We had a VERY BAD MUD DAY right before we got to Dease Lake, and finally tried out a tip we'd heard before, and it worked great. We were able to get the bikes *really* working well again with a good cleaning.

1. We're using the SRAM quick-connectors on the chain, so we just took opened the chain up using those. (Nancy has a Shimano chain, and the connector works on those, too.) If you didn't have that, you'd have to break the chain the old fashioned way.
2. After removing the chains, we put them in a bit of diesel in a small peanut butter jar and shook and let it sit awhile.
3. Then I wiped every link carefully with a rag
4. Finally, we let the chains dry just a bit, then applied some new lube.
5. And the next day we put more lube on, because the diesel remaining in the chain dissolved a lot of the original lube, of course.

Voila! The chains were as good as new! No more crunch crunch from the mud/sand. Maybe I won't be quite so unhappy in the future when we have a bad mud day, knowing that I really can clean it up right.