Winter mountain biking

I've been riding my mountain bike. Today was three hours in .. rain. A lot of rain. And mud. Mountain biking in winter has it's challenges. I've also been getting out at night a bit, which is a lot of fun (if also wet and muddy).

This is my bike:

Obviously, on that day it wasn't muddy. It was snowy and less filthy. This is what it looked like on Wednesday night at the beginning of the ride:

As you can see I've added crud catchers. I dislike the look (and indeed resisted mudguards for years when commuting by bike in London), but given the prevailing conditions at the moment thought I'd try it. It's a big improvement (as was my first commute in the rain when I eventually went the mudguard route). The first puddle that results in no wet arse is a bit of a revelation. I have no pictures of the mud and rain today as I didn't want to take my phone out of it's waterproof protection.  You'll have to use your imagination. To paraphrase, slimy things with bikes did ride upon a slimy trail.