Post ride clean up. Anyone else utterly sick of it now?

With at least two months to go of sloppy treacle trails still to go I’m getting depressed with the post ride clean up. More so than any other winter I can remember. Clothes, clean lights, 2 days of shoe drying etc.

I get no sympathy from my wife and in comparison to the people who have been flooded out I know my (tiny violin) moan is an almost first world problem.

Saying that, anyone else sick of it. Maybe I need to visit more trails centres. What’s degla like at the moment?

It’s like this every winter isn’t it? You clean your lights?

You could just mtfu and put wet shoes back on.

It was like this a fair bit of summer tbh

Yeah. We need winter to arrive. That’s when I just park the bike in the garage, shake the snow and ice off and go into the house all clean and dry.

it’s what road bikes are for…. I don’t mind the mud, but the chalky slip-fest interspersed with razor sharp flint of the south downs is the main reason I’m avoiding getting on the MTB today….

Don’t mind the clean up, it’s the shitty, sodden trails I’ve had enough of.

It’s like this every winter isn’t it? You clean your lights?
You could just mtfu and put wet shoes back on.

Yes, maybe I moaned last year (and every year) as well I can’t remember 🙂

Cleaned my lights tonight as they were that caked in mud, never done that before.

Don’t mind the clean up, it’s the shitty, sodden trails I’ve had enough of.

Yep that too.

I’m delighting in the entire ecosystem my bike is cultivating – I haven’t cleaned it since October (and yes, it has gears and suspension)! Whenever I look at it I’m reminded of the hours I’ve saved by putting it away muddy. 😉

I’m fed up of getting soaked by massive puddles and having o empty my pack and put it through the wash all the time.

Bring me snow.

It’s going to get cold next week, it seems. Get up early enough you can have a frosty ride on the moors.

Mmmmm crunchy snow.

My New Years resolution is to be more of a fair weather rider… So for now it’s eat, drink and be merry until the sun shines again! 😛

I’m the best part of 2 stone overweight already, another 1/2 a stone or so ain’t gonna kill me by spring! 😉

Spray bike spray me chuck bike in shed chuck gear in washer chuck me in shower

Or on road, put bike away stick clothes in wash and stick me in shower

Both pretty quick one obviously more so. Only thing I’ve been making sure is that I wear full length leg covering in mud now as it’s just easier to clean

mboy – Member

My New Years resolution is to be more of a fair weather rider… So for now it’s eat, drink and be merry until the sun shines again!

I’m the best part of 2 stone overweight already, another 1/2 a stone or so ain’t gonna kill me by spring!

Im kind of applying similar logic. It tends to work best when applied at about 7am looking out the window at the rain. 😀

the mud is all puffed up with air and days of heavy rain, havin to walk up dank trails where in the summer I could ride purely because I can’t get any traction. sloppy slimey greasy smuck up your frame and come flying off once along tarmac mud.

Got a new bike and hardly ridden it. 🙁 Combination of lurgy and little motivation to get out in the foul gloom. I fancy a trip to a trail centre too though. Not done that for ages.

Lube chain, blow dust of the fork and shock seals. Job done. Just got to avoid getting eaten by the local fauna.

Spent years slogging through the mud and snow or worse skating on ice but not any more.

MTB rides are rare these days and definetly a summer activity, road is fair weather maybe a little light rain but nothing worse, run, the gym or zwift when conditions are poor.

I haven’t touched a bike since September (apart from one race)

I’ve been running instead and have been loving the fact that there is no time faffing. Looking forward to next week when hopefully frost arrives and can get out on the bike too

Single speed rigid with mudguards, as many as you can find spare frame space.

Clean in April.

empty my pack and put it through the wash all the time.

really, through the wash ? I hang mine up in the kitchen caked in mud and in the morning it’s dry and I give it a brush down. That said, it’s an Evoc, so would have to take out back protector and stuff to wash, so probably a bit of a faff.

Bike wise, hose down as usual when I get home, gt85 on chain and mechs and bolts, fork juice on fork and post, put in garage – takes all of 10 mins max – lube chain in morning once all dry, muddy kit goes straight from duffbag (I drive to trails) into washing machine, 30 min quick wash, hang up, sorted for next day. Defroster boots get hosed, left to drip for half an hour, popped onto hot water cylinder, dry next day.

