Great job Mickey, but do you notice that in the above photo you could have ridden around the left hand side without needing to get muddy at all?

A dirt bike is not needed for that sort of road. I rode around much deeper mud holes/morasses in Zaire in the 1970s on a standard road bike (Yamaha RD350) which was fully loaded for 2 years on the road.

It certainly adds to the glory (and maybe even the fun), in riding through, but it isn't really necessary.

During continuous sections like that I would be riding in just shorts and t-shirt for days on end. Only problem I had was that one day, after endlesss days of mud and loose dirt, I became so exhausted that I lay the bike on its left side and just let the bike rest there ..... until I realised my right leg was resting against the hot exhaust :oops2: and when I jerked it away it took many layers of skin with it. :(

The wound wouldn't heal until I reached Makere state hospital in Kampala where the resident physicians pumped me full of enough antibiotics to kill the bugs that had invaded the wound. Whilst there, a local locum took me on a tour of the specimens lab where I saw many horrific specimens of elephantitis and leprosy, as well as advanced cases of what venereal disease can do to the genitals, amongst other organs.:helpsmilie: Sadly, it didn't teach my early 20s infallible mind the necessary lessons. :biggrin3: