DAY 2
I slept poorly last night and even thohugh I fell asleep early I tossed an dturned from about 2:30 AM on. I finally got up at 5:30 and spent some time on the internet doing some poking around at the opportunities Rich and I'll have the next week or so. Finally started packing things up and was ready for breakfst at 7:00. We were ready to roll by 7:30.
The morning in Kingman started out cool, not chilly, just pleasantly cool. As those who have driven / ridden I-40 know it's soon after departing Kingman that the highway starts climbing and by the time you get to the next town you are above 4,000 feet and still have a ways to go. The weather heald beautifully as the morning marched on. We stayed pretty comfortable till we reached Flagstaff where we stopped for some coolant for Rich's bike and a trailer tire for mine. We had lunch while the guys were working on the trailer. We were back on the highway before the noon hour struck with about 5 hours ahead of us before we would arrive in AL B QQ . By the time noon rolled around the elevation was no salvation to the late summer sun. Temps rose to over 80 indeed near 90 and along with the elevation we were loosing quite a bit of water. We stopped about 1/2 hour West of where 191 comes into I-40 and took a short water break - those 16 oz. of cold water
can sure go down in a hurry.
By the time we finally reached AL B QQ Rich got on the CB and said "Normally I'm not much of one for the GPS Gal's voice directions. When I heard her say "Take this exit" I could have kissed her." I looke back, and sure enough, there was Rich tryin to kiss the GPS. JK. The Hotel is the same Hotel Lynda and I stayed in in 2007. It's a very large Best Western with all inside rooms so finding a spot to put the bikes where we could keep a watch on them was / is more aggrivation but they are safe enough where they are.
I did take a couple of Pics today but won't post them yet, as there really isn't anything of much interest. Tomorrow promises to be a much much better day, and a lot shorter too. This was the last day of interstate for a blessed 7 days (Maybe more if I can convince Rich that Buddy will be fine with out him for a couple more days...).
I'm one pooped puppy (Pun intended) - the heat and the distance made for another looooonnnggg day.
Plus we lost an hour somehow. (I'm blaming it on Rich cuz he's the only one I know).
More tomorrow.
DAY 3
Albuquerque, Nm . to Delta, Co .
We awoke this morning a bit bleary eyed and out of sorts because of the time change and we were both still a bit fatigued from the last couple of days of riding. The Best Western did not have a complimentary breakfast (!!!) which surprised us, but their restaurant was open and serving a full breakfast menu. I was still full from last nights dinner so I satisfied myself with a glass of Orange Juice and some Yogurt. Rich had a full breakfast. Because today was going to be a ‘shorter' day that the last two we decided to take it easy in the morning and not leave till after 8:00. Well, at 8:15 we were on I-40 heading East directly into the sun – Looking for I-25 North. We found it, or at least we thought we did. What we actually did is to take a short detour through some of Albuquerque 's very nice warehouse district to eventually hook up with the “Correct” I-25 North. I blame it all on the heavy commute traffic.
Once on I-25 we proceeded 15 miles to where US-550 crossed. US-550 is one of my all time favorite highways. If I am in Colorado and have any chance at all of riding it I will. US-550 is also known as the “Million Dollar Highway” due to the mining materials used in it's construction. The highway, depending upon direction begins / ends at the I-25 Freeway and begins / ends in Montrose, Co. It travels over three passes, The Cole, The Molas, and The Red Mountain . The Highest of which is the Red Mountain at 11,110 feet ASL. The speed limit hoovers around 45 with many curves marked at 30 and then there are the loop curves that need to be done at 15 mph (and there are a lot of them).
One of the bikes headlights burnt out today, and yesterday while gassing the bike up I destroyed a tail light on the trailer. For those who have traveled in areas where it rains a lot you may have noticed that the transitions from the street into businesses aren't so very smooth – indeed they can be downright abrupt and hard on the suspension. The Trailer is built so low to the ground it doesn't take much to catch the lens on the pavement and break apart. Impossible to judge, and I got the task of swapping the bad signal for a new signal down to just a few minutes.
We made it into Delta a little after 4:00 local. There was a Napa Auto Parts Store just across the Street from the Best Western. They had what I needed, and supply's in hand saw the repairs effected in short order.
Here's today's ride in pictures and commentary:
A bit of sandstone along the freeway from yesterday.
When we finally encountered a little bit of pretty scenery we found it all occupied with Indian jewelry and moccasins!
Today - On US-550 about 30 miles South of Cuba. As in Cuba, Co.
