Colorado Part I(street) and Part II(dirt'ish)

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by tshelfer

Hey Bill - With your pure street tires, did you have any problems on the dirt road riding up to South Mineral?

Not at all, it was a super hard packed dirt. Even after an inch of rain overnight the road was almost dry by morning.

[Duke]

Bill you are putting your camera to good use. That rainbow cloud is outstanding. The quality of you photos are too. Love the misty valley shots.

Thanks for taking us along, hope your next trip is a good one too.

[achesley]

Coming down from Evans last month, I crossed a gal, jogging up the mountain. I gave her the peace sign and thumbs up. That got a wave and smile from her. We crossed about 12,000 feet. Respect Respect Respect.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Duke

Bill you are putting your camera to good use. That rainbow cloud is outstanding. The quality of you photos are too. Love the misty valley shots.

Thanks Duke, that means a lot coming from you.

[klb1122]

Great pics, Bill. Thanks for sharing! How did Rachel like the ride up Mt. Evans? I was a bit freightened myself when we went up last July. It was raining and freezing.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by klb1122

Great pics, Bill. Thanks for sharing! How did Rachel like the ride up Mt. Evans? I was a bit freightened myself when we went up last July. It was raining and freezing.

She still has the purple band that they put on her mirror stalk. She said after that hair raising ordeal, that band is only coming off when it wears away.

[tshelfer]

I went up Mt Evans in the shotgun seat with my crazy cousin who was showing off his driving prowess. Unfortunately, he's a terrible driver. At one point, I was afraid I was going to be walking down.

[klb1122]

[TLRam1]

Bill, did you trailer the bikes up or ride all the way.

[DFW_Warrior]

We trailered for both the street bike ride as well as the dual sport ride. I looked at it this way... two bikes traveling the same route isn't exactly saving much money on fuel compared to the truck. And if you factor in the extreme lack of fun by riding through W Texas in 100+ heat, I just really don't want to do it again.

Like I've told others, I've earned several "Ridden my bike through W Texas in the Summer" badges, so I don't have to have any more.

[Mudclod]

Great shots man, I'm with you on that West Texas summer ride, ha!

[Tourmeister]

Originally Posted by DFW_Warrior

We trailered for both the street bike ride as well as the dual sport ride. I looked at it this way... two bikes traveling the same route isn't exactly saving much money on fuel compared to the truck. And if you factor in the extreme lack of fun by riding through W Texas in 100+ heat, I just really don't want to do it again.

Like I've told others, I've earned several "Ridden my bike through W Texas in the Summer" badges, so I don't have to have any more.

Amen!

Mt Evans has to be experienced. It was in the mid 40's when we were there in June. Not a cloud in the sky... MY fuel injected VFR did not like being above 12K feet and would not idle. I had to keep it revved to about 2K to keep it running while negotiating the hairpins near the top. When I first walked across the parking lot to the observation area, I started seeing little white spots all over the place... I stood still and focused on breathing evenly while taking in the incredible view. The spots went away and I have never experienced them again due to altitude issues, even when working hard on those DS climbs over passes like Engineers and Imogene. The ride up and down Mt Evans is great. We also did Squaw Pass highway over to Bergen Park, also a fun ride. Did you guys run the Peak to Peak highway up the West side of Denver to Estes Park?

[DFW_Warrior]

We did ride the peak to peak highway on the way down. What an awesome little road that was full of the most amazing sweepers that I could have ever hoped for.

And the best part was that it really was just a road that we picked out in order to get back south.

[ekms377]

OK Bill, either we need more pics in Part I or we need move on to Part II........

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by ekms377

OK Bill, either we need more pics in Part I or we need move on to Part II........

I'm trying... most of last night was spent helping Rachel study for a Chem exam, but I'm hoping to get most of the photos done and up tonight.

The panos take FOREVER and a day to do, but are looking quite nice if I do say so myself.

[ekms377]

Sounds like they will be worth the wait!

[bluedogok]

Mount Evans Road closed from Summit Lake to the top after Labor Day, the road to Summit Lake is still open until the end of September. Most other roads that get closed for the winter close in early November (Independence, Kebler and Cottonwood Pass) unless there are early season snows....it has been snowing around Berthoud Pass and other areas above 12,000 feet yesterday and today.

We are going to Breckenridge for the weekend in a couple of weeks, planning on taking the bike to do some exploring a little further out than a day trip away from Denver. We will have to see what the weather is going to be like.

[DFW_Warrior]

After looking at the pics as I upload, I really don't want to be in TX right now.

Anyway, you can tell on which trip I felt had better scenery. On the street bikes I had 16 really nice shots that I want to show off, and this one I have 48'ish. I will try my best to be brief and let the photos speak for themselves.

Heading out of TX seeking cooler weather and better views.




Graeme piloting the ever capable VW towards the pointy bits.


A good start to finding mountains:


Stopping in NM along Rt66 yielded some good photo opportunities.




Getting closer:


Now for the good stuff. Home sweet home for the next week. Silverton Lakes Campground and RV Park. Clean bathrooms, little store to buy anything you might need, and just a stone's throw away from town.


Photos from Kendall Mountain as well as Clear Lake:








The third bike belongs to Trace (Infidel on TWT)


Trace taking in the views.






Random photos from the rest of the trip:




















Graeme coming down from Corkscrew.




Bolam Pass pano
















So I'm sorry for just photobombing and not telling much of a story. Long story short, this has been the best trip in terms of scenery for me. I've been to some pretty cool places via motorbike, but I don't know what it is about Colorado, it just does it for me. If you want explanations for any of the photos just ask and I will tell you all about it.

I can tell you that there isn't a better bike for this than the KLR. It was cushy enough to not beat me into submission after a day or two. It carried enough fuel where I didn't have to worry once about running out. It carried all my stuff like a dandy little packmule, and still managed to get me down Black Bear pass with little trouble. And I lost count of how many Harley's and Goldwings I passed on the pavement between Silverton and Ouray. I couldn't have asked for a better bike to do this trip on.

[STScott]

Great job buddy...I am real glad you got the DSLR.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by STScott

Great job buddy...I am real glad you got the DSLR.

Me too.... and thanks for showing me the basics of it. I'm just hoping to get better and better as time goes on. I guess the only way to do that is to keep going back to Colorado and taking more photos. Woe is me!