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Bumming Around Colorado

thumper

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Humble
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tim
Well, well, well, I finally got to go. I've been longing to ride Colorado since the beginning of time, and my chance came during my current and much needed hiatus. I was originally gonna ride with Dr. B and Carl, but I couldn't commit pass the first week of August, and I reluctantly bowed out. A few days later, I was talking to CeeBee and telling him how bummed out I was. Course it doesn't take much to get ol' Chuck off on an adventure. The more we talked, the more we were putting it together. We soon had a plan for a ten day ride from Albuquerque to Steamboat Springs and back. The only other details were to run the CDR up, stop in at West Fest, and make our own route on the fly back down.

Our schedule was that we had no schedule. This was the first time in all my years of riding that I can say I rode day after day and really didn't care where we pitched our tents. It really didn't matter, and we were truly just bumming around.

Then there is the beauty of the Rockies. I had never been there before and I was amazed at the tranquility of the terrain. Wow, what a place! Yeah I've seen pictures and read many reports, but photos just don't capture what is really there.

As for the skinny on the actual riding? I'll try to capture it day by day with our pics and some comments, but bare with me as I was riding with Chuck ol' buddy who kept the ride very interesting. Don't get me wrong. This was a fantastic ride, but some days Chuck's willingness to push the adventure **** near got us killed!:lol2:

Matter of fact, it would probably best describe our trip if I categorized the days as either days of tranquility or days of mayhem.

Here's a few random pics to get things started. Then we'll go day by day.

I'll call these pics of tranquility.:zen:

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And these are a glimpse of the mayhem.:lol2:

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Day One in a bit.:rider:
 
Tim

I'm glad you got to go and made it home ok. You are right, pictures do not do justice (good and bad) those loose rocks going up are tough to put it lightly. I did Mosquito Pass in 2001 on my KLX I had by myself and it was tough like that, those rocks will wear you out. That being said it is worth it to see and feel what you do when you get to the top.
 
Man "trailace" and I were up there in the end of june. There were still quite a few passes that were closed and snowed in. But man wish I could get back up there.
 
The only thing better than riding in the high country is camping in the high country . SEYA
 

Poughkeepsie Gulch, eh? I've ridden (down) that 2 of the last 3 years and won't do it again. I may try up someday but never down again.

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Your photo looking down begins to convey some of the steepness...My palms started sweating just looking at your picture.
 
The only time I've tried going up that was when it was flowing. We hit snow and had to come back. Haven't tried since.
 
Come on Tim, post it up. :popcorn:

Sorry 'bout that. My PC has been screwed up by some tech in India.

Poughkeepsie Gulch, eh? I've ridden (down) that 2 of the last 3 years and won't do it again. I may try up someday but never down again.

There's a story as to why the heck we were going up it anyways! One guess....yup, Chuck and his Zumo.:roll:
 
There's a story as to why....

That's how all good adventure recaps should start!

I went down Poughkeepsie on accident myself the first time. I missed a turn at Animas Forks and Poughkeepsie Gulch looked like an interesting detour on the map. Doh.

I swore I'd never ride it again until a good friend (and much better rider) talked me into it last year for the second - and last - time. That time I ended up shutting the bike off halfway down and clutching it down the rest of the way. Nope. I'm not proud.

I can't wait to hear the rest of your account and, fwiw, your picture about 4 up from the bottom comes as close to any i have seen at capturing the steepness of a trail....
 
Day One...yeah buddy, we're here!

Yeehaw, we're at Chuck's sister in-laws house in Albuquerque. Nothing but laughter and goofing around as we were getting the bikes tweaked and going over our maps.

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Chuck made a route on the fly to intercept the CDR just north of us. It turned out to be a really nice ride. Whoops...speaking of nice, I almost forgot to label this day....it's in the Tranquil category.:zen:

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New Mexico has some great roads.

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Nothing but good riding, and it was great not caring where we needed to be by day's end.:trust:

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My first time riding above 10,000ft. Slight headache and shortness of breath, but I adjusted quickly.

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This was my favorite road on the whole trip. We were having a blast through here.

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More of the best road.

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This road ran a close second in my book.

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I'm glad we missed the mud. Still a little tricky navagating rock hard ruts. We both laughed at a single set of bicycle tracks that we followed on this road. Poor guy was all over the place in 2" of mud. Looked like it had been from a couple of weeks ago.

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Then there's the slab section. This really slowed us down a bit with the crevasses in between the slabs of rock. There just weren't any good lines, but who cares neither of us did.:lol2:

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We originally thought we'd make the Colorado border on day one, but we lost a lot of time goofing around.

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The shadows were getting longer and the route led to a few big roads where we made up some time.

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Chuck spotted an old two track a long the way. It was getting time to set up camp, so he scouted the road and found us an old cowboy camp. Complete with fire ring and plenty of dry wood laying around. No shortage of petrified cow paddies ethier. It had been quite awhile since anyone had been here.

