Riding Down Under - Tropical Cairns Australia

[MacDoc]

Q: I recall over the last few months you mentioning that you'd be heading off to Oz, but don't recall what the reason was for (just curious, was it work, a woman, many womenz, etc.).

I'd been spending the winters in South Africa - had a friend there and accommodation was inexpensive and lovely.
http://www.montagu-ashton.info/accommodation-detail.php?id=457
Highly recommended .

Single dad newly kid free and had met a few people on SciConnect forums which hooks up geeks from around the world.

Hit it off right from the get go ( after 3 years of false starts ) with a girl a little younger than me from North East Australia - she travelled to North America a couple times a year on research conferences and as luck would have it had close friends in Buffalo that she was seeing a month after we met online.

Good chemistry and we really knitted it all together with Skype and scrabble on line which we still do when apart. We also bought some land in patchouli paradise which was founded hippies and communes...perfect climate - you can grow anything.
http://www.kuranda.org/

Long term we will build up on it = it's cooler up there by a few degrees - the land use is very highly restricted - no dogs, cats or fences which suites us fine and we have .6 hectares of which we can use 600 sq meters to build along the road. Nice part is we are in reforested rainforest - very mature yet have town water, electricity and communications. 5 minutes from a pool and 5 minutes from Kuranda. Since no one can have dogs cats or fences we anticipate a very civilized community on the dead end road.....forest sounds are delightful.

Right now tho we travel a fair bit, did the Inside Passage last spring, lined up for 3 weeks road trip to the East Coast in May ( Annapolis Valley and then Norway, Sweden, Denmarks Iceland the Farrows etc by cruise again in early fall. Neither are cruise types but there are some locations just no practical any other way....one being Glacier Bay and the other the Baltic and East Atlantic Islands and remoter points like the Shetlands. For $2500 including all accommodation and food it made all kind of sense for an area that is quite expensive to visit ( hell you can spend that in Copenhagen alone).

We fell in love with Alaska and a road trip in 2013 is in the works tho we may do Western US loop - Yosemite and Highway 1/101 instead with Alaska in the spring of 2014. Bought a later model Odyssey which should prove good for road trips. My business lets me work anywhere there is an internet connection - even on the cruise ( tho dreadfully slow ).

So last year split my African journey 6 weeks there and 6 weeks in Cairns and this year 3 months solid in Cairns. Having the KLR was a very good move. Jude goes to work very early at the hospital and that's the nicest riding time so I'm off adventuring every other day or so. She was away in Singapore this week so I was house and pooch sitting - felt good to take some time off riding - just read and relax. Every day gets hot in the afternoon and this is the rainy season so muggy as well.

10 minute ride is this http://vulieu.net/twg/pictures/2005_Australia/Cairns-pool.jpg - you can use it as a screen image for Feb days

So there you go. New flights from Toronto to Cairns one-stop means I can be here in just about 30 hours for about $2k most of which is paid by credit card travel points earned by the biz. Clients tend to get a kick out my travels both abroad and on the mcycle so it keeps them aware and buying. Staff handle stuff while I'm away and in good weather afternoons are spent working and socializing at the Shed in Erin - used to be BelFountain.

Hopefully this year when I get back winter will be over - last year sucked. Coming back a bit later this year and looks like a warm winter.

A butterfly the size of a bird just fluttered through the house (house is a Queenslander - which is an open air concept from pre- a/c days- only needs a/c in bedrooms on occasion - you basically live on a giant screened deck about 8 metres by 6 metres with another extension going along the side of the house to the front that is 3m wide. It's about a meter off the ground and deck is slatted so air flows from underneath as well. Even tho it's 29 and humid just now at 10 am its pleasant under the fans. GF is a biologist so has planted all rain forest trees and bushes on the property and canopy is now about 15 meters high.

Cairns is tourist heaven with two world heritage sites next to one another - the Kuranda Rain Forest and the closest spot to the Great Barrier Reef - so wealthier with better infrastructure than the 150k population would normally dictate. Many national parks up the coast and into and behind the coast range. The rise from the sea is steep so the roads are wicked fun to ride and well maintained.

Long term is to be here - intermediate - 3 months here, 2-3 months travelling together - both still working. So far so good.

 

[MacDoc]

Told ya it was paradise....forgot my swim trunks too but I got late start and it was a longish loop to Milaa Milaa Falls....can you believe there are three of these on a 15 km route..

