Get good and muddy on the Goodman Creek trail.

December means rain and rain means mud- ideal habitat for mountain bikers. The Goodman Creek trail, rich in waterlogged dirt during the winter months, is a paradise for off-road types located just 30 minutes outside of Eugene. Easy access, fabulous scenery and a relatively gentle climb also attract plenty of normal people. The normals well mosey happily through a rain forest of gurgling streams and giant Douglas fir, red cedar and moss draped maple. Bikers tend to ignore the scenery and concentrate on surviving the trench warfare that is mountain biking in December.

Directions: Take I-5 south from Eugene/Springfield for approximately 3 miles. Take the Oakridge/Klamath Falls exit (Exit 188A). Stay to the left onto Hwy. 58. Take 58 east through Pleasant Hill and along the south shore of Lookout Point Reservoir. Just before Milepost 21, park in the large gravel parking lot on the right. The trailhead is on the east side of the lot.

After about a quarter of a mile the trail splits. The trail to the left gains more than 3,000 feet in 5 miles to the summit of Hardesty Mountain- no place for amateur mountain bikers. Stay to the right for the Goodman Creek trail.

The first 2 miles of the trail are fairly flat and smooth and take you through a forest of giant old growth Douglas firs, one of which has fallen across the trail a mile from the trailhead. It's the first of many obstacles my friends Jeff and Nan and I encounter.

At the 2-mile mark you'll find yourself in a small clearing next to Goodman Creek. The trail continues on your right. There's a small waterfall and deep pool at the end of a short use trail to your left. It's a good excuse to stop and rest a second.

Past Goodman Creek, the trail gets rougher. There are plenty of branches and small logs across the trail, and lots of opportunities to wipe out. My buddies and I wipe out about once every 15 minutes from here on out. You have to work at it to crash a mountain bike in the city. In the mountains, in the mud, it's easy. You crash when the front wheel comes down on a slick branch and slides off the trail. You crash when you hit a muddy root or a log. You crash going downhill when your brakes lock up in the mud and you can't stop. You crash going uphill when you spin your wheels in the mud and lose your balance.

If you don't have toe clips your feet will slip off the pedals and you'll crash. If you have toe clips you won't be able to get out of the clips when you start to crash and you'll be shackled to the bike as it tumbles down hill. My most spectacular wreck happens this way- my front wheel hits a hole and when I can't get out of my toe clips the back wheel comes over my head and the bike and I cartwheel off the trail down a steep bank. The mud softens the impact.

A mile past Goodman Creek the trail begins to climb steadily for one more mile before it intersects Goodman Creek Road. If you only want to bike downhill, you can shuttle from the highway to the Goodman Creek Road trailhead (take the right turn just before the parking lot).

Or maybe you just want to walk.