Taptap is a small town with a cool mountain MX track, made down inside a hillside and in sort of a bowl ... It's south of me and I ride close to it lots but usually on the west side of the huge valley that runs north&south across almost the entire island. Always a show there it seems, with the weather alone if nothing else ... This was a ride over the day before the race to see what was gonna take place over there ... The place is in the mountains but has easy access from the transcental hiway and Cebu City so transportation access to the place is good. My 08 WR250 Husky ... Trying to ride this bike and keep off the 4t bikes ... That far ridgeline, just under that big white bluff is where I ride alot heading south through the island...Comes out about the same place as this road I'm on now but not nearly as cool a dirt bike ride. This is ~3 miles from Taptap ... Weather fronts must get hung on the mountains or something because it rains more out here. Looking east ... N.America is out there...Probably over that banana tree as the crow flies.
This mural has been here a couple yrs at least ... Not sure if these guys used better paint or this part of the building misses the brutal direct sunlight ... Lifespan on many things here is based on direct sunlight hitting it day after day ... That's LapuLapu and Bohol in the distance .. Another angle on Big Bluff on the far ridgeline that was in the previous pics. That small white line to the left of Big Bluff is called Thin Bluff. That's Taptap also ...
Just to give you a clue on what a race might be like here and the track from ~2 yrs ago, here is a previous posting I made on the weather that can happen about any day here apparently ... http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/whats-the-weather-like.27497/page-12#post-277477 Few looks at the new improved track ... Too hairy for me to attempt to race ... It had some cool sections but racing nope ... Not a big fan of jumping downhill either ... Saw too many crash&burn pics when I was growing up ... By sheer consequences, at the ama HP race this weekend, there was big downhill double and no one did it during practice and only after RD5 did it during the race, did some riders follow that line because it was faster .. Gotta admit, riding beside that clawed in wall was pretty cool Mactan and Bohol again... The top side. Cool uphill on the left side ..
Engineers at work ... Track was plenty wide in some places but passing was limited with the inside line being about best always ... Another view of Thin Bluff over the top of their corn...
Track ride ... 2 laps and I did handle that switch back much better the second time ... View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQ0pufP8Zs
Yep, I'm right over at the TranCentral Hiway and so is Angels so I stopped over... Friday is her day on location I found out; this was SAT and racing is SUN ...
I'd forgot about that pucker phase but yep, more than I'm gonna endure ... If it drys here, I can always go back and do a few laps at low speed and do that uphill at some speed ... Here's some pics from race day That's last yr track on the right side... High pucker factor here and a engine braking 4t bike might feel a little safer here ... P
These little bikes and the 125cc races are usually pretty fun to watch. It's kind of raw here... Made it to the bottom of the hill ... Finished off as usual...
No competition or fiesta during this week so I have no clue why so many people were out there at such a small race; they did have some good local talent there and one local guy told me the people liked it because the sitting allowed pretty good viewing of the entire track ... I was gonna leave after seeing some racing and talking some people I knew but made one more pass through the area on my bike just to get some cam work on the crowd ... Never dreamed so many bikes were there and then I ran into trail riders that I know were passing there... Seems they sort of crash races when they are on their rides .. So this first VID is of the last 2 laps of a PRO moto and the second is of the bikes parked there along the road ... View: https://youtu.be/3vF-3P8RSOY Crowd view before leaving ... View: https://youtu.be/BbplJGQ8i5c