More of Same – It's a bit hard to see the grand perspective in these small photos. Trust me – they are impressive!
Once outside of Oray , Co. we started seeing some really beautiful sandstone and Granite hillsides.
As we climbed toward Coal Pass we encountered “some” color change – not a lot, but the scrub grass / shrubs had all changed from green to yellow and burnt orange.
The Colorado Rockies Western Slope at their finest.
From the top of Molas Pass (10, 900+ feet) looking North .
This would be my buddy Rich posing for his 2010 Christmas Card Protrait …..
As we approached Molas Pass we encountered many more Aspens that had turned to their Fall Colors.
More Fall Color from the top of Molas Pass.
Red Mountain from the Highway.
We came around a corned and encountered this beautiful shot of all the Aspens in their beautiful fall yellow colors. The sun was just right and the colors just popped off the side of the mountain.
The final story for tonight is to recount today's road construction adventure. The scene = US-550. The local = right before the quite dangerous and very narrow section (with no guard rails) before Ouray. The problem = a single lane highway. The problem = Both directions got released at the same time. I was leading the North bound group. OOOPSS.
More tomorrow.
DAY 4
Rich and I left Delta, Co. about 8:00 this morning. The air was brisk and cool even though we weren't at a particularly high elevation. Fall is in the air in Co. After getting some Push-o-liny for the bikes we headed east on Colorado 92. This route takes us through both Montrose and Gunnison counties. Did I mention that Colorado has some pretty fair sized counties? What isn't so quite apparent to travelers along I-70, and US-50 is that both of these counties are home to the spectacular “Rugged San Juan Mountains”. Ok – as far as I'm concerned they are still part of the rockies and that is exactly where CO-92 led us.
Within minutes of departing Delta we started climbing. By the time we were 30 minutes out of Delta we were “at elevation” and loving the fall colors and great road. I was leading and remember coming around a memorable curve and remaking over the CB “Darn that is just beautiful”. Rich might have a different memory, but that one's the one I'm sticking with. We stopped several times along the way. The highway is a stunner. It It twists and turns and goes up and down some and eventually will take you to the Blue Mesa Power Plant (The plant is actually operated remotely from Page, Aridzona). There was a very nice turnout to see the dam and the power plant. We rode across the dam and found ourselves at a stop sign – US-50. A left on US-50 for nearly 70 miles got us up and over Monarch Pass and some absolutely gorgeous scenery and nearly into Salia. By then it was lunch time so we lucked out (?) and found a restaurant at the intersection of US-50 and US-285 called “Tony's” . I ordered a cheeseburger and Rich ordered a Mushroom Cheesburger. When the waitress brought the order out my plate consisted of a toasted bun, French fiys, onion, tomato, and pickles – but no burger. Seems that Rich was extra special hungry and had both patties on his plate. Go figure. The restaurant was surprisingly busy for being so small and so “out of the way”. After lunch we turned left onto US-285 and proceeded to Historic Leadville.
Leadville is a historic mining town located above 10,000 feet!!! The residents have to have lungs the size of refrigerators. And, it's not a small small town. Once out of Leadville we were on Co-94. Now, I have to say that for this being our first official day or riding this area of the Rockies – this was perhaps one of the most scenic days I've ever experienced – and that includes my ride last year through the Maritime Provinces and around the US . Rich and I both commented on how beautiful the ride was. Tomorrow – who knows. Might be that I'll find another stunner to talk about.
We arrived in Copper Mountain around 3:00. Both the elevation and the time we've spent on the bikes led us to just checking and getting to our rooms for a little break from the riding. From my rooms window I can see I-70 and the mountain behind it in full fall color. Beautiful!
More tomorrow. Captioned pics follow.
Highway Co-92 just east of Delta.
You can tell that all of the shrubs and scrub has already turned.
At elevation in “The Rugged San Juans” The aspens are in full golden color.
From the top of the San Juans looking back to the West.
As we came back down toward Blue Mesa Power plant and Lake the road surface got a lot better and the trees were just starting to turn.
Blue Mesa Dam and lake – the lake is actually quite large.
We turned left onto US-50 and followed the lake around – this was just a really pretty stopping point.
This is US-50 approaching Monarch Pass. The color you see was really stunning.
We turned off of US-50 and onto US-285 which eventually turned into CO-94 which took us to Leadville and Minturn. This is along the way – mile after mile of color on the hillsides.
Coming into Leadville.
Nuff Said.
