A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Mrs Cubber decided she needed some shopping therapy so disappeared early mid morning for the Topsham area of Devon and Dart's Farm.

I decided that I needed some TTR therapy so donned my boots and waterproofs (even put my Sealskinz socks on for their first try) and off we went.

It was decidedly chilly but at least the sun was shining and I was glad to be out.

Otterton, a small nearby village, is well endowed with lanes ranging from easy and gentle to just bordering on technical. They weave around the neighbouring countryside up steep climbs and down deep dells, even through rivers!

Today they were all surprisingly different from what I was expecting. The recent and plentiful rains had washed deep gulleys and left large boulders and heaps of sludge in the most unexpected  places. At the top of a series of lanes leading up to Stantyway I took this shot of the sea and TTR in sunshine.

Because it is there, and because I really like the climb uphill, (and mostly because the view is very rewarding) I HAD to go for the Sidmouth View.

The recent rains and the strong winds of last night have left their effect, as shown here:-

Lucky for me that some walkers had obviously made a way through.

Further down the lane was this tree, which looks to be tempted by gravity:-

and just around the corner is a marvelous example of poor highway maintenance:-

To get down from the hill view of Sidmouth gives an option of which lanes to take.
I decided to take a look at the most challenging option that uses a river bed as its route.

The sign post on the right says "Unmetalled Road" - quite an understatement.

I didn't risk travelling through the river because the egress can be a bit dodgey and I was on my own.

Nevertheless, deep water and sludge were encountered along the way I had chosen.

I was only out for around an hour and a half but it was a very satisfactory hour and a half. The bike is now washed, de-sludged, dried and resting in the garage waiting for the next time.

Martyn