More tomorrow when I get to the high speed upload cafe.

Hooked up on ADVRider with some locals for where to ride - looking forward to new areas and there is a complete Australian forum on there.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17975433#post17975433

 

[EasyD]

Amazing report! Anxious to hear more. Been to OZ a couple times myself but only to the big cities. Very jealous of what you're doing right now. The KLR is the perfect choice, I would think too.

My 2 cents on a couple of questions posed:
- yes you can ride out of the bush on a flat if you go slow and stay on dirt, and a trail riding trick is to have several big zip ties in your pack to wrap around the tire and rim to hold it on
- in offroad pants I like the over the boot style which usually have lots of vents you can open and cargo pockets. And air comes up the bottom past your boots. I have Fly Racing ones which I really like and Shift makes a couple good models too.
- not sure if this was the question or not, you probably already know, but "macadam highway" just means a paved road, refers to Tar MacAdam which is the long form of tarmac, named after John MacAdam who invented a granular form of road which they then added tar to later, something like that. To this day you'll hear Jackie Stewart in interviews refer to keeping the race car on the "tar macadam". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_macadam

 

[klr_guy]

Enjoying this thread - keep it up MacDoc.

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Long term is to be here - intermediate - 3 months here, 2-3 months travelling together - both still working. So far so good.

I both envy, and hate you, you filthy travelling "hippy".


P.S. More of the former than the latter, fyi.

 

[MacDoc]

Dr. S - BTW I do work online selling, buying and managing the biz and finances remotely - not much different than I do in the office or at the Shed but time shift is a killer - 14 hours ahead.
Set a record with i/o emails 320 in a single 24 hour period.....so no shiftless hipster here

•••

Thanks for the tips EasyD. Will grab some long zips to tuck in with the water etc. Still considering pants and boots but think I will wait a year. I want to get a PLB when I get back in Canada - will just be a bit cautious on the longer loops here for now....

Took a few days in Melbourne - GF at a conference so I trudged around the lovely Botanical Gardens and got some twitching started for down under. Nice to start a new life list. Any bird watchers can have a look at the pics here
http://www.ehmac.ca/photography-focus/20727-photography-anyone-585.html

The last one turned out to be Great Crested Grebe and stupid me the first day a gorgeous night heron was out in the daytime and in easy photo range....but no camera

Looked like a big king fisher or even a strange coloured kookaburra ( noisiest birds on the planet ) but then it stretched it neck out and flew away - knew it was a heron. Very lucky sighting in the day time.

This one I DID get posing in the shadows - called a couple over who had serious cameras and they were thrilled - one very alpha male rail. Just gorgeous.

Some nice photos and sore calves and shins from slogging to and from from the hotel. Expensive city.

Bike was ready when I got back, hardly looks different with just 6 " taken out of the foam and the rear foot pegs removed to make it qualify as a single seater.... cost $170 including the piece of paper verifying the change and it saves me over $200 in registration fees each year. So I'm ahead even next month.
The "rego" fees includes 3rd party lability here so without a passenger the annual registration and insurance drops from $310 to $104 with this change.

That's my entire cost for the year boys and girls including liability insurance $104 tax in. on a 650 KLR -ya think there is something wrong with Ontario insurance rip off???.....you bet.
Since there is no sales tax on used bikes you could have a variety here at a reasonable cost IF you can find a deal. They can still convert off road dual sports to on road as well.

Got the AirHawk seat and now want to try at least one longer run into some of the areas to the south - perhaps an overnight with a mix of nice paved roads and some of the national parks along the coastal range.
I might do one inland trip as well along the Savannah Way or maybe best of all do a run up to Cookstown via the interior. GF says not a good time of year to go inland - too much risk of being stranded so sounds like south or north.

Found a tank bag for $40 from an ex-KLR rider here - that was a good find and waiting to ride a bit with some locals over the next few weeks thanks to ADVRider Australian forum.

Took a rather soggy ride up to Kuranda and Mareeba today - explored the road that continues on past where we own some property in a second growth rainforest. Crossed the Baron River and it's kinda fun reading about the travails of the gold miners in the area in the late 1800s - jungle, dry, mountains, torrential rains or none at all and oh yeah.....cannibals. !!!!!
Gold was so plentiful one guy scooped up 900 oz in a single pool in a single day.
Been riding in the same areas and want to explore more.

