This is an attempt to cross Cebu from east to west, going across the highest mountains and their valleys on the island. This is actually my second attempt at this route and I did make more progress in the correct direction. There is more cement that I'd like to see along the way that has been poured in the last 3 yrs or so I'd guess and continues today... After seeing it on paper, we travel along a big ridge line, then cross over a large, flat valley and over a spillway, then back up on the ridge line on the opposite side and continue to head south towards the TransCentral Hiway(that does dissect the island). Very scenic and some gnarlyism along the way ...Several small villages along to way to make stopping interesting ... Busted out the Klims ... And I'm doing some tire-wear tests ... I'm testing the theory that 2(maybe 3) things are the driving factors in knobby tire wear-out on payment. Each passing yr, more cement is poured here, meaning more hard top riding for me daily ... 1) Speed on hardtop -- thinking this heats the already soft rubber up and makes it wear quickly (I'm limiting myself to the lower RPM range in top gear on the hard top -- 20-25mph is pretty fast here in alot of places) 2) Starts (and stops) -- All that wheel spin adds up maybe and maybe quick stops are dragging the tire also to some degree ... All these little 125 4t street machines have a cush drive ... I have to think honda put it on theirs for a good reason that is not so apparent to me at least. (No more wheelie popping on the hardtop unless I seat bounce it or just know I'm gonna get very good traction) This is not the route, but a side road off the main route ... I always do some exploring inside the real exploring ... You can see what the highlands are gonna look like by this pic... If I'm riding this 010 TC250 5 yrs from now, it will have been a good 5yrs. Here is the voyager data ... Highest peak 3109' ... That's it... might be 100' too high. Very pronounced and defined landscape though... Like you can almost reach and them. Here's the round trip distance ... Add about 5 miles to 55 and 60 total GPS miles would be the correct amount for the trip ..WC probably says she gets that much before 9AM but for me, its a decent sized number ...
Here's shot of the route after it crosses the valley and continues south. This is the 3 Amigos Bluff point on the trail ... It's set in a recessed manner on that ridge and cannot be seen from the south side in most cases ... Just past the recessed side of the ridgeline, is another much larger white bluff ... I named it 'Big Bluffs' and it can be seen almost all the time during the ride as a reference point ... Here's the spillway at the bottom of the valley complete with a sturdy looking footbridge for the bikes ...
It was like grand central station there with all the workers and kids there.. To the upper right side is 'Big Bluff' ... The trail passed right under that area ... This view is on down the top side of the ridgeline and you can see the big valley in the background that we are flanking and just crossed.
Here's another shot into that valley ... Looks rideable to me ... There are hardwood trees here scattered around. Its like a little piece of home when I see them. I'm at the TC Hiway now and that's Lake Malubog you can see in the middle right of this pic... I'll go back there some day in the near future I hope. Another look down into the valley ... Big Bluff is several miles out of sight on the right side of the pic down that ridgeline.
Welcome to Balamban BRGY! Not to be confused with the city limits of Balamban (Proper) because it is also the name of a large area (BRGY) sort of like a county in the states... What we need is a exit point from the mountains about 5 miles farther across the TC Hiway to tie in with other trails I have over there now... So what do you do when on the TC Hiway? Roll up and down it looking for obvious gnarly stuff heading off into a valley or up a hill ... Here are a few pics of what I saw in the immediate area of where I came out of the mountain roads ... Probably Bohol in the background... That was a really sturdy shed ... Road maintenance is everywhere apparently. Washes are OK but I like to catch some newly graded stuff as much as possible.
Back out ... I'm OK with uphills like this unless following a new knobby too close. Looks a cared-for tree or something.
Here's a few pics of Big Bluff on the return trip ... Most of this was just rolling off the top of ridgeline on cement with a little dirt and rocks mixed in so I was watching the scenery alot, just rolling in 2nd? gear and practicing 'do not touch the rear brake' technique. 3 Amigos are just showing to the right of Big Bluffs. Maybe I'll call that thin buff to the left, 'Thin Bluff' ...
Back down at the spillway crossing. It rained of course ... My tires are AOK for the ride home even if wet ...
Few more pics passing under the bluffs and the road there.. I'm Ok with a climb that has more than 1 line ... Those washes are lots deeper than they look ... Looks like black gold running down that cliff..
Here's the tire after the ride ... Seems like not too much wear and I'll be watching it on the next ride also ...
Here's a video of rolling down to the spillway ... View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETcWEEfllKk This video shows the up the other side and a small bump at the end .. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcYlegq4918
He's a small video of me riding my 08 WR250 across this river after a rain ... View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_244ECc4i8Y Feel free to enjoy that 2t Husky sound before I ride on the bridge ... It's like music to my ears -- I've got a few reasons to cross back over this way in the near future and I'll check the river for changes after the water is lower ... Some new rocks might have rolled downstream or something ...