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Entertainment for the evening....Canadian Mist, freeze dried meals, and watching Chuck case his tent down the ravine. He forgot to stake it down when we had a 40mph squall come blowing down the canyon. I don't think I even offered any help. Just sat there sipping on my whiskey and enjoying the show.:lol2:

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Day Two coming soon.:rider:
 
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Tim - Great stuff keep it coming (don't go AWOL like Doc did on his CO RR - :lol2:)
I could read Colorado ride reports all day and never get bored.

BTW: looks like Kenda K-270's on the DR. How do you like them? I'm shopping for new D/S tires this week and those are on the list of possibles.

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I like the pictures of the CDR. Hoop & I are headed out 9/2 for the CDR. We are going to start in Deming, NM, ride across NM into Colorado for a while. The Colorado end & where to stop is open ended. We will deside that when we get there.

:rider::rider:
 
BTW: looks like Kenda K-270's on the DR. How do you like them? I'm shopping for new D/S tires this week and those are on the list of possibles.

They're great! Greasemonkey had one on the back of his XR. Said he like it, so I gave them a try. They really held up well and were good for every type of surface on this ride. I got the 3.25 and the 5.10.
 
I like the pictures of the CDR. The Colorado end & where to stop is open ended. We will deside that when we get there.

:rider::rider:

Yeah, it's great to be able to stop or keep going as you please. I'll finish the report throughout this week. Btw Chris, maybe you've already been on the CDR, if not you'll see what I mean about the slab section. Fun but kind of a pain in the butt after a few miles.
 
Re: Day One...yeah buddy, we're here!

My first time riding above 10,000ft. Slight headache and shortness of breath, but I adjusted quickly.

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QUOTE]

Tim, I see you finally figured out the perfect way to carry that cup of ICE.:clap:
 
Re: Day One...yeah buddy, we're here!

Tim, I see you finally figured out the perfect way to carry that cup of ICE.:clap:

Yup and it works pretty dang good. :thumb:

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I had been thinking about trying this for awhile, but it wasn't until this trip that I needed the extra cargo space. It's just a pair of ATV tank bags mounted on some spare plastic and reinforced with L-brackets and aluminum flatbar. Cost me about $30 to make. At first I was gonna cut the drink holder off, but then I thought I'd leave it for the trip. Glad I kept it.

The bags also worked out really great for day rides. I kept everything I needed in them. Rear tube, irons, oil, survival gear and so on.:rider:
 
Moving on to West Fest.

Our first night of camping went well. Except for a small leak in my air mattress. I thought I'd just buy a new one later on and I did. Little did I know I would pay for it dearly....more on that later.

We spent the next two days making our way to Buena Vista. Not much to report here. We were in big road country as in big dusty boring ranch roads.

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Eventually we took a short cut into Salida. See that rain? Well it stayed with us on and off the rest of the day.

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Getting moved in at West Fest.

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This was one big party night after night.

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There were a couple of benefits with stopping off at West Fest for three days. The best was riding without our packs, and we had the chance to re-think our gear and make some changes. Of course the entertainment factor was very high too.:lol2: Lots of drinking and BSing way into each night.

Our first trip out was up to Hancock Pass. I never got around to rejetting my bike and it struggled above 9,000ft. I was actually able to cheat a little by running with my side airbox cover off. This improved the bike to were it would run well till about 12,000ft. Then it would get really clogged up at low rpms and force me to get on the gas at the worst times.

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We came up Hancock from the east side. Although it wasn't bad till that last half mile, we learned later that it was much easier coming up from the west.

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We helped these riders out with some JB and oil. The Honda leaning against the sign had a hole knocked in the case.

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Some interesting relics.

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Buying lemonade in Tin Cup.

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We made our way to Taylor Lake. Some really big roads and lots of RV traffic.

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Back to camp via Cottonwood Pass.

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Not bad for our first day out exploring. Little did we know the next day wouldn't end till a little passed midnight. I post this mayhem shortly.:eek2:
 
An observation for my buddy Chuck!

Okay, I swear I'm gonna finish this report before I leave for vacation tonight. I was reading through what I had so far, and maybe I didn't make myself clear in the caption to this pic.

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I labeled this as "some interesting relics". Not as in religious relics but defined as.... "something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object whose original culture has disappeared, and is seen for it's historical or memorable value". So...was I talking about the structure or Chuck?:ponder: Well I think both apply here!:lol2:



Alrighty then, just couldn't resist that one.:lol2: There ya go ol' pal. Don't choke on yer coffee:clap: Now I've gotta get back to business and figure how to explain this next day with the few pics we managed to take. This is the day I learned two of Chuck's catch phrases..."we gotta push the envelope" and " we're making memories here".:brainsnap
 
It was suppose to be a nice peaceful day of riding!

And that's just how it "started". Today's plan was to cross Cumberland Gap, ride north through Taylor Lake, and on to American Flag Mountain.

Crossing Cumberland.

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After passing through Taylor, Chuck routed us to Italia Road, one of the best rides in the area. If you ever have the chance to ride this road, don't pass it up.

