I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be part of WTB family because of my passion to ride my homemade adventure bike on road and off-road. I really didn't start riding off-road until I have my adventure bike. I really enjoy and love being off the road as I get to be with nature, explore and discover new things and most of all, the challenge of riding on dirt/mud 🙂 And now that I have all the proper tyres to go with my adventure bike, I was ready for my adventures! The first one was in deep mud in Surrey!
Here's my bike all clean and ready to go 🙂
I made my way to the start by road on a nice sunny day if a little cold. The ride started at Richmond Park on the off-road path which turned out to be very muddy so that was good fun for the Raddlers! I didn't go mental as I wasn't sure how the tyres were going to react. There was one fast descent on mud and gravel but the tyres seemed to deal with it with no problem and my confidence increased. We then hit some gravely towpath for a few kilometres.
Then the fun started as we turned off the road at high speed onto what looked like hard packed dirt but turned out to be two inch deep mud! Fortunately, there were no worrying moments so I powered on. This route then went to a forest on a winding track, ending in a boggy section with mud deep enough to come over the rims. I managed to stay upright but lost momentum and had to put my foot down due hitting a large stick.
The next challenge for the tyres was a flowing descent approximately ten percent steep, with potholes, large rocks and puddles to negotiate. Dragging the brakes to stop the bike building up too much speed, I picked the 'least bad' line and hoped for the best. The good news is that I got no loss of traction either on braking or turning, which was a relief as previously on other tyres in similar situations I've had some worrying slides.
The day continued in a similar fashion with alternating servings of grass, gravel, mud and road. The tyres peformed brilliantly throughout although they did feel a little squirmy on the road due to the low pressure I was running. In the end, I finished tired but happy to have stayed upright and explored some new terrain which would have not been possible with my road bike. Thankful for my new adventure bike and amazing WTB Raddlers. I am now confident that I can pursue my new found passion for off-road adventures.
I thought you might want to see my bike after the mud fest 🙂 I had mudguards too!
