We tried...

Well, we made it about 1/4 of the way to Oakland when it started pouring. We stopped on a minimum maintenance field road to see how bad it really was going to be out at Oakland. It was extremely muddy and it was very sticky mud. We decided that it would be best not to go tear up our nearest riding area. We did the responsible thing and vowed to return another day. This was after one handgrip repair, and three bike wash outs in the mud of course.