DAY 5
Today is scheduled to be a busy day – with a bike show – all the rides there are and a “hangin at the brewery” for dinner tonight. Not to sure how much we'll participate in that neither of us have any desire to drink and ride and the bike show is more of a kick the tires and tell some lies kind of an event.
The rides however are a whole other story. Rich and I got an early start this morning. We discovered the Copper Mountain during the summer runs a pretty sparse organization – which means we were on our own for breakfast. Me, not being a big eater suggested we just take a ride and we could stop along the way if hunger became an issue. We decided to ride over Independence Pass. At an elevation of 12,095 feet it was a real challenge to get to the top and then hike to the overlook. We made it though.
The ride to Independence took us out of Copper Mountain and onto Co-91 which took us into Leadville and onto US-24. The ride into and after Leadville was very interesting with our GPS's. Mine had a heck of a time properly locating me. It kept on insisting I was off the highway, and once we were in Leadville routed me all over that little town thinking I was off route. Rich and I both were scratching our heads over what was causing Henrietta so much grief. I finally figured out that the GPS Software has no knowledge of the elevation you are. The higher up (and we were over 10,000 the whole day) the harder the software has in tracking you – and the larger the margin of error from a sea level tracking.
By the time we turned off of US-24 onto CO-82 I had tuned out the constant “Off route recalculating”. CO-82 takes you north and west toward Aspen, Co. and an area called the twin peaks. The twin Peaks is where Independence Pass resides. We rode for about 20 minutes and early on we could see that there were two towering peaks directly in line with our direction of travel. The closer we got the more stunning the views became. These massive mountains were covered in scrub, conifers, and Aspens. A riot of color all of the way up to the tree line. We stopped a number of times along the way for photos and I couldn't help taking a number of Pano shots that I'll stitch together and pass along to everyone.
Co-82 got pretty narrow as we started the serious part of the climb. Even the low speed limit didn't bother us because we were so busy sightseeing (and paying attention to the bikes of course). A number of 10 MPH Switchbacks and steep grades finally leveled out into high mountain plateau. Small, but you could tell that you were right at the top. The sky was absolutely clear and the 10:30 AM sun was just about perfect for photos. There is a view point parking lot at the top – we parked took the requisite pictures of the bikes and sigh and people and sign and then took the short hike to the overlook. I was huffing and puffing by the time that short ¼ mile “Hike” was over.
Our visit to Independence Pass over we continued our way along Co-82. The highway going down the other side of the pass was in pretty good repair, but was no where near as interesting as the side going up. We passed by some para gliders doing their thing in a meadow about half way down. I had to marvel at how gutsy these folks were – sailing the air currents with just a cloth and a couple of cables.
Eventually we arrived in Aspen. The town sure seemed to exude a lot of charm – But I can't imagine living in an area that gets as much snow as Aspen does for as long as it does. Out of Aspen we learned that the posted speed limit is simply a recommendation. I had trucks passing me doing 65 in a 50 zone – even with my radar detector warning me of laser detection going on. This speed zone lasted all of the way into Glenwood Springs where we go back on I-70 and headed East for Frisco and Lunch at The Log Cabin Café. We were both quite hungry, but talked about the ride instead of the food. Guess that means it was a good day.
More soon.
Captioned Pics follow.
Co-91 heading into Leadville.
Yellows, Golds, Greens, and a smattering of Reds. Hillside outside of Leadville on Co-91.
One of the “Twin Peaks” with Aspens reflecting in the lake.
This is the other Twin Peak – and it was covered in a riot of color.
We're starting to climb through the forest here.
What?? No curves on a Mountain Pass?? What's up with that?
That brown peak in dead center is Independence.
Rich's proof.
Jim's proof.
From the top overlooking the road up.
Looking back down the valley between the Twin Peaks.
Para Sailing!
DAY 6
Rich and Jims 70K Butt Kicker
T he fine folks that put this event together did an excellent job of developing rides for us participants to enjoy. One ride was called the 100K Butt Kicker. This ride would be a ride that would take us over 10 passes all over 10,000 feet ASL. The kicker part is that it would take over 10 hours to complete. Neither Rich or I wanted to commit that much time for this ride, but we both liked the idea of a challenging multiple high elevation passes ride. So I put one together last night that included 7 passes all over 10,000 feet and also included the Rocky Mountain National Park – and was supposed to be completed in about 8 hours including a lunch break.
