Fuddy Munsters

Cracking ride around China Camp this past weekend. One of those purely-for-the-fun-of-it jaunts that ends up registering as one of the best rides of the year.... or at least the past few months. Though spared a downpour whilst actually riding, the trails were thick with mud from the previous week's rain. The start of the Norcal winter riding season ; a few hours riding, a few more hours cleaning up afterwards. But China Camp holds it's own in such conditions and rewarded our venture into wintery weather with an awesome ride.

Climbing the front side, me, Spangles, Aubrey and Chris hit the Nike platform. From there, the usual rip down the backside - Hitler and so on. We finished the ride with China's fantastic front side singletrack. I'd forgotten how much fun mud riding is. Even more so on the Nomad which slips and slides but always digs in and gives you confidence to plough through. My technique is improving too. Using tips from Celia I felt totally in control on the steep (and wet) rutted descents. My cornering and flow was also on form. The whole place started to feel like a dirty big pump track. I even kept Chris and Aaron in my sights for the descent back to the cars. Great fun. And a ride to be repeated a few more times until Spring hits and the mud turns back to familiar California dust.