Spring ride....FINALLY!

It feels like I've been trapped inside forever.  I know it hasn't been that long but once you get a taste of that good spring weather, you want more.  So with the snow quickly melting and the temperature rising, I left Jennifer's parent's house.  Heading east and then turning south towards the Wildcat Hills.  During my entire ride I only encountered two cars on the road, not counting the short stint I had to take on the highway.  That's really the beauty of gravel riding.  On previous rides I'd complained of only using the top end of my rear cassette.  Not this ride.  Not having to deal with cars.  I won't tell you I climbed it all in one go.  First stop was to take off my head wrap and my gloves.  The second one was just because my legs were dead.  After getting to the top I wish I could have kept on going down the old highway.  The No trespassing signs, that's plural...which in this case means more then six.  Stapled to every post at the end of the line, said I probably shouldn't attempt what I wanted to try.  On the return trip home I encountered a bit of mud.  One section was bad enough that I got off and walked it thru the ditch.  Still managed to get a good amount of mud all over everything.  Bike worked like a charm.  Shifting got a little touchy after all the mud.  Nothing major.