That\’s not my name! I certainly hope not. Mud, that is.

There\’s plenty of mud in my neighborhood now. Road work is in progress; and the rain we had over Friday night/Saturday morning has made a real mess of things.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a ride on the levee. I didn\’t think to carry my bicycle over that mud into the street (there\’s not much of a sidewalk here); and the mud patch was too wide for me to step over it. Not that it would have helped much; there\’s mud smeared all over the street surface, too.

So there I was, pedaling with muck-slicked shoes. I\’m glad the hybrid has toe clips, not cleats, because the cleats would have gotten gummed up. Platform pedals might not have provided the traction my shoes needed.

When I got back home, of course I had to tread back through all that mess again. I had to fetch my whisk broom so I could brush at least the worst of the mud off of my bicycle\’s tires before taking it indoors.

Today I didn\’t ride until 9 am, which is late for my Sunday ride. Even then I did only 10 miles. The road bike is still in the shop, and my main aim is to keep from becoming completely out of condition before I get it back.

This time, when I arrived back home, I remembered to carry my bike over the worst of the muck. Incidentally, conditions underfoot reminded me of this children\’s poem.

More showers are likely tonight, and again Tuesday night. That certainly won\’t improve matters! Not for me, anyhow; but some cyclists enjoy riding through the mud.

Mud? That\’s not my name. I\’ll stick with road riding.