The very finest of COLORADO

Here's the down and dirty... I just moved to Denver as part of the continuous tidal wave of rats jumping from the burning ship that is California... I'll be out here for a few months while I finish up another degree in nursing and plan on spending every spare minute either on my bike in the mountains or falling off my bike in the mountains. I've only been here 2 months and I think there's a better then even chance I'll be permanent infestation here in this ridiculous state... Here's why












Don't you worry baby birds, lots and lots and lots more pictures and some video to follow. This thread will be an ongoing project to document all the majestic lady parts of Colorado

Looking forward to more excellent photos....

Those are some great photos of a super-great country. I can't ever get enough of the Rockies although we don't get the chance to see them very often, maybe once a year or so.

Gary "Oldone"

Grampa’s Lake Superior Ride
Grampa’s National Monument Ride

Welcome to America!!!

21:00 I roll into Denver with pants so wet I couldn't have made them wetter through incontinence or otherwise. Perhaps if I hadn't stopped off at Tommyknocker brewery for an Oatmeal stout and a reuben I would have beat the typical "no warning" Colorado thunder showers...



Totally glad I didn't though as the beer was very worth it. Anyways, that was last night. Tonight I sit here in my favorite study spot, Leela's Cafe in downtown. It's an eclectic mix of students, stoners, tweakers, businessmen and oddly dressed older gentlemen who are either trying to look eccentric enough for the young girls to talk to, or they're trying to look eccentric enough for the young boys to talk to. There always seems to be a couple of these Uncle Bad Touch characters here, I'll keep an eye on 'em.



Last night I rolled in at 9pm from what turned out to be one hell of a good 4 day run at the Southwest corner of Colorado. First time I had ever been there so I truly had no idea what I was in for. In retrospect had I known it would be such ride report rich material I would have done a better job cataloging each beer, pizza and shot of crown. My best friend was doing some firefighter training in Montrose so I thought I'd use the excuse to take a break from school and check out Ouray, Telluride and some of Alpine Loop. Time to assemble some panniers and hit the road. As no-one reads Playboy for the articles, here ya go..





Oh Snap... South to Colorado Springs, Hwy 24 past Pikes Peak(too much traffic to attempt), East to Buena Vista, Hwy 50 to Morrow Point Reservoir for a little camping...









Campsite hunting..




Dales?




The crazy part is I haven't even made it to the pretty parts yet...

Tomorrow: Ouray, Engineer Pass, Corkscrew trail and whole lot of cussing... Pictures haven't started yet..

Awesome!

Holy Sh#t! OMG!

Slept ok but realized in the middle of the night I might need a warmer sleeping bag. My BigAgnes is rated for 15 degrees, but judging by the shrinkage in my business, I think they might be making an overly optimistic estimation. Pack up camp, blast the heated grips and hit the road. Today I'm headed to Ouray to see what all the hubbub is about.

















Ouray. Pronounced Your-aye.




Love this little town. Steep mountain/cliffs on all sides, waterfall in the back ground and everybody has dirt on everybody. I stopped off and talked to the gals in the information booth about where to access the Alpine Loop. They told me the closest place was a trail called Corkscrew a couple miles up. The said she heard it was pretty rocky but should be ok on a motorcycle. What's the worst that can happen?







Views from the trail


Corkscrew trail is a jeep trail that connects Hwy 550 to the Alpine Loop. Alpine Loop is a network of old mining trails, all dirt, mud, gravel and some snow. Corkscrew on the other hand was gravel, rock, switchbacks and rocky sections not necessarily cut out for big bikes. I think I dumped my bike 2 or 3 times on the way up and wound up sucking wind pretty hard with a helmet full of sweat by the time I got to the top of the trail. My knee is still bruised and swollen from one of the oopsies.



Periodically, along the trail there are old huts, antique remnants of mining equipment, marmots and the occasional bigfoot sighting. At times the drop off off the side of the trail is pretty impressive, a little spooky but gorgeous.

At the top of Corkscrew is an old abandoned house with another mining dig behind it. Ran into some people in jeeps out exploring. Had to take them up on taking picture as it's a rare opportunity for those of us who ride solo. Just wish I knew when he was taking the picture so I didn't look like a mouth-breather.