I haven’t ridden the mtb for 2 months now. I’ve even got a dedicated mud bike and just can’t face it. Walked around my some of my local trails the other day, sections are literally under water….turbo in the kitchen it is.

im conscious about cleaning my drivetrain after riding this time of year but usually end up washing the whole bike, unless i know its going back out the next day or so. as for me theres an inch of skin between the top of my socks and the bottom of my knee pads, and my face that gets muddy, the rest is a quick hose off and hung up to dry or shoved in the washer. shoes on the radiator.

but yeah it is all a bit of a faff… long for the days you can just shove it back in the shed and go about your day without even needing a shower…

ive been deliberating over a new pack lately too, but having emptied it out and put through the wash its like new and the itch has gone away! thats an evoc too – im gonna wash it again and take it skiing!

Don’t mind the clean up, it’s the shitty, sodden trails I’ve had enough of.

Err yeah basically this

Cold crisp dry days where are they 😕

Managed to utilise a torrential downpour to clean the bike last week. Granted, being out on the bike at the time, soaked to the bone and with the temperature about 3 degrees above freezing, I did almost get hypothermia but at least I have a clean bike.

Seeing all the videos online of the pros messing about in the mud/woods/mud etc makes me laugh; it would be very easy to spend hours getting caked in mud and doing belly slides to finish the day if you were able to just throw your kit in the bin afterwards. The joys of being sponsored, eh.

Love the actual riding at the moment. If the conditions are just about right (like last night for me), then its brilliant! Yeah, the clean up is a chore, hosing the bike down at 10pm in the rain starts to grate after a couple of months. Still its the same every year, but it makes you appreciate the dusty short dry season we have 🙂

Sorry it’s my fault, I gave my bikes a good clean up ready for the new year and the weather has been shite ever since. Sticking to road til it freezes over! That said I may give Woburn a go tomorrow as it’s better with a bit of juice in the ground.

We were spoilt rotten with that Indian summer up to late October. There’s always a price to pay.

🙁

Two options: mtfu or don’t mtb in the british winter.
I choose option 2 these days.

wrong thread, thought you were on about bodily fluids…..

Plenty of practice this winter got the clean up operation down to a fine art, pretty slick now!

clothes – not an issue as they get washed anyway as full of sweat but I’ve got multiple sets of everything anyway in case I forget.
shoes – have 3 identical pairs on rotation (used for commuting too)
bike – If using the SS I don’t wash it, just poke/shake the mud off the whirly bits and re-lube, geared bike pretty much the same but with a tiny bit more poking as there are more cogs.
camelbak – not an issue as don’t use one
lights – seriously? just wipe them off if at all.

I did the 3rd muddiest race of my life on Sunday too, still only took 15mins to clean the bike fully, which is something I don’t normally bother doing.

The grit and grime seems to get in everywhere.
My gripe is having to try and clear the bike during a ride. The mud sometimes builds up around the forks and CS and then cakes the drivetrain. Every pedal stroke I’m cringing and trying to not calculate the cost. I get horrifically muddy trying to clear it to get the wheels turning, never mind getting cold and using precious water to do so.

Post ride clear up is easy. Quick rinse with a hose and put away then lube chain before the next ride. I’ve got two sets of everything so just swap every ride for dry kit.

After building my super cheap but super awsome Inbred-Alfine-Fat-Front-rigid bike from second hand bits that people didn’t want I actually look forward to riding in filth now.

Having a bike dedicated to the task in hand is great. Posh bikes can stay all nice and clean and the mud plugger lives in its own special corner of filth at the opposite end of the garage. Feels exactly the same to ride when covered in crap as when its clean – so no point touching it.

Wet? Mud? Huh? It’s 40c and the only wetness is the sweat that pours off simply getting a bike out the shed. I’d love some rain and mud right now.

I too also as well am bored of the rain and mud, to the point that I haven’t bothered to go out for a ride in a week or so- everywhere’s just bloody sodden 🙁 On the bright side, yoga is keeping me sane and I’m slowly building my HT back up into a lean, mean SS winter machine 😀 Bring on the snow and crisp mornings!

Yeah, it’s a bit shit, and my bikes have to be cleaned as they live indoors and I rent, but the alternative is not going out at all, and frankly that’s not an alternative at all!

bike takes about 20mins, and clothes go in the laundry anyway.

I don’t even bother wiping the dust off anymore.