Will have some more pics to upload tomorrow of the Barron River crossing - easy to imagine how wild that must be when it floods and some roos along the road...I do think they would be worse to hit than a deer even tho about the same mass.

more soon

Stay tuned - thanks for tips and comments.

 

[kiwi]

Enjoy your rides. Got to love the insurance situation outside of Ontario !

 

[MacDoc]

This was fun actually being in the bed of the Barron River on this crossing which is a few 10's of KM up the road from our property. Lovely winding paved road to get to it with some serious grades and decent curves. Pavement is good for the likes of the KLR so a private little track of some 15-20 km with very little traffic ....cept roos



Looking upstream it's hard to imagine 25' or more of water coming down this channel.

Then downstream - as I said spooky to be in the bed considering what kind of water flows crashes through here

The bridge across the main channel of this branch - lots of well worn bolts and you can see from the lean of that tree gets up to some serious speed.

Just a few kilometers downstream it turns into a monster

This shot from the Skytrain car as we passed over it....

and this is nothing compared to when it's in full flood.

This was taken ( not by me ) after 50 hours of rain on the Tablelands

It's why the wet season is so treacherous in this region and even on main highways and roads - not just in the boonies. The amount of rain that can fall in a few short hours is astonishing.

Continued on across the bridge - slippy rocky grade up the other side hoping to cut through to another town but no luck - asked a guy who lived at road end and he said no way unless I wanted to take the railway line ( which in a pinch I would as it's never used ).

Took a break to dry out from the light showers that made for a bit of a soggy day

Bike has been just flawless tho I'm more frequently wishing it was geared lower for slow speed stuff.
The AirHawk has been helpful tho have not yet done a long run on it.

The extra inch is a bit annoying in the rougher stuff so making a habit of pulling it off ( I did after this pic was taken.)
Might still have too much air in it.

Talked to GF and might have an over night coming next weekend so plotting where to go. She has a one day conference in the South so there is a window for me to explore a bit further.

Options are Cookstown run ( mostly road ) or a dive to the south a bit and more mixed National Parks, coastal range.

 

[MacDoc]

Hmmph - got an invite to an area I've been interested in for Monday - Davies Creek and Tinaroo.

Trying to extract some info from the locals as the official version is it's a walking track where we are headed...

There may indeed be some walking across that....

They are riding Honda XR600 and 650 - a bit better for this kind of venture.....90 lbs lighter than the KLR and likely better geared and tired for off road.....we shall see....gonna go up tomorrow and check out the first section if the weather holds.

Had a nice short ride today up to the Copperlode Dam which supplies Cairns drinking water. Lovely 16 km windy road ( think slow ) right on the edge of the city - just a couple k start from me - winds up to a lake/dam - will post up pics tomorrow on high speed.

Saw a largish python dead beside the road - had a large something in it's stomach - either a bad case of indigestion or bad timing on a road that sees little traffic.

Only other rider was a girl on a little rental scooter.
I coasted about half the way down - much fun. Cooler than the city so nice place to read and there is tea and coffee gratis at a little patio up by the lake and damn. No swimming or fishing etc - just a nice place to take a break.

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Dr. S - BTW I do work online selling, buying and managing the biz and finances remotely - not much different than I do in the office or at the Shed but time shift is a killer - 14 hours ahead.
Set a record with i/o emails 320 in a single 24 hour period.....so no shiftless hipster here

[biggest snip since King Kong's circumcision]

Stay tuned - thanks for tips and comments.

Lol, you're redefining the term hippy - you just don't know it.

All the fantastical pics and the great storytelling aside, I'm perplexed how the world around us can function so fluidly with people paying so little for insurance...maybe we here in Ontario have divined the end of the world if we drop our rates to be comparable to the rest? Maybe it's up to Ontario insurance to keep the global economy churning to insure Armageddon never happens?

My sarcasm aside, that part of your story makes me lean towards maybe hating you...just a 'lil bit.

ccasion5:

 

[MacDoc]

Oh I carved my share of tiki's on English Bay to cadge some money for food....Expo year....paid my hippy dues.

The insurance here is split - IF you register a vehicle you pay the insurance right then - I think Quebec does it that way as well.

Then if you want collision or additional coverage you can buy it from private companies. Ontario insurance is a disgrace.

