Riding the Rockies
June 2002
Mark and I had been planning since winter, a
ride to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. We once had planned it for
Memorial Day weekend but pushed it back for fear of snow and cold
in the higher elevations. We decided late June would be a better bet.
We also tried to talk our good friends John and Spanky to go along
but they’re vacation time was already allotted for other things. We
had sat at the break tables many times at work mapping out our course
after doing our research at home the nights before on the internet
of roads we wanted to ride and attractions we wanted to see. We finally
had it all designed.
Friday, June 21, 2002 Tulsa, Oklahoma
We both
arranged to get off work at 1:00 p.m. on this Friday to get our trip
under way. We came to work with our bikes all packed and our good-byes
to our families said. We were anxious to get on the road. As soon
as we got off work we hopped on our bikes and traveled across town
on 412 and on to I-35 north toward Kansas. We had been worried about
the heat of the day but we had a reprieve in that it was a bit overcast
and it was quite pleasant riding. After a few hours riding north we
turned west on I-70 and we quickly became acquainted with the south
wind that we were not aware of before. Fighting our bikes against
the strong cross wind for the rest of the day was a bit annoying but
we knew it was to be temporary and would be worth it.
We got up early the next morning
and packed up and headed west again on 70 and crossed the line into
Colorado. It seemed the wind knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore because
we weren’t far from the border when the winds faded and it was quite
pleasant riding again.
As we grew closer to the Rockies we also closed
in on Denver. We weren’t to excited about the thought of riding in
the Denver traffic so we side stepped by going north on 79 then west
again on 52 back to I-25. We rode north on I-25 only stopping once
at a visitor’s center to check the status of roads in Colorado since
there had been so many forest fires already this year. It looked like,
according to the visitor’s center, that our ride would not be affected.
We rode on to Ft. Collins and turned west on 14 with the Rockies barely
arms length away.
It’s fascinating how the mountains just start. There
is no build up or slow ride in the foothills. We were on the flats
one second and our road entered the valley at the base of two mountains
and we were instantly climbing and twisting and turning on the canyon
road that followed the Pourde River. Man it was beautiful! Our enthusiasm
and excitement meters could not tolerate the quick change in scenery
and terrain so within 15 minutes we were pulled over taking our first
pictures. Just for reference, my odometer showed 740 miles since we
left home. 740 miles to the edge of the Rockies.
We wound through the canyons enjoying the same route as the river
for 40 or 50 miles while watching the kayakers, tubes, rafts, fishermen,
sunbathers and swimmers enjoy the river also. All this scenery and
riding worked up our appetites so we pulled in at Walden for lunch
and what would be one of the best culinary experiences of our whole
trip. We ate at the Moose Creek Cookhouse. Mark tells me the trout
was out of this world. I will have to take his word for it because
I really don’t like fish. But what I do like is a big cheeseburger
with their special recipe barbecue sauce. Holy cow was that good!
After our lunch we continued on up and over Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,426
feet and dropped down into Steamboat Springs. It was beautiful. This
would be our first night in the Rockies at an elevation of 6,695 feet.
We pulled up to the gas pumps at a convenience
store, topped off our tanks and went inside to pick up a snack. After
returning to our bikes I tossed my snacks in the empty trunk compartment
since we had already set up camp and began to mount my bike. I noticed
Mark fiddling around at the back of his bike and watched to see what
he was doing. As he moved to get on his bike I saw that he grabbed
a bungee cord out of his empty trunk and tied down his bag of pretzels
and Coca Cola to his trunk rack. He cracks me up! This gives you some
insight to Marks sense of humor.
After our showers the night air had set in and it was cool. Not
cold but cool. It was sweatshirt weather and the smell and feel of
the cool mountain air brought back memories of my childhood vacation
to the Rockies.
As we lounged around camp for the remainder of the
evening we noticed two couples on Harley Davidson’s just a few campsites
away from us. We made eye contact and gave a nod but didn’t visit.
Once again we were tired and it didn’t take very long to fall asleep
in our tents.
Sunday morning we were up early with the noisy birds.
It was cool and crisp. We got our tents and gear packed up and back
on the bikes and enjoyed a muffin that would have to do for breakfast.
We were anxious for another day on our bikes in the Rockies.
We could feel our ascent under way and valleys began
to form under us as we carved our way up the road over Milner pass
@ 10,758 ft and then on to Trail Ridge @ 12,183 ft.
We stopped several
times for pictures and to just take in the beauty at the pullouts.
The roads were in great condition but I did notice one apparent oversight.
NO GUARDRAILS. None. Zilch. It was really not a problem as long as
you stayed on the road. I couldn’t help but think about the obvious
problem of going off one of the corners. As long as you were below
11,500 ft the trees would catch you and you would only have minor
injuries such as broken bones, ruptured spleen, internal organ damage
but once you climbed above the tree line at 11,500 ft there would
be nothing to stop you from tumbling down over the cliffs and steep
slopes until you reached the road below or the tree line. We managed
to keep the bikes on the road.
The air was cool on the passes, almost
cold and it was kind of eerie sometimes with all the bare ground and
snow packs here and there. But the scenery and the motorcycling were
at its best. Every turn was just so beautiful as it unfolded a new
scene before our eyes turn after turn. My only regret was that my
wife was not along to enjoy all this with me. There WILL be another
trip to the Rockies, oh yes, there will be; and I will have my companion
with.
After riding the beautiful Trail Ridge Road we descended into
Estes Park. By then we were ready for a hearty lunch. I don’t know
what it is about sitting on a motorcycle riding through the mountains
but it sure makes a guy hungry.
We stopped at another typical local flavor restaurant and had a great
lunch before heading off to traverse more of the scenic Rocky Mountain
roads in route to our next home for the evening. We headed south on
highway 7 clear to interstate 70 where we turned west winding up toward
the Continental Divide and through the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel
then over Vail Pass @10,666 ft. We descended from Vail Pass only long
enough to turn south on highway 24 and began our ascent into Leadville,
our home for the night. At 10,430 ft, Leadville is North America’s
highest incorporated city. We were a bit concerned from the inception
of this ride about camping in Leadville for fear of freezing our butts
off at night. This was the only place we had considered taking a hotel
for the night. But with beautiful sunshiny days and no apparent fronts
moving through we took a campsite just out of town.
After setting
up camp we moseyed back to town and found the steakhouse recommended
to us by our camp host.
All the buildings in Leadville are of the
old Victorian flavor as it was an old mining town in the 1880’s and
our steakhouse was no different. It was an old building with authentic
old furniture and architectural trim and design.
Once again all that
hard riding made us hungry and the hot steaks were extra extra delicious.
After returning to our campsite we stumbled onto one of the two most
ironic coincidences of the trip. The Harley riders we camped near
in Steamboat Springs were set up right next to us in Leadville. We
began to chat with them some and soon learned that while one of the
guys was pretty nice to talk to his buddy was a first class know it
all. After a few minutes of visiting with him I was ready to get back
to our camp and get showered for the night and relax. Once again the
evening air was cool, particularly at this elevation. Sweatshirts
were in order again.
After our campsite visit about the day’s ride
and our anticipation of the next days ride we hit the sack for the
night. I slept just fine. Nice and warm and cozy in my little tent.