Shortly after the abandoned house, the treeline stops, the wind becomes absurd and the temperature drops like a rock. You instantly become acutely aware of every single drop of sweat in your gear as it turns to ice.



Bout damn time...



Engineer Pass







Like an idiot


The wind is a little brutal and I don't want my nipples to tear my Bandlands, on to Lake City..












Hit Lake city, North back to Hwy 50, West to Montrose. Met up with my bestfriend and his firefighter buddies, got drunk, fell out of the golf cart at full speed while getting a tour of the RV/camping park while being driven around by the owner who was also drunk, drank with an old wirey SR-71 pilot who I think could have kicked all our asses, stumbled back to the cabin and stuffed my face with cold stale spaghetti without a utensil... and the night fades to black. Solid day.

Tomorrow... Telluride, Last dollar, Ophir pass and back to Ouray pronounced Your-aye(get it yet?)

Awesome thread!! Keep the photo's coming.


I'll be up there next week

Sweet pics, ill be in ouray in august, cant wait

Wow, what a breath taking part of the world. North America must surely be the stunningly natural beautiful place on the planet.

Yes! Truly a beautiful area. I'll be heading to Silverton in a couple of weeks and ride the very same places.......Can't wait.....

Wish I'd known you were coming to Montrose, I'd have bought you ANOTHER beer!!!

Enjoying your RR..many thanks..have some stars

I'll be spending the first week of July in Lake City before heading off to the beemer rally in Salem and then north. Looking forward to seeing more of your Colorado adventures for riding ideas.

"Corkscrew on the other hand was gravel, rock, switchbacks and rocky sections not necessarily cut out for big bikes." Excellent Info & I'm in: subscribed....living in the East & heading to the Colorado Passes for the first time in 2014 on a Super Tenere. I'll be interested in your thoughts on trail reports for 800+ pound bikes. I want to do Engineer Pass but will avoid Corkscrew thanks to your report....thinking the way to Engineer Pas for me will be to enter via Silverton & exit to Lake City..what do you think? THANKS

KingofZroad: Next time I'm taking you up on it! I'm going to have a very hard time staying away from that part of the state, way too much unseen.

Super T: I think you're on the right track, I didn't take the Silverton access but I understand it's easy as pie. If you're coming from the East, I would actually enter at Lake City and work your way around which ever rotation you feel like. It's basically a dirt road that climbs all the way up to Engineer, runs along the river, great views and you shouldn't have any problems w tip overs.

Other tips.. Telluride, hit Telluride. Getting to Telluride: Do some homework on this trail but check out Black Bear Pass road that connects hwy just south of 550 all the way to the back side of Telluride. I'ts a seasonal and single lane directional trail(not because it's too small for bikes, it's too small for two jeeps to fit past each other.) It drops you right into the town center of Telluride. The other option is to take Ophir Pass road which is a stupidly gorgeous, and big bike friendly trail that will drop you off right next to Tel as well. Go to Tel, get pizza and brown dog, drink beer, flirt with the waitstaff, I recommend it.

Other other tips.. This is a biggy here so I've got my serious face on.. go here..

Sawpit



Find this road 58P out of Sawpit


It'll take you straight up the mountain on easy switchbacks, keep going till you hit Last Dollar Road, hang a right and be ready to poop your pants. Probably the most scenic road I've seen outside of Ireland. Two other bonuses, you have cell phone reception so you can antagonize your friends with pictures on facebook, use your google maps to zoom in on trails in the area and call my mom.. the other is there's some of the most majestic camping spots you'll see in years scattered all over the place. Free camping, legal, fire pits and all, I just can't vouch for availability on weekends as I only saw it on the weekdays which was absolutely vacant. Hope this helps with your future ride and keep me posted when you're riding through
-T

Colorado has amazing scenery!
Keep posting

Do they still have the Pikes Peak Hillclimb there in Colorado? I heard the course will be 100% tarmac from bottom to top in 2012 instead of 50% tarmac and 50% dirt. If the tarmac was carried out, how has this effected the race?

I did the UTBDR last month and am doing the COBDR next month. Much of what you mention is on that route including corkscrew.