Rode up Tugwell today. Got a late start, and these days are short, so (as expected) I ran out of daylight before running out of go juice (not completely true) or places to explore. The north end of Tugwell (beyond the recent logging) is surprisingly technical. A number of creek crossings, some lengths of washed out road. A concrete barrier in the middle of some not-smooth ground with gaps that are not much wider than the crash bars on the bike, a bridge that was probably decommissioned (ripped out).
I dumped the bike once going over a small log that was at an angle. Should have just slowed down and done it slowly at a square angle. Instead tried do it with some throttle on. Front wheel was fine, but rear just went sideways. Ended up doing a fairly nice “combat roll”. Was worried that the gear in my backpack might have taken some damage, but the roll appears to have been pretty clean.
Otherwise, it was hard work with the porcine KLR. Lots of places where I considered turning back, and one where I did. One “Oh Yeah” after a difficult crossing. Some darn slippery puddles. I seem to have got water in both boots… I know one was from having the rear end slide sideways on me (too slow), not sure about the other… too fast?
If one could make a loop out of it, I’d highly recommend it for folks looking for some non-trivial logging road… without being able to make a loop out of it though… I’m not sure I’ll make it back… which would be a pity, it was a good ride.
Don’t let “MainLine” fool you, It’s been a long time since the northern section of that road was maintained, and the road varies from section to section. Wide at some points, single lane at others. It IS relatively flat… excepting one or two sections North of the recent logging… which of course are washed out loose rock sections.
Will add more text, plus GPX and pix. -Tom
Here’s a quick gps track. Ignore the southern east-west bit, that’s me checking the gate at butler main and then driving to anderson, and part of the route home:
