muddy but no crashes

After our struggles to MTB after having hiked last weekend, we decided to reverse the order this weekend.  We went back to Round Valley, giving the MTB racers attempting the Park City Point to Point race plenty of time to depart the area. It had rained hard the night before, huge thunderstorms rolling through the area (and giving poor B the panics) and drenching the Wasatch Front and Back.  We were grateful for the rain since we've had so very little of it all summer, but what we'd forgotten about was The Mud.

Sign says "Danger!!!"

All things considered, the Round Valley trails were in very good shape, but all the places that I like so well because they're hard-packed dirt were now slick with mud.  Our tire treads packed quickly and it got very greasy very quickly.  It's probably been at least seven years since I MTBed in the mud and I had completely forgotten how, my rear wheel getting all slide-y and squirrelly in the puddles.  We had to slow down a bit to compensate - H still managed to ride all the way up Hammerhead Hill without incident, although the slick surface caused him to spin out a couple of times - but we managed it okay.  And even with the muddy spots, my legs were clearly feeling better than last weekend as I was able to climb at least a couple more of the Rambler switchbacks than before.

Frickin' mud puddles got my bike all dirty

Ride stats:  distance: 19.08 miles (my longest MTB trail ride yet as we added a small loop in the middle of our regular ride); time: 2:12; average speed: 8.7 m.p.h.; maximum speed (H's): 23.4 m.p.h.; total climb: 1,639 feet.