Muddy Commute

I'm really not a miserable person! I like to think of myself of quite positive. I kept repeating that as Roger and I slogged through the mud on our slick tire equipped commuter bikes getting colder, dirtier, and more exhausted and frustrated. The commute started out quite nicely. We left the office a little after 5, the weather was in the high 30's, and it was a nice clear evening. We thought that to change things up we would seek an alternate route home which I love to do. We set out down the Fairhaven bike path - a route we know well - and followed that down to Mattapoisett Neck road where the bike path ends until they continue the project. We crossed Route 6 and worked our way over to North St. and then into the Industrial Park in Mattapoisett. We knew that the bike path has been cut, but not paved, and can be a bit messy, but we took our chances. Less than halfway down the 2.5 mile stretch things turned bad. Deep puddles, mud, leaves, mud, mud, and more mud. DEEP mud! The tires on my commuter are 1.25 inch slicks with 80 pounds of air pressure. Not exactly the recommended setup for mud. It became similar to surfing on a popsicle stick. Nearly impossible to even keep the bike moving forward. I found myself working harder and harder as we went slower and slower. Most of my energy seemed to be eaten up just trying to keep myself from falling over into a dark wet smelly demise. I even started to bitch and moan at one point, but somehow found my center (my inner Brad if you will). By the end of the path, we were covered in mud, the bikes were trashed, and I was ready for a hot meal and a cold beer. The boys got a kick out seeing me all muddy and thought it was pretty cool. That was until I took my booties and shoes off. The booties smell somewhat like walking past a dumpster behind a Denny's Restaurant on a hot summer day. Not sure how I'm going to handle those, not to mention what it is in that mud that could smell that bad? Not sure I want to know really. I do know that I'm keeping my distance from that part of the bike path until it is paved, plumbed and dry! Now how to clean my bike? (click here to see the complete route)