philswiv Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Hi Folks, the place where I ride is very muddy at the moment. I, as an off road novice, find the mud very disconcerting. Is there a technique for dealing with mud? Am I doing it right by just (trying) to relax my grip and just constantly correcting the steering as it slews left to right? I tend to let the speed drop right off but I've read about crossers and Paris-Dakar types going faster in these situations to dig in the rear and lift the front out but I have a mental block about trying this particular technique. What sort of tyre pressures should I be running? Bear in mind that I'm just learning/trying and not competing. That lot should keep you busy . Cheers, Swiv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanorbust Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Riding in Mud Some tips for riding in mud. Most if this just an extension of good technique for any conditions: - if you want to turn right, or climb a slope with a camber which is high on the right, put your weight on the left footrest, and vice versa. - treat the throttle as if you're tightening a clamp on your vital parts, i.e. be extremely gentle with movements of the twistgrip. If you think you're being careful with the throttle now you probably need to apply twice as much finesse to get it right. - practice riding a gear higher than you might think is right. This can help with grip but you need to get used to handling the high gear in the "nadgery" bits of the section. Textbooks will tell you to run tyres with 6psi front and 4psi rear at the most. In practice you can mostly get away with less than this in the rear, which will improve grip further. It's amazing how many riders run too-hard tyres (look at the lack of bulge in the sidewalls when they're on the bike). The same people tend to slew sideways on greasy cambers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky g Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Hate the stuff!! Never been able to get on with it at all! avoid it at all cost dude Steve Saunders is the best mud rider in the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Schrieber wasn't bad either, vesty was good, Dan Thorpe is really good for a northerner, as was John Reynolds. Lejuene could do it too. Grimbo has had some wet and muddy sucess at WTC aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 I love riding in mud, tis wonderfull stuff. Always good to get to like it, as it gives you an advantage over the guy who doesn't like it. The mistake many people make is to rev it up, spin the wheel and try to burn down to traction. Most of the time this doesn't work, especially on clay and bottomless. It also sprays mud everywhere and gets into the nooks and crannies that are a bugger to clean! Going up a short but greasy climb, get a run up with plenty of speed to make it up, but as you get to the mud roll off the throttle to stop the back fro spinning. If it is on the flat, then slowly and carefully, but keep the front end farirly light to maximise rear grip. Again, low tire pressures needed. My favourite type is in a stream, about a foot of brown water, slightly sludgy with mud underneath that is fairly firm. Looks bad, others get worried when it is actually quite easy to manage! Hope this helps, Pete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliechitlins Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 At the Youth Nationals, I heard some kids praying for rain because they knew it would give them the edge over the Texans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabie Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 as r2w says down here in the south east there is lots of mud of many various sorts due to our extreme lack of rocks we actually get quiete used to it - mud is normal really converslly im quiete scared of rocks ........ - i've never really ridden on them ....... rabie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shercboy90 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 ive onli been ridin a short time but i find if i kina bounce the back end a bit forcing it into the ground it only occasionaly wurks but its worth a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philswiv Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Some food for thought there guys, thanks. I'd better hurry up and get out before all that mud dries up I wish, roll on spring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fracy Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I would agree that without a doubt Saunder's is the best I have ever seen in the mud! Although, after watching last years WTC from Duluth, I would put Dougie right beside Steve! I have ridden with both Lejuene and Schrieber in WR'S in muddy conditions and they were good! But, Saunder's and Lampkin are extraordinary! I used to hate riding mud, mainly because I wasn't any good at it! I finally got round to practising in it, and it makes a difference! Like one of the other post's said, I ended loving riding in it because everyone else hated it! cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgshannon Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 At the Youth Nationals, I heard some kids praying for rain because they knew it would give them the edge over the Texans. What made them think that it doesn't rain in Texas? They should have been at the opening rounds of the Texas State Series this month! Saturday was good, but Sunday was the worst mud since the last Texas National in Muenster. Anyone that was at that event, would have no doubt about the rain and mud in Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Don't overlook Tyre pressure, I once practiced a section for 1 hour without success, I let about 1psi out the tyre (down to 3psi) and flew straight up. At WTC level there is a minder who adjusts the tyre pressure at every section, problem is if you have just had a long blast down the road the air in the tyre will be hot and the pressure increases - sometimes the difference between a 0 and 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j@mes Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 ride loads of it here and still hate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 is it any good to rev the hell out of it in 2nd and then the back end cannot kick and spin and keep well back, just keeping steady momentum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 When you go up a muddy slope and get to the point where you are just about to lose traction{or so it seems}try bending your knees a lot more whilst pulling down and back on the bars{ i think its called getting down into the bike}.Sounds daft but it seems to work well ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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