Devil's Gulch June 23

I've had a lot of epics at the Gulch - freezing rides in December, 100 degree days running out of water - but nothing quite like the mudfest I had last weekend. I rode alone on Saturday despite the forecast of isolated thunder showers. The 2.5 hours to the top of the road were uneventful - cool and no rain - and I thought it would continue. However it started to sprinkle just as I reached the top, and I decided to bypass a much-needed rest there to try and get through the technical top section of the Mission Ridge trail before it got too wet. Little did I know my efforts were in vain. The sky opened up and it poured rain, creating an incredibly slick surface. Throwing water on the hard clay soil makes for mud so thick it sticks to everything - caking your tires, brakes, frame - all of it. It also got cold - so cold that I stopped under a tree about 1/2 mile in and put on all my kit - and thank God I had it! It rained all the way down to the intersection with the Devil's Gulch trail. There it warmed up and stopped raining for a while. At the lower section (after the three stream crossings) the sky opened up again - this time with thunder. Down below it was warmer so not a big deal. I decided to go for the Red Devil finish to the car, hoping it hadn't seen much rain (isolated showers, after all). Wrong again. The climb up was fine, but muddy. The descent was trecherous. The slick mud had made the motorcycle grooves almost unrideable. Three times I launched over to the downhill side of the trail when my tire turned left, but the bike kept going straight. That dynamic throws your balance off and makes it nearly impossible to stay upright. On the third crash I almost landed on a pile of logs which would have been very bad. I escaped the 5-hour ride unscathed though, dreaming of dryer days ahead.