We were on the road this morning at 7:00 heading East on I-70 toward the Eisenhower Tunnel. Our first pass of the day was Loveland Pass – On US-6 just above the eastern entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel. We were on top and photo's in hand by 7:45. The next pass was Juniper Pass. Here's were out first “Ooopss” of the day happened. The fastest way to Juniper would have been to backtrack back down the way we came and then get on I-70 to Idaho Springs, unfortunately we went back west on a detour that cost us nearly 45 minutes. Oh well. Juniper Pass was eventually conquered by 9:15 and sadly there was no sign announcing it's existence! We continued on to our third pass – this one named Squaw Pass. Squaw was on the same Highway just lower than Juniper. Surprise! No sign there either. So no Pictures. Three down and four to go!
Next up was a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. The road(s) into Estes Park, Co. are among the most painful to travel I've ever been on. I don't have the exact distance from I-70 / US-40 it is to Estes Park, but I do know that the TOP speed limit was 45 MPH. Painful, Painful, Painful. I'm talking Colorado State Highways here. Any way, we rode past Clear Creek, Left Hand, St. Vincent, and Devils Gulch before finally turning onto Trailridge Road and the Park. We picked up our next two passes while in the park. As a matter of fact we were just starting our descent on the Western Side of the park when we encountered our first of ‘several' road construction projects and long delays. Neither of us had been to the park before and both agreed that one time through it was probably enough. We exited the park and continued past Grand Lake and into Grandby, Co. all at about 45 MPH. We made a left on US-40 and headed for our 6 th pass of the day – Berehound Pass. We discovered that Colorado has all of the highways under construction and even though there wasn't a lick of work being done on US-40 there were road construction signs up and the speed limit (normally 65 MPH) reduced to 45. More pain. We did however finally crest Berehound pass and decided that it was time to head back to the hote with 6 out of the 7 passes we'd planned on getting done. But We're Calling it a 70K because so much of the day was spent above 10,000 feet.
We arrived back at Copper Mountain at 5:40 and were promptly reminded that today was Bike Picture day so, get them out onto the circle. The circle is like the center of the dining / shopping complex where we do our nightly tire kicking and lie telling. At 6:30 we had a photographer shoot a big group shot of all the bikes and then another one of all of us. The bikes stayed there while we all milled around and chatted and / or went to eat. At 8:30 we moved the bikes back to their normal parking spot and, now, I'm calling it a day.
Tomorrow we were planning on going to Pikes Peak, but there have been so many negative comments from folks that took that ride that I think we'll pass. We liked the ride up Independence so much we may well do that again instead…. Have to wait and see how we feel in the morning.
More later.
Captioned Pics Follow.
Me.
In Route to Juniper Pass.
Rich at the top of Juniper Pass.
Looking back from “Pondering Point” on the way to Juniper Pass.
Trailridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Cutting across the “Top of the world!”
Traffic at the “Top of the World”
Exiting the Park.
Bike show.
And Stopped we were.
Cheers!
Jim
DAY 7
“Rich, today lets go to Pikes Peak!”
“Ya Wanna?”
“Dunno – do you?”
We decided not to go. For several reasons – but mostly it's far enough away from where we are to merit a second thought. Plus most of what we'd heard about the ride was more negative than positive.
Instead we decided to ride to Steamboat Springs. So, I told Henrietta to “Take us to Steamboat Springs, Co.” We found ourselves on I-70 heading west over Vail Pass, Past the turnoff for Minturn and Leadville and eventually to the turnoff for Steamboat Springs. The turnoff almost immediately put us on Co-131. Co-131 is not a highway I'd recommend anyone on two wheels ride. I never thought I'd find a boring highway in Colorado, but this one was. For 74 miles we wandered through basically a high desert, scrub, wind, and no scenery. There were several bright spots along the route, including some “up and overs” and a couple of interesting rock formations.
We arrived in Steamboat in time for an early lunch. We asked “What is Steamboat known for?”.
“Dunno, Nothing as far as I know.”
The iPhone helped out a lot here – A google search revealed that Steamboat Springs in Internationally renowned for it's skiing. OH! Well, that's nice, but the ride into to the town was not what either of us expected. SO, I plunked into Henrietta's onboard computer the town of Minturn, Co. and said “take me there”. Sure enough she told us to make a U-turn and head back the way we came. When we got to Co-131 she said “Take it”. I said “Nope”. Instead we continued East on US-40. Henrietta complained for the next 10 miles but eventually gave up and told me to continue for the next 40 miles along US-40. Now, US-40 beats Co-131 by any measure you'd like to put up. Henrietta had no sooner quieted down than we were climbing and had beautiful fall color on both sides of us. We went over Rabbit Ears Pass and continued to have beautiful scenic views for the next 20 miles. Eventually the views gave out and we were back into a more desert landscape. Fortunately Co-9 intersected US-40 and saved the day.