••

Couple of nice rides Copperdam just above the city. 13 km of slow twisties just a few blocks away.

and then a look see at Davies Creek which is part of Monday's venture - glad I went today as weather was superb and it's a lovely 10k of mostly gravel and forest track - a little like the Black Mountain mix with a small section of twisty when coming off the highway.

Took a walk further in on the hikers only track as well...management has a very effective no vehicle barrier up yet still allows hikers and mountain bike clear access. Quite a severe 10k hike - steep and lots of YOU CAN DIE! warnings.
I only went in about 1/2k to where the jungle ended.

Pics tomorrow.

 

[MacDoc]

as promised Davies Creek and a look a up coming Clohesy River ride -

Pure heaven - a ride through Jurassic park.

riding this across the Clohesy on Monday with a couple of locals on Honda 600/650XRs - was not sure where it went and did not want to get wet for a dead end. About 1/2 meter deep from the look of it

Birdwing in the back yard - they are literally the size of a bird - and the Ulysses are brilliant electric blue - they flit over the riding trails when in the forest..impossible to capture on camera. These guys flutter into the house - the females are electric green and the males like this one are the bigger ones and huge wingspan

gum trees on the Davies Creek track - hard to capture how dramatic they are with the red laterite soil and the brilliant white against a blue sky.

can you imagine a whole forest this size? There are a few pockets never logged around the volcanic cones and the tree sizes are just breath taking - not quite as big as the West Coast Cedars and Sequoia's but equally awe inspiring.

end of the 10km of Davies Creek open to bikes but then

There are dozens and dozens of hiking and mountain biking trails all over the region. Complete with bullet holes from frustrated 4wd drive types who are blocked off from them

- it's very very dangerous territory as you can get hit with accident, thirst and flood all in a few rugged square miles. The tales of the gold miners ( complete with cannibals ) who opened the area and incredible and getting into the more rugged parts gives you a glimpse of what they faced.

There are more pics here - working on descriptions
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m269/macdoc/travel/australia 2012/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16
some mcycle related others of the various areas - Melbourne notably. Work in progress for titles and description.

 

[MacDoc]

Couple of nice rides Copperdam just above the city. 13 km of slow twisties just a few blocks away from home here.
This is about 1/2 way up and overlooks Cairns - very narrow in spots and the land falls away at 70degree or steeper slopes.

Good sized python made either an error in judgement crossing the road or erred in what he tried to eat.

Intrepid girl on a hire scoot made the run up to Copperdam to take some pics. You can rent scoots and mcycles here - keep it in mind for a trip.

Just a lovely winding 13 km run with good elevation changes - very narrow with 70 degree plus drops on the edges and some vertical sections - big lizards, pythons and wild mountain bike riders plus runners to add to the confusion

 

[MacDoc]

Okay gonna get wet on Monday I'm told -

and I quote - "yep will be crossing that one and about 6 others" :toothy2:
Damn I wish I had that lower gearing on .

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Okay gonna get wet on Monday I'm told -

and I quote - "yep will be crossing that one and about 6 others" :toothy2:
Damn I wish I had that lower gearing on .

Lol, how bad is the gearing? Noticeable?

 

[MacDoc]

Yes for this kind of slow work - really have to feather the clutch or hold the rear brake on for stand up careful riding - it's great on the highway as it cruises at 100kph at 4k rpm ....but slow I'd rather have a tooth difference.
Have the sprocket but then I loose the cruise sweet spot.

Where it's noticeable is both in first gear very slow - which will be the stream crossing and then second gear on a scrabbly hill - first is too low then to keep momentum and no wheel slip and 2nd too fast in some cases to deal with the rain gullies.

Been a lot of yip yap that the KLR needs 6 gears so it can still tractor and do highway at reasonable rpms. With marginal tires for off road the higher gear issue is just made worse - have to bully the bike through instead of finesse it.

 

[MacDoc]

That was an eyeopener on the limitations of an adventure bike on forest track and muddy hills!!!

Had a good time on the Clohesy/Tinaroo run today - I clocked about 175k with perhaps 100 in dirt/forest track - maybe half 4wd accessible and the other half off road track normally closed to vehicles
.
The limitation of current KLR tires was VERY apparent with a couple of slides outs trying to climb one rather muddy hill.
The creeks I was concerned about turned to be no problem tho better traction would never hurt - good fun but the muddy hill was beyond rider and bike to negotiate...

