- Joined
- Oct 16, 2008
- Messages
- 3,616
- Reaction score
- 4,399
- Location
- Bryan, TX
- First Name
- Dennie
- Last Name
- Spears
Belated ride report. This all happened a couple of months ago.
I went into Procycle in Bryan to eat lunch. It was Friday and Ray, the owner, and I had been talking about a trip to Big Bend and I wanted to continue the planning. We both have DRZ400s, but his is pristine and mine has 20,000 miles with a lot of jeep trails included in that mileage. Ray knew I had been looking for a newer bike and that I was looking for that “special” deal and was in no hurry. He asked me if I had found any deals and I said there was a good one in Denver. He said, “Let’s go get it.” We called friends. Mark wanted to go, but it was too short notice for others. We left Saturday night with 2 bikes on the trailer and picked up Mark and his bike in Flower Mound. You see, we took my bike just in case the bike in Denver was not as good as the ad stated. We drove overnight and arrived in Aurora around 2:00 on Sunday afternoon. I bought the DRZ and asked if we could leave the DRZ, the truck and the trailer at the seller’s house. The bike would be OK in his garage, but the HOA would not allow overnight parking on the street. A friend of his owned a few motels. A quick phone call and his friend said we could leave the truck and trailer in the motel parking lot if we would stay the night in the motel. Very nice motel, but no rooms available. The manager told us to go ahead and leave the truck and trailer since the owner didn’t know our names and would never check to see if we had stayed there.
Ray had just picked up his new FZ09 and hadn’t ridden it until we got to Colorado. I had ridden it from the front of his shop to the back and that was all the break in it was going to get, except for speed and rev limitations. He hadn’t owned the bike long enough to have luggage other than a tank bag, which worked out perfectly since I didn’t need 2 saddle bags full for just a week of riding, especially since we were going to motel it the entire trip. His clothes balanced out my clothes perfectly.
Mark’s CB something or other. You may be able to see the lack of tread on Mark’s rear tire. Part of Day 2 would be spent changing oil on one bike and changing a tire on another. The joys that come with planning a trip in 1 day.
My FZ1. The tan duffle is mainly first aid kit, tools and tubes for all 3 bikes.
And Ray’s fully loaded touring bike.
Gassed up and hydrating before heading to Boulder and Estes park.
Our first hint of things to come. I pulled over to take this picture and my partners didn’t follow the golden rule of group riding, “don’t turn unless the whole group is visible.” There is a possibility it was intentional since I had been admonished not to take pictures of every flower we see beside the road. We met back up at McDonalds in Estes Park. They deserved the sorry burger.
A few miles down the road we came across this bridge. Nice, well designed and safe, right?
The recent floods had done a little damage.
Welcome and some unknown visitors.
I have come to the conclusion that any road with the word canyon in its name is a good one.
We met this guy traveling the US in his homemade trailer. He sharpens knives as a vocation.
From New York.
Inside. All the comforts of home except bathroom, kitchen and AC.
This waterfall is at the end of a short hike along the east portal on the west side of the park.
From above the falls.
The camera bag in Mark’s right hand is proof that I’m not the only one taking pictures on our trips. You would never know it since none of them ever posts pictures on TWT. They are members.
There was a little snow around the visitor center on Trail Ridge Road. Ray parked his bike away from any possibility of water splashing on his new chrome.
The view from just outside our motel, looking towards RMNP and Estes Park.
$104/night with breakfast included for 3 people. This would prove to be our cheapest motel to share and one we would return to later.
End of day 1. We stopped in a large dealership in Boulder to buy a tire for Mark. They didn’t have the one he wanted in stock so he called a dealer in Denver and headed there. Ray needed to do his 600 mile oil change and the same dealership couldn’t get to it for several hours so we decided to go back to the truck and do it ourselves. We headed back to Brighton, bought a turkey basting pan, a gallon of water for a jug to store the used oil, and some paper towels. Ray had thought to bring oil and a filter just in case we couldn’t find a service center to do his oil change. We would pick up Mark on the west side of Denver after several attempts. It seems his map wasn’t the same as ours. It was either that or Mark can't read a map.