It starts out along side a creek, and then starts to climb fairly rapidly. Great views and lots of fast sections.

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Fairly tame in the beginning, but soon enough each switchback gets a little steeper with many water barriers along the way. For those who rode the "just for fun dead end road" in Mississippi, well this blows that road away and there's miles of it.:flip:

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After some really great riding, we made it to the mountain top.

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Chuck followed some jeeps up to the top.

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Chuck's view.

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My bike was sputtering pretty bad so I just stretched out on in the grass and enjoyed the show.

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From here we were suppose to pick up the road back down the other side of the mountain. Chuck searched his Zumo, and we tried a few different directions, but nothing said we were on track. So we got out the maps and still couldn't find the road. After awhile Chuck said,"well there's this Star Trail that heads in the right direction. Maybe we'll pick up the road through it." So off we went. The trail started out really nice and easy.

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After crossing a couple of meadows, it began to get a little more interesting, but still easy going.

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Another mile or so and this was all there was. Now one thing about me is I usually know when it's gonna get tough, and I saw that very soon the trail would take us uphill. I could see Chuck ahead of me banging his way through the rocks, and I was certain he could feel every one of them just like myself, but this was the only way through that we knew of so we pushed on.

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After awhile we ran into a group of four coming our way. Chuck was talking to them about the trail ahead and they said it wasn't any worse than what we had already been through. Hmmm...I've never believed that one yet!:lol2: Now is when I'm really thinking about this, and I know Chuck is too.:wary: It's late in the afternoon, there's a mountain side in front of us, and four battered looking guys on 250s are telling Chuck "piece of cake". Hmmm, but again....it's our only way through. So comes the big push!:loco:

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Now it may seem I'm exaggerating here, trust me I'm not. This was one of the toughest trails I'd ever been on. These pics are over a couple of miles and the camera only came out in the easy sections. Seriously, at some points it was impossible to ride. Many getoffs by both along with a couple of endos. Plus we were at 12,000'. It took a few hours to get where we were, which was not even halfway.

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Chuck was determined to get through and he rode his big XR like a trials bike many times, but lets face it, we were getting our butts kicked up here.:rofl: Somewhere along the way Chuck said, "we gotta push the envelope". My reply was "screw this".:lol2: Then it started raining and Chuck said, "just think about it Tim. We're making memories here!" I guess it's his Ranger blood or just trying to boost the morale, but again I replied "screw this!":argh:

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It started getting very wet and cold. We were both exhausted and the dumps were getting way more frequent.:lol2: So as we were gasping after picking up the XR, we talked about camping for the night. We had our survival gear plus food and water.

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I hiked up two more switchbacks only to find the trail was even worse. It was an hour before dark. We agreed to make a downhill run for the trailhead. After several more beatings, we were there. What a relief!:giveup: Now to get back to camp. Too far and too wet/ cold, so we rode Italia Rd. in the dark and slabbed 40 miles to Gunnison in and out of the rain. There we got the last room right after midnight. Needless to say, we both dang near went comatose that night!:rofl:

Btw, no one missed us at West Fest that night.:lol2:
 
Here's a testimony of the fabulous "Star Trail"

This guy can write way better than I could ever hope to. Quoted from his afterthoughts " What made this trip so exhausting and fun was the sustained intensity and continual need to commit to lines that offer no guarantees and punish any remnant of hesitation." Now that's just how it was for a long long ways!:lol2:

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After we returned to camp, Chuck found out that this was one of "the trails" for all accomplished woods riders to conquer. One guy told him they worked in a team of four to get each others bikes through the tough spots. Hmmm...that sounds like cheating to me.:lol2:
 
So we made it back to camp the following day and just kinda chilled out. I went into town and bought myself a new air mattress. Kinda big but this was all they had, and I wasn't gonna wake up in the middle of the night again on a flat. Yeah no more flats, but I would really hate this thing later on. Chuck was having a ball taking pictures of me and my new mattress.:roll:

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Anyways, the next day we broke camp and were off to Steamboat Springs. Still some good riding, but both of us were a little bored with the big roads.

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We were getting into cattle country and things didn't get interesting again till we were close to Steamboat.

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After leaving Steamboat, we headed south while making our own route. This can be as tough as making a DS route in Texas. Lots of locked up roads up here.

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The next night we stayed in some small cattle town down by Antlers. The whole town smelled like a stockyard.:lol: However there was something unique about it....the best tasting steak ever. Chuck ordered a ribeye and I sampled some of it. I'll tell you that in fifty years I've never tasted such a perfect steak. Chuck agreed and he's been around since dinosaur meat.:lol2:

The only pic of the day. The hotel where we stayed.

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From here it was lots more cattle country.

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Finally we were getting back into the mountains.

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And we stumbled upon another great camp.:clap: Somewhere around 9000' and time to camp, we ran into some trailriders out putzing around on their ponies. They told us about this site just up the road. Great place!

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Cowboy graffiti.

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Chuck entertaining himself.

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Gettin' packed up the next morning.

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