Mud Ride!

Went for a short ride this morning. No pics from the ride because the camera battery was t-u. It's been raining here daily for almost a week now. The plan was to hit the trail that runs along White Oak Bayou. It's paved, so seemed like a good plan. Unfortunately, there are several places along the trail that are covered in mud. The mud is on top of asphault, so it's not damaging to the trail to ride through it.

I haven't had the Maxxis CrossMarks in the mud yet. I knew it wasn't much of a mud tire. But it's worse. It's useless in the mud. It probably didn't help that I had the air up to about 50 psi for the pavement. Regardless it's prety simple to see why this tire rolls so fast. The tires run mostly on the very center lug. Here's a pic:

Friends don't use this tire in clayey mud. The center lugs cleared instantly, but the outside never did. I ran through every puddle I could find. In almost 3 miles back home the gumbo never left the tires. Oh, here's a close up:

Since I haven't written a review of the CrossMark before, I should back up to say it is an excellent tire in dry, hard-packed conditions. It's light, and a fast, smooth roller. Much faster than the Specialized Adreneline's my Stumpy came with.

I bought the CrossMarks because I wanted a tire with more predictable cornering than the Adreneline's. I can say the CrossMarks are far, far better - confidence inspiring even.

Like I said, it was muddy. More of the aftermath:

Nothing like dragging your chain through mud all the way back home! Full bike cleaning was in order, and of course, it started raining while in the middle. So, I hosed it down, and hauled it inside an finished in the kitchen. The floor needed mopping anyway!