Mud

[Cathryn]

So I'm new at this MTB stuff - very new, very cautious and loving it. But I'm already thinking about mud season (which is literally November - April here). I get super nervous in mud - I feel my back wheel slip and I squeal and slam on the brakes and stop. Any tips please about how to ride through mud? Thanks.

 

[Oldhippy]

A huge smile and have fun!

 

[Drago]

Power! You need to be clipped in, but the best technique when it starts to go is to pull up rearwards on thne inside pedal. Takes a bit of practice to master (every snowfall i rush out to practice) but once you've cracked it you'll never low-side again.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Never trust a puddle on a dirt track...from someone that thought it'd be fun to dash through one, only to find it had a wheelsucking hole in the middle, which left me on my back via the handlebars, rubber side up, giggling like a child.

 

[ColinJ]

My tip for riding through mud is to...





... avoid riding through mud!

(I really hate getting me and my bike's drivetrain covered in mud. I would put up with a few minutes of it, but that's my limit.)

 

[matticus]

There's 2 factors to this stuff:
being confident/relaxed instead of scared - and the actual technique stuff.

Sounds like your problem is the former ... is it a problem at low speeds i.e. when you're only really likely to get muddy+embarassed when you topple over? Or is it when going faster, where's there some risk of hitting something hard?

(I'm not very skilled, so not much use for the technique stuff ... but as a general coward I have experience of getting braver in certain situations!)

 

[Baldy]

Power! You need to be clipped in, but the best technique when it starts to go is to pull up rearwards on thne inside pedal.

Que? Could you explain that in English?

 

[Cathryn]

There's 2 factors to this stuff:
being confident/relaxed instead of scared - and the actual technique stuff.

Sounds like your problem is the former ... is it a problem at low speeds i.e. when you're only really likely to get muddy+embarassed when you topple over? Or is it when going faster, where's there some risk of hitting something hard?

(I'm not very skilled, so not much use for the technique stuff ... but as a general coward I have experience of getting braver in certain situations!)

You're right that it's a mix of confidence and skills. I'd say I'm poor at both but I know when I feel more confident, I'm less worried about the technique. But if I had better technique, maybe I'd feel more confident.

I'm keen not to break bones.

 

[DRM]

Tyres, some have small knobs on them and are lethal on mud, a larger knobbed mud tyre helps with confidence, but are draggy on tarmac

 

[fossyant]

Play in it. Some tyres aren't great, some are ace.

My Nobby Nics would side out in off camber mud due to the tread pattern. Changed them for Minions and they are great what ever terrain.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Look up mud specific mtn bike tyres. The pan racer trail rakers used to brilliant in mud but dont think they are made any more. But even with them essentially don’t worry about wheels slipping around a little in mud. It’s all part of the handling skills you learn then relax with.

 

[Drago]

Que? Could you explain that in English?

Pretty sure I just did!

 

[fossyant]

Makes me cry, but I had fun.

That's after stopping to pull mud out - incredibly claggy ride with @I like Skol last autumn. We cut across a field which was a bog, then had some fun getting lost in a park. There are scrape marks on the rear tyre you can see - the mud was that thick it actually marked the tyre - I've got a permanent line round the sidewall now.

Had to order a new chain ring after this ride.

 

[fossyant]

My tip for riding through mud is to...





... avoid riding through mud!

(I really hate getting me and my bike's drivetrain covered in mud. I would put up with a few minutes of it, but that's my limit.)

You can't avoid mud on an MTB, unless you ride on roads, which defeats the point. It's muddy 11 months out of 12 usually.

 

[matticus]

You're right that it's a mix of confidence and skills. I'd say I'm poor at both but I know when I feel more confident, I'm less worried about the technique. But if I had better technique, maybe I'd feel more confident.

I'm keen not to break bones.

Unless you have access to some physical coaching, your best way to improve your technique is by practice [you honestly won't pick up much from reading stuff on the internet, even if you find something written by the best coach in the world].

To practice you need to ride through some mud - preferably without breaking bones
If you ride slowly through really slippery stuff, then after a few embarassing clipless moments and/or stumbles you won't have any fear of injury. This will likely make you more relaxed (which will improve your technique a bit for free), then just keep practising the same section - natural trial-n-error will then make gains in technique.

If you only have fast slippy runs to practice on, that's more dangerous and more tricky; the learning curve is a lot steeper
Climbing a steep grassy bank after rain might make good practice.


( If I was starting from scratch, I'd use tyres with little tread, pumped up hard. Then any mud becomes a slow slippy bit! )