Co-9 took us South. The entire route was one massive fall color explosion. Sadly I'd packed my camera away after the disappointing ride into Steamboat so I don't hav pics today of that ride. However, we are riding up to Laramie, Wy. Tomorrow, and will be duplicating much of that ride, and I'll have my camera with me.
Co-9 put us into the little town of Silverthorn. Now, if ever there was a town that had all of the necessities for a rally this is it. Very close to some of the best riding the Rockies has to offer, plenty of Hotel Rooms and Resturants and beautiful scenery abounds.
Anyway in Silverthorn I asked Henrietta to take us to Leadville, and after Leadville back up to Independence Pass. In this case she did exactly as I'd hoped. We were soon on Co-191 heading past Copper Mountain and up toward Leadville. In Leadville we picked up US-24 for a short while before turning right onto CO-82 to take us up to the pass.
Today's ride though the Twin Lakes / Twin Peaks was even more beautiful than it was on Wednesday. It being Saturday was very very busy with folks taking pictures. The highway was packed. We did manage to get a few more good ones to add to our collection. Once at the top of the pass we headed back down. It's a good hour + from Copper Mountain to the top of Independence, and we finally arrived back at our parking garage at 4:30. Pooped.
The lesson for today? First, trust the folks that know the area – the GPS is a very valuable tool, but won't know everything, and as such won't always give the best route. I just so wish we'd had the knowledge before hand of Co-9 and US-40 and the routes North of Steamboat that would have made that part of the day so much more enjoyable.
Ah, but the day's not over yet. Tonight's the big dinner bash at 6:30. We all gathered at the Copper Conference Center and I have to say that when everyone finally got together in one room I was impressed with the turnout this event has become. As the evening progressed we were made aware of how large this gathering has become. Out of over 350 people (not bikes) that were in attendance most were first timers, but there was a clear growth representation from the first gathering in 2007 till toady.
I'm glad it's over and sad it's over.
Captioned pics follow.
Co-131 – there's more.
It's called “Finger Rock”. And it's all alone in the middle of nowhere.
Some more rocks.
On the way back up the Pass.
Toward the top.
Gold Everywhere!
Food was good!!!
And there were “Lotsa” folks.
More later
DAY 8
Very short day today – only 175 miles half of which we rode yesterday. After deciding not to ride to Pikes Peak on this trip we had some time to fill yesterday, thus the trip to Steamboat Springs. The ride back from Steamboat to Copper Mountain took us on US-49 and Co-9. Both of which were on on route for today's ride into Laramie, Wy.
The original plan for today was the ride into Steamboat, but seeing that we did that yesterday we decided to take a day off and just ride into Laramie and check into the motel and relax a bit before hitting the next couple of days hard. Plus, Laramie has the “Cavalryman” Steak house. Guess where we're going to eat tonight!
The ride into Laramie Started in the town of Silverthorn, Co. and Co-9 North. Now, yesterday Co-9 was absolutely beautiful. Today the brilliant fall colors were already faded to a dusky gold color, the leaves drying and fading. A cold front is scheduled to arrive on Monday followed by rain and snow. Out guess is that by this time next week most of the Aspens will have dropped all of their leaves. We were very lucky to have had such great weather the entire time we were in Colorado.
Co-9 dead ended at US-40 and we took a left turn and rode another 40 miles before turning onto Co-14 --- which was under construction. The good news is that they were re-paving the highway and the new tarmack was super smooth. The bad news is that for long sections the speed limit was at 50. Still we made good time and eventually crossed the border into Wyoming. As I was riding along watching the changing scenery I marveled at how dramatic a change is was in the 175 miles we went. We went from Soaring Peaks covered in beautiful conifer and aspen forests to dry and scrubby foothills to finally the plains of Wyoming. I'm going to miss the beauty of Colorado. But am looking forward to being home too.
I did take a few pics today, but generally they aren't so good, so I won't post any to today's entry.
This will be the final entry for this years Rockies Gold Ride. As all we'll be doing the next couple of days is DDTF (Droning Down the Freeway), and we all know how exciting that is.
I'll let everyone know we made it home safe and send a closing status report.
Cheers!!