First slide out not so bad hit a branch with the front tire which slid on it - I stayed sort of up, bike laid down....huffing and puffing and managed to get going with help but then traction just disappeared further up the hill and aging rider found himself nicely pinned by 500 lb of KLR on a marginally armoured ankle.- Fortunately a combination of mud, thick socks and the Nike shin guard protected me enough Moto boots on the bring from Canada list.

More muscle getting boot out from under - no damage to rider beyond frustration but busted clutch lever made for a rather interesting ride out of the area to Mareeba for a $20 fix. I could sort of hold it in place to get going. I HAD made it to within a few meters of the top of the hill before losing it the second time. Fortunately that was far and away the worst bit - One of the experienced riders said he didn't think he could make that hill on the KLR given tires I had. Made me feel a little better and taking two tumbles ( been maybe 30 years or more since I've dumped a bike ( tho lots of times in boonies before that)
Body held up okay - mud is kind.

Annoyed at myself as I had the stock KLR hand guards and forgot to put them on the bike before I left. Been so long since I've taken a tumble .......handle bars were out of position as well so the guards might not have helped.

Did manage to stay upright after that 'cept for a good face plant at the lunch stop which brought some well deserved snarks about Canadian co-ordination. Fiddling with camera and missed a step.

An almost front wheel washout coming into Tinaroo really made the message on knobbie need hit home - down from the dam on pavement - some loose sand sitting on the smooth concrete of the small bridge made the rear slide out as well on the way back up tho that was not an issue - the front wheel near wash out tho....not good.

That sort of did it for "NEED APPROPRIATE TIRES!!" decision.
The front was getting there anyway and the roads are way too much fun to have to squirm through them on quasi- road tires.....50/50 something coming up. Apparently there are decent 50/50 I can get 3k out of. That will do.

While the armoured jacket and gloves did their job ( never even felt the impact on upper body on the second fall and I fell downhil- lack of moto- boots and pants - even tho not an issue this time....will need to be addressed next season.....and a set of goggles - too much dust.
See what kid has at home and make do with getting decent tires this round.

Knobbies should get me through with more confidence in direction and traction especially at my tourist pace. Will be going tomorrow I hope to discuss.

Anyways much thanks to the guys who were all patient and helpful and good chit chat around lunch solving world problems


Minor pics soon - no time to shoot pics. Gonna go back to a couple of the areas for a more leisurely sight seeing.....when it's dry. May ride the creeks again - will not try the hill solo.

Had fun, got home in one piece after a couple of spills.....not a bad day. Mix of rain and sun all day - had there been no rain might have made that hill even with the marginal tires - 650 power was useful as did not have to shift too often. Have to do more riding standing - something I missed on the Burgman and like on the KLR but legs are not used to long stretches absorbing bumps.

Sure rode faster on marginal surfaces than I ever have before. Bit nerve racking given the drops beside us - we got as high as 4,000 feet - good view and it was actually chilly.

To give you sense of speeds the wildmen were running - 160k on some of the dirt and I was running on pavement at 110 and one of the riders was cruising in the dirt shoulder at the same speed.
Good tires, good bikes, excellent dirt riders....but again these bikes are made for this - lighter with the suspension, tires and gearing for it. A heavy dual sport is NOT at home especially at speed on the marginal tracks.

80-90 was my top which is double my usual speed on dirt. One of the riders said his 600 was squirming until he put new rubber on just before this ride and he was very pleased.

Was nervous with the front end and even have been on the pavement recently so time for some new Keds.
Have not run knobbies since my Bultaco days so will be interesting.

 

[patw]

Tire selection seems to be a huge topic with DS riders. I've got some Avon Gripsters on mine, and while they're quite nice on the road (quiet) they're not ideal off road. Then again, at my skill level I probably couldn't do much better with real 50/50 tires

Good job on lifting it up, she's a bit of a pig

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Did manage to stay upright after that 'cept for a good face plant at the lunch stop which brought some well deserved snarks about Canadian co-ordination. Fiddling with camera and missed a step.

What happened here? Did both you and the bike go butt-over-tea-kettle or did the bike launch you (i.e was that next sentence detailing the front wheel wash out the root cause for your face plant) due to wheels slipping out from under you?

You're spoiling us with details, can't miss the little things...

 

[MacDoc]

This was the start off of the journey and I will got back to this area - there were about six crossings of which this was the longest tho not deepest.

