Mud conditions: fresh winter mud on a solid base

After last week's anticlimax at Ashton Court, due to inadequate mud for the time of year, it's good to see a week of heavy rain has brought conditions back to what they should be for early December. Fresh winter mud on a solid base.

There's lots of puddles, and around the puddles 1-3 cm of slippery mud; very liquid and hard to gain any traction on. Beneath that there's a more solid layer that tyres may get a bite into. Gate closes at about 17:30; the suspension bridge is open to all traffic.

It looks a bit frostier this morning, which may turn the upper layers of mud and water into something crustier. There is a risk here, the "mud bridge", in which you ride onto what appears to be a solid layer of mud only for it to break under your weight and drop you into the pools beneath. Follow mountaineering best practises for glacier work here and send the heaviest and most clumsy person out in front.