The CopperHead Road ride

[ray_ray]

Since I'm doing some timed test rides between my 2t and 4t machines, I have to go around specific trails that I have not ridden in the past few months to verify they even still exist and see what state that each trail is in today... I'm using this necessary riding time to get accustomed to my 010 TC250 that has a rekluse clutch ...

This short uphill grind, that I have just named CopperHead road, is pretty gnarly, just not too long .. I'm thinking I can incorporate this into my testing in some manner though ...

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Here's a few pics of the area before the video at the end ...

The rekluse .... the rekluse ... At ~130hrs, that bike is a long ways from perfect ... Just like its owner







This view here was a little interesting ...I'm not sure why it was so hazy at the far horizon where the pacific meets the sky.

 

[ray_ray]

I think I can see a little-weed in that corn patch





Optical illusion here ... A reklused bike will roll if not wheel-chocked in some manner.


The real angle of the Husky wedged against that tree.

 

[ray_ray]

Fire on the mountain.


010 TC250 poised just above the CopperHead road creek crossing ..


A little bigger view of the area ... I'm thinking the area behind the bike can be included in the testing along with what is shown on the video up to the point where the fork in the path happens and then do the road going back into and across the creek..


First look down into the creek before the climb up the other side on CopperHead road. I'll call the creek CopperHead Creek for now also.

 

[ray_ray]

CopperHead Creek... Clear water and a nice rock path over the creek created by the locals who use this trail\road.


The view up the opposite side of Copperhead Creek and onto CopperHead Road ... Yep, that's a road. The bottom side just has not seen a dozer in the 3yrs that I have been here. The top side has cement as shown on the video...

 

[ray_ray]

1. Artists: Steve Earle, Steve Earle
2. Album: Copperhead Road
3. Released: 1988
4. Bike: 2010 TC250 w\Rekluse
5. Rider: Ray

Yep, its got a Nam twang to it ....

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ajAcHQrAk

 

[ray_ray]

Here's a real copperhead snake ... I used to see them in AR...They are a very cool looking snake ...

 

[Kevin_TE250]

Here's a real copperhead snake ... I used to see them in AR...They are a very cool looking snake ...
View attachment 37859

Hate em them and cotton mouths and timber rattlers

 

[ray_ray]

Hate em them and cotton mouths and timber rattlers

Sounds like you know your southern states, snakes ... That copper head and the rattler have got the looks but that cottonMouth is the bad a$$ ... Not sure but I bet his poison has got the biggest whop and he is for sure the meanest of the three...

That cottonMouth is no black mamba I'm sure but I've saw 'em in the back woods waters, in his homelands, and he is not afraid of man and is looking to defend the ground he is laying on ... They can even set off a very bad odor once railed ... I'm happy no snakes are really here where I'm at now ...

 

[juicypips]

You have some amazing places to ride ray ray
Truly fantastic.

 

[ghte]

Great trails there Ray, Bet its hard in the heat and humidity.

 

[Kevin_TE250]

I figured you'd be crawling with snakes in the PI....

 

[ray_ray]

I figured you'd be crawling with snakes in the PI....

Not on Cebu... Too small of land mass with too many people scattered in the country side I'd guess ... The snakes would be killed off or eaten or both if very many around ... People are walking all over this place in flip-flops...Kids are all over the place, running around, climbing trees and playing in the creeks ... A snake 3" long got bite them on the toe but I never hear of this happening.

I see a couple of snakes a yr laying dead in the roads... Usually weird looking and could be anything ... Usually < 2 feet long but I have saw one 3' or so .... I just keep my boots on when walking around out there and don't give it much thought.

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If you look at the pics I put out of the larger mountain ridge lines and the valleys between them, at the very bottom of most if not all those valleys, probably is a gnarly2x creek of some sort... Pretty much no mans land there... Any thing might be there, maybe even cobras but they are not coming out from down there, if they are indeed there ... Once, I did talk with a local who lives down pretty deep in one of the valleys (3 Amigos area) ... he said there were snakes down at the bottom of the valleys ... I'm down with the locals about 99% of the time ...

 

[ray_ray]

Great trails there Ray, Bet its hard in the heat and humidity.

Yep on the heat and I try to wear white and gray gear as much as possible... Black colored clothing is just about out with me here .... Safety glasses also instead of goggles ...

And a camel back is very much needed also ...

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Here is what always does the trick for me on hydration and energy levels out in the providences ... Coconut juice right out of the tree .... It looks like water when the nut is cut open and just has a clean fresh taste ... These guys know when we come through, we'll probably want some thing to drink and have no problem going up the trees..


This guy was really good with that blade.

 

[ray_ray]

You have some amazing places to ride ray ray
Truly fantastic.

It's pretty cool riding here in many ways ... Pretty raw stuff really ... You can pretty much pick the level of riding intensity and skill level you wanna ride that day ... I still like doing single track but not too technical... it seems I just don't have the stamina anymore and have a hard time recovering if I have to carry the bike too much due to sticking points. Most of this stuff I do here on Cebu is ~1,000' high or so but after I get up that far up off sealevel, its like I'm up on Everest somewhere and I can't breath well. I'm racking all this up to age and not enough cross training maybe ...

Every couple yrs, roads will get graded and everything slowly sort of resets back to ~GP smooth riding spread around where I ride and then the rains gnarl everything out again over time ,... So there is always changes to the terrain on the base trails\roads I ride in my immediate area. Plus these guys are always building or changing something out there. Bamboo has a life span of about ~2 yrs and then it starts going bad ... This short life-span forces change out there all the time also.

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If you look at that trail just past the creek, that is a pretty steep climb over some very big smooth rocks, some embedded, some not ... Alot of other stuff all along the way that the bike must step over also... Its not an easy climb for many of us ... At the same time, no cliff to fall off of or anything too dangerous there if you crash other than the normal things that can break you up .

 

[ray_ray]

Here's another VID of riding this same road, going in the opposite direction, and riding with some local riders here. These are some of the same guys I do the races with also ... You'll notice how much more speed I gotta carry to ~keep up with these guys if you have ever watched much of anything I have posted here ... These guys blast everywhere ...Correct line selection is paramount as there are big embedded rocks all over. I only about lost it ~5 times

We also take a left hand turn about the 1:28 mark that goes into some rock laden climbs ... This new part can be test material for the 2t vs 4t stuff.

And we are traveling W\SW ... The sun sets in the ~SW here and it is blasting in there alot plus this 1600 Contour seems to lack in direct hard sunlight ... You can see the dust being kicked up and mixed with the 2t bikes in front .... It's like dry here ...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhBjUviuF-w&feature=youtu.be

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I figured you'd be crawling with snakes in the PI....

I found this dead one a couple days back ... Looks pretty regular ... Not sure if it is poisonous or not ..