Quote Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
I did Bike Virginia a few summers ago, and part of one day's ride was on the C&O Towpath. It had rained hard a couple of days prior, so the path was still quite muddy in low spots. I was riding my Terry Isis road bike with skinny (23c) tires. NOT RECOMMENDED if it has rained at all recently there!!

After fishtailing all over the place and almost falling several times, I finally had to get out and walk part of the way.

I noticed all the fat-tire riders passing me and going the other way seemed to have big s***-eating grins on their faces, or at least that's how if felt at the time...
Yeah, I've had some fun rides on the towpath both during and after rain. It's the only time I can feel like a rough'n'tumble mtb rider, plowing through the mud and going home a total mess I did fall once. Trying to ride along the raised edge of a mud pit, rear tire slipped, I extended my hand to catch my fall (as you're not supposed to do, of course), screwed up my elbow and ended up wearing a sling for a few days. And I wore one of those big s***-eating grins the whole ride!

Mickchick, I hope we can get together on the towpath at some point this fall or next spring. I'm really interested in checking out your custom 'cross.