It was kind of fun and an adventure. My pretty pink cashmere jersey needs a bath.

Veronica