Tag hill road is really getting all gnarled as expected. Last July 2014 was when I posted a ride report just after the road was graded. You can see here what the rains do to the mountain roads over a short time. This is normal road works action here; it's non-stop and I just gotta keep riding and it all just lays itself out in front of my Husqvarna branded dirt bikes. After about every place of business was a major chain of stores back in the states, the term Mom&Pop came into play as to what we actually needed in our society to fix some of our woos. This place, here, exists off its citizens scrapping out a living, Mom&Pop style or whatever you wanna call it. I'd call it something else. -- My 2010 TC250 Husky had good luck again (on the gas side) as I ran out just as I passed AJs' Black Cycle. These are full service gas fill-ups. Full service fill-ups are pretty a thing of the past in the states except in the Great State of Oregon to my knowledge. Oregon struck a deal with the oil owners that force them to hire help to pump the fuel into your tank while you wait at a gas-point. Anyone remember putting gas in your vehicle first, and then walking into the store to pay for it? What happened to that attitude? I remember. I lived it. Just another meaningless slap in the face to endure as time marches forward. Today, in the Philippines, we can still pay for our gas after it goes into the tank. It's 1970 again but this time with a brain. I'm down with that and always pay the cost, just like I did in the states before that privilege was taken away. -- I see this type of sign here often. 'Smart' refers to a cell phone provider here. I'm guessing a business can obtain some sort of help from 'Smart' by selling their product here and you get that sign given to you and then you customize it for your advertising. The hanging stuff gave away exactly what AJ was doing today ... Not sure if this is the actual AJ, but in any event, he was showing me some of his work. I thought it was pretty cool. Maybe I can ride with him or the bike owner when that high-clearance model is finished. This place also sells some bike parts ... They have saved me a couple times out there before.
Here's a couple pics of the top side of the road ... Not sure what all that black colored dirt or rock is all about. -- Here's the link from the previous ride when I just discovered this road. It was a GP race course back then. http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/tag-hill-ride-new-favorite-climb.44214/
Here's what appears to be the start of a land slide with the pics taken from my helmet cam ... This pic is headed down into the valley. This pic is headed back to the top of the ridge. You can see how large the gaps are becoming.
I had no business out on this road with my rear tire in such bad shape. It was just, I went out intending to do a short, local ride and then I met a foreigner guy and his wife who said they were going over to Danasan ECO park so I got a wild-hair and rode over there also. The ECO park is very close to Tag Hill so I babied the tire across the mountains to the top of Tag Hill, enough that I though I could ride to the river below and back to top. I know that anywhere on the top side I can get someone to pull my bike back home using rope, or just load the bike in the back of a truck for the short ride back to Danao City. Service crews are built into the system here by default. I really wanted to ride down there and see how bad (good) mother nature had made the road. It was a little too rough and the tire gave out on the way down into the valley so the ride was cut short ... I did make it in and out and back home but it was slow going. Heading down. You can see other small motorcycle tracks in the mud so the road is probably not blocked by a landslide or other natural event. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h3R38IXXIQ -- Coming back out. Clawing my way out of the road was probably not the easiest way back out. I thought I remembered where that side road went but after I made the turn, I realized I had forgotten where that road went and did not wanna make a wrong turn so I just had to cut across and get back on the road I rolled down to get back to the top of the ridge line. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28iqRJ2jjvs -- I really wanna see the bottom side of this hill and the river and its valley ... I'll be back over there shortly to see the sights. You can't really tell from the pics, but lots of that terrain is clay...Very wet, sticky, mushy, heavy clay that is like bubble gum. Without direct sunshine, it dries very slowly. It's Husqvarna 250cc 2t ready.
I had to allow my CARDIO system to catch up at this point ... As I stated above, I know where I'm at. I know the terrain. I know the people. I made a risk assessment on my situation, weighting the risks, the rewards, and made what I call a responsible choice that panned out on the negative side (the tire went away).. And yep, the plan worked out for this side also.