Day 2 later.
I went into Procycle in Bryan to eat lunch. It was Friday and Ray, the owner, and I had been talking about a trip to Big Bend and I wanted to continue the planning. We both have DRZ400s, but his is pristine and mine has 20,000 miles with a lot of jeep trails included in that mileage. Ray knew I had been looking for a newer bike and that I was looking for that “special” deal and was in no hurry. He asked me if I had found any deals and I said there was a good one in Denver. He said, “Let’s go get it.” We called friends. Mark wanted to go, but it was too short notice for others. We left Saturday night with 2 bikes on the trailer and picked up Mark and his bike in Flower Mound. You see, we took my bike just in case the bike in Denver was not as good as the ad stated. We drove overnight and arrived in Aurora around 2:00 on Sunday afternoon. I bought the DRZ and asked if we could leave the DRZ, the truck and the trailer at the seller’s house. The bike would be OK in his garage, but the HOA would not allow overnight parking on the street. A friend of his owned a few motels. A quick phone call and his friend said we could leave the truck and trailer in the motel parking lot if we would stay the night in the motel. Very nice motel, but no rooms available. The manager told us to go ahead and leave the truck and trailer since the owner didn’t know our names and would never check to see if we had stayed there.
Ray had just picked up his new FZ09 and hadn’t ridden it until we got to Colorado. I had ridden it from the front of his shop to the back and that was all the break in it was going to get, except for speed and rev limitations. He hadn’t owned the bike long enough to have luggage other than a tank bag, which worked out perfectly since I didn’t need 2 saddle bags full for just a week of riding, especially since we were going to motel it the entire trip. His clothes balanced out my clothes perfectly.
Mark’s CB something or other. You may be able to see the lack of tread on Mark’s rear tire. Part of Day 2 would be spent changing oil on one bike and changing a tire on another. The joys that come with planning a trip in 1 day.
My FZ1. The tan duffle is mainly first aid kit, tools and tubes for all 3 bikes.
And Ray’s fully loaded touring bike.
Gassed up and hydrating before heading to Boulder and Estes park.
Our first hint of things to come. I pulled over to take this picture and my partners didn’t follow the golden rule of group riding, “don’t turn unless the whole group is visible.” There is a possibility it was intentional since I had been admonished not to take pictures of every flower we see beside the road. We met back up at McDonalds in Estes Park. They deserved the sorry burger.
A few miles down the road we came across this bridge. Nice, well designed and safe, right?
The recent floods had done a little damage.
Welcome and some unknown visitors.
I have come to the conclusion that any road with the word canyon in its name is a good one.
We met this guy traveling the US in his homemade trailer. He sharpens knives as a vocation.
From New York.
Inside. All the comforts of home except bathroom, kitchen and AC.
This waterfall is at the end of a short hike along the east portal on the west side of the park.
From above the falls.
The camera bag in Mark’s right hand is proof that I’m not the only one taking pictures on our trips. You would never know it since none of them ever posts pictures on TWT. They are members.
There was a little snow around the visitor center on Trail Ridge Road. Ray parked his bike away from any possibility of water splashing on his new chrome.
The view from just outside our motel, looking towards RMNP and Estes Park.
$104/night with breakfast included for 3 people. This would prove to be our cheapest motel to share and one we would return to later.
End of day 1. We stopped in a large dealership in Boulder to buy a tire for Mark. They didn’t have the one he wanted in stock so he called a dealer in Denver and headed there. Ray needed to do his 600 mile oil change and the same dealership couldn’t get to it for several hours so we decided to go back to the truck and do it ourselves. We headed back to Brighton, bought a turkey basting pan, a gallon of water for a jug to store the used oil, and some paper towels. Ray had thought to bring oil and a filter just in case we couldn’t find a service center to do his oil change. We would pick up Mark on the west side of Denver after several attempts. It seems his map wasn’t the same as ours. It was either that or Mark can't read a map.
Day 2 later.