Bikepacking Certified Death Mud Removal Tool

The perfect addition to your bikepacking or gravel racing toolkit! I tested out the prototype for this insanely useful product during my Tour Divide run in 2022. New Mexico is famous for its death mud. Especially during the summer monsoon season there, the rain mixes with the unimproved road surface to produce a particular consistency that is so sticky, so unrideable, and so unwalkable that it can slow your forward progress literally to the speed of a crawl.  It can stick around for hours during a heavy or light rain, and then as soon as the sun comes back out, boom, it's over. And there's a period right before it locks you in and right before it dries up where you can sort of ride provided you're scraping the mud off your tire surfaces as you try to ride. This tool excels at this duty, so so much better than a stick and will allow you to move forward during this pre-or post-mud interlude. Yes, the time-tested approach is to find a stick and improvise. But there aren't a lot of sticks in New Mexico south of Grants and north of Pie Town. And there's no guarantee you'll find a stick wherever you're riding next. BTW, death mud exists in other places. Bannock Road in southern Montana, across the Basin in Wyoming, and that gnarly single track you've never had to ride in a rainstorm but are doing that today because, well, because you got caught out there in the rain. This 15g tool tucks right into your top tube bag, flat up against the side, just waiting to be deployed during a moment of death muddiness.  It sort of keeps your hands clear and because it's plastic, won't scrape up your paint or carbon fiber wheels. Scrape the wheels and wheel wells, scrape the bottom of your shoes, scape off the chainring, push a few meters, repeat. 15g, 2" x 7", flexible plastic. Below - the author, north of Grants NM, with the well-worn prototype.