I shoulda took a picture!

[phpaul]

But I didn't think of it until it was too late.
 
I like to dig out my DeLorme Maine Atlas and find some new roads to try.  
 
There's an area I've ridden the perimeter of many many times, but never explored the interior.  There are a couple of dozen ponds/lakes of different sizes in the area and roads in to most of them.
 
I took such a ride this morning.  On the map, there was a road from George's Pond to Molasses pond.  The DeLorme designates roads with different symbols according to whether it's a National, State or Local Route.  "Unimproved" roads are designated by dashed lines, and friend, you'd best have an off-road capable bike if you're going to try one of those.  KLR minimum.
 
So anyway, the map showed this as a "local" road.  They don't see much maintenance and can be rougher than thunder but the're usually at least tarred.
 
As this one was.
 
For the first few hundred yards.  Then, nice, well maintained gravel.  Okay, I can handle that, so I keep going.  Then un-maintained gravel.  This is getting a mite sketchy, but still doable.  
 
And then the bottom fell out.  Washouts.  Big freakin' rocks.  Remnants of the original corduroy road from the 1920's sticking up out of the roadbed.  Water crossings.  I was seriously considering turning around and going back, but I'd come down a washed out hill that had my pucker factor well into triple digits and going back UP that hill was not something I wished to experience.  
 
Eventually it improved back to maintained gravel, and then the last 500 feet was paved again before it dumped onto a State Route.  
 
It takes a peculiarly twisted individual to pave 500 feet out of 10 miles of nasty road.  Tempts idiots like me to check it out...

[DavidS]

Wow, sounds like quite the experience. Here in Washington, they pave everything, although once paved, they don't particularly maintain it very well. Last week a friend and I were coming back across Hwy 2, east of Seattle, and we got stuck in chip-seal hell. The crews were replacing the old asphalt with chip-seal, and cars were backed up for a very long way. My friend, much more familiar with the area than me, said, "follow me", never a good sign, but we took a right and then followed this small two lane road that really only had room for 1 1/2 cars for about 10 miles, and dumped us back out on Hwy 2 past the construction and traffic.
 
I never did find out how he knew about that road, but it was quite the adventure, and now part of my list of options when necessary.
 
 
 
 

[phpaul]

Wow, sounds like quite the experience. Here in Washington, they pave everything, although once paved, they don't particularly maintain it very well. 
 
 
 

Pretty much the case in Maine too.  I've been caught out by tarmacus interruptus four times now.  This one is tied for first the in  "Oh, shit..." category.  One turned from loose gravel to ankle deep loose sand.  That one I bailed on, turned around and went back the way I came.

[koth442]

Here in MO is either paved pretty decently or gravel. Very few single lane paved 'goat' trails.
 
Sounds like some pretty fun exploring.

[martyl]

I don't know... My story about me riding through a road totally covered in Cow dung was my,"Oh shet " adventure...;-)

[phpaul]

For the 20 minutes or so it took me to traverse the worst part of that (alleged) road, I was constantly mentally updating my location for the 911 call:
 
"Yeah, I'm on the McComber Mill road, about a mile past the Molasses Pond outlet, down in the swamp. Bring a helicopter..."

[kimmie]

You still had a good time out riding....despite the "pucker factor" 
 
Just remember to take the camera next time.