The hill was first gear all the way tho a lower second and decent tires I might have made it.

Here's the riding crew - all upper end Honda offroad just marginally dual sport - they all rode at much much higher speeds than I'm used on dirt.

your local guides for crazy rides......
175k yesterday of which 100+ plus was off road and 35 serious off road.
sore muscles today......rethinking which bike for here long term - might move down to 250 or 400 dual sport that is lighter and that Jude can ride.

6 creeks all negotiated okay but one long muddy hill that was not - ( been a long time since I"ve been flat on my back under a bike in the mud )
says for sure I need 50/50 tires and maybe a lighter ride not so heavy.
All in one piece but will get some boots and knee guards - upper body armour was fine - did not feel a thing going down but close call on my ankle - lucky it was mud.
Did have hiking boots and shin guards on which took the weight

The guy on the right is a wildman....he'll do 160 in the dirt without thinking about it - solid muscle - fisherman and also played rugby- I was riding 110 on the highway and he was doing the same on the shoulder to save his knobbies.
Guy on the left is bit more my speed tho a much better bike for what we rode ( toughest was the restricted forest track )
Guy in the middle has access to the restricted forest tracks and that's where the mud hill was after the creeks.. Very good riders- both guys on the right.
The guy on the left said he had trouble with his bike tracking ( the KLR was squirmy - front tire is shot ) and the new ones made a world of difference
Yesterday was his first ride on them. He rides more my speed so may get out again with him once fitted with some new rubber but really rethinking which bike now.

The mad fisherman on the right said he didn't think he could have gotten the KLR up that hill with the rubber that was on it - made me feel a bit better - he actually worked for Honda at times and has a very deep well of experience to draw on.
Had to ride out with a broken clutch lever but got a quick fix not far and back at it.
Will go back to some areas at a more sedate pace to take some pics - we were as high as 4,000 feet - cloud forest and quite chilly and just some stunning deep rain forest areas-
Had it not rained might have made the hill okay - got to about 5 meters from the top anyway before busting the clutch lever - front tire just would not track.

You can see the problem here

not even fit for pavement - and the scariest part of the ride was a 15 kph ride around a fallen tree on a easy to ride dirt road - because I could not pick my line the front tire dipped into a small run off trench and simply refused to come out....the trench led off a lip into car sized boulders and a nasty drop.
Third try and some adrenaline and throttle finally kicked it back onto the road but that would have been a nasty crash under a stupid situation. Where a lighter bike would have been easy to horse out of the really rather small rain gunnel.
So tires for sure - was having to pay far too much attention to tracking on the front tire.

The rear was not so bad but the difference between a 90/10 on mine and a knobby on the others is obvious

To answer question - both laydowns were at close to zero speed.
The first the front tire hit a branch and just slid on it so was no saving that - BUT with a better tire I would have avoided the branch.
The second was just plain out of traction on a steep and slippery slope - bike tipped, boots had no traction and ended up sideways on the hill, head downhill and ankle pinned under the klr
The bars and clutch took the brunt of the hit - moved the bars a couple of inches and snapped the lever.
In this case did not get my foot off the peg quick enough as the front wheel torques the bike over.
First fall I did and while the bike fell I did not - managed to straddle it - just needed help getting it upright and started on a hill.

Second one was a harder tumble and actually pleased with the upper body armour ( Joe Rocket mesh with inner armour additions ) the way it absorbed it. But boots would have saved any ankle risk. Gloves worked out well - armoured knuckles

So no acrobatics - just slow muddy drops. Lots of flashbacks to similar drops on the Bultaco on muddy slopes and climbs but THAT weighed nothing. - under 200 lb while the KLR is close to 500 with a full 23 litres of fuel. And the trials bike you rarely needed momentum except for short little bursts.

The guys, sitting around at lunch, were relating their fails a couple weeks ago - muddy conditions - couple of hours+ to get a couple of k. So it's par for the course here - rain and sometimes deluge is the norm, but not so fun on a heavy dual sport. Hence the rethink of rides here.

There are too few places in S Ontario to forest track and none close so the Burgman is a keeper with the occasional foray onto dirt roads to keep skills up. No forest tracks....once was enough - damn GPS got us onto a stream bed.

This was a bit after mud hill and we took a break in the cloud forest track. The issue is I like to stop and enjoy the jungle and take pics - to these guys it's old news and so they are out for fun and games and fast riding.