8C under partially cloudy skies and slight winds, another perfect day for an adventure ride. Took the back roads towards the Allan Park conservation area, with the intent on doing some trail riding. Spotted some geese about 5km from home and stopped for a photo, with Hector all ears as he listened to their cautious honkings. By the time I had the camera ready for a shot they had wandered almost out of range...
The back roads were still a mixture of dry and muddy surfaces and I could hear the tires hissing and feel the mud splashing up on my legs as we rode over the slick parts, but it was still a very enjoyable ride...
We paused briefly at the entrance to the trail, ignoring the "no winter maintenance" sign seen at the right of the photo. The surface was more hard packed than the trail we had taken the other day, thanks to all the snowmobile and ATV traffic over the winter, so I decided to risk it and see how far we could go...
It was pretty muddy in the spots that were exposed to the sun but the surface was, for the most part, passable with a little bit of concentration and proper positioning of the rig to keep on the firmer ground...
Saw an interesting looking trail off to the right and decided to follow it for a bit...
It turned out to be a cross country ski trail that was barely wide enough for the Ural, so I stopped a little ways in where it intersected with another ATV trail and let Hector out for a romp...
After he had a good run, we saddled up and went further down the main trail. We started down a long hill into a valley and I was careful to keep the Ural away from the soft edge on the right, as it was a long way down...
When I saw the bottom of the hill ahead I had some concerns, not because of the mud bog lying in wait but rather the steep, snow covered trip up the other side...
My concerns were well founded, because 3/4 of the way up the Ural slid off the center and into the soft, muddy runoff path on the left side. I stood on the pegs and feathered all the controls in an attempt to keep going but the inevitable happened and we bogged down. I managed to back the rig out of the soft stuff but there was no traction available to make another attempt at going forward, the pusher wheel just spun in vain as gravity pulled us backwards. I fought it for about 10m and lost the battle when it slid off to the right and bogged down again. At least it was angled across the trail now, so with a bit of muscle (and the eventual shedding of a layer of clothes) I got it turned around...
We tore back down the hill and blasted through the mud bog again, stopping on the other side to take another look at the hill. I reluctantly decided not to try it again, as the stock Duros and 1WD can only do so much. So we rode back to the entrance and got onto the gravel roads once again, heading in the direction of Hanover. Stopped to put on the layer of clothing I'd taken off earlier and used the opportunity to take a self-portrait...
We entered Hanover from the west end and burbled down the main street towards Durham, stopping at the Tim Horton's to talk to a group of riders parked there. One of the bikes was a Harley Electra-Glide with a factory sidecar and I asked the rider a few questions about his rig. But he was more interested in the Ural, although he did give me a couple of leads on where to find used harley sidecars, and after a few minutes of chatting I wished them well and fired Douk up again. It wasn't until we started to roll away that I noticed why this particular biker was riding a hacked bike - his right leg had been amputated. Kudos to him for not giving up!
Back in Durham, I stopped at the Ultramar gas station to top up and had to host another HDF session when the locals in the pickup at the next pump wanted to know more about the rig and the dog riding in it. They even came over to get a pic of Hector as I fueled up. I no sooner finished talking with them when another car pulled up, a woman got out, took one look at Hector and melted all over him. So I had to go through "The Story Of Hector" once more before finally managing to escape into the store to pay for the gas. By the time I came out there was another woman melting all over Hector, so I had to tell the story again before we could leave.
...
Mike 
The weather and my work schedule haven't been favourable towards frequent work commutes, but it looks like that will change soon. The weather forecast is getting better and the roads will soon be free of salt and mud.
Just not a common sight here in Canada, as most pig farms are contained within huge buildings where the poor things never see the light of day. As I was about to put away the camera, I noticed a horse on the other side of the road having a rollicking good time thrashing about on his back in a pile of sand. But, of course, by the time I had moved the bike closer and lined up the camera for a pic, he was finished and trotting away...