This unlikely story starts this past Wednesday; I have been a bit restless and wanted to do a trip of some sort while I am still on vacation. Talking it over with my wife, it was a bit tough to schedule it all with the kids and all. So on Thursday I get a crazy idea: how about I ride to Colorado and visit a friend up there?
I test the waters with my imminently patient wife (who I am sure is now wondering how we went from getting a bike for small rides to me riding to Colorado for 3 days by myself - and that goes well. Call up my buddy in CO - has no immediate plans for the weekend. Yay, it's on!! Check with few riding buddies if they can make it but nope - other plans are in motion. That's okay; I really have been itching for a solo ride like this so I'll live!
Talk to the kids, sort out what to take (have to pack light as I never did get soft bags that I would like to have for situations like this) and clock is ticking...
Route taken there and back is basically from DFW, to 287, to Amarillo. Then through Dumas, Raton to CO.
DAY 1
5:20 AM Friday I kiss my son and wife goodbye (our little girl was still sleeping) and roll out. After a few hours, I am of course still in Texas. It'll take me about 5-6 hours to Amarillo... So it's kind of flat:
Fast forward to Texas panhandle, as the scenery does not change much. Ah now - we are getting closer! See those are some big hills coming up in the distance!
Ah this is why... New Mexico is here. Someone had too much time with that sign...
Took a quick detour to Capulin volcano. Cows on the road. YO! COWS on the road!!
OK back on track.. still in NM, somewhere before Raton. My first look at the Rockies!
Get it? Rockies rock! I crack myself up...
Anyway... made it up to Raton pass and to CO:
I meet my buddy later that night and we spend the night at Pueblo. 650 miles for the day not too bad.
DAY 2
6:30 AM next morning (Saturday)... it starts slow. We head west through Canyon City. Finally then we find some canyons; I already started wondering how come that all the mountains are over there as opposed to here?
Things get better by the minute though... here for example, we are heading down from Monarch Pass. We swapped the bikes for about 30 miles, I am riding my buddy's FJR and he is on my Wee:
A rare photo taken by me, of my own bike being ridden by my buddy:
Swapped the bikes back. FJR is nice! I'll say though - that seat is a torture device and the bike needs risers for someone as tall as me. Anyway, after Gunnison we hit the lake:
Heading north now... stopped to marvel the Black Canyon:
A panoramic shot, sometime before Maher:
Pushing on... geez definitely rocks in those Rockies!
Had lunch at Aspen (got there via Carbondale)... heading out:
Climbing up to Independence Pass... yeah that line down there is the road we are on:
A panoramic shot of the lake up on the Continental Divide (12,000 something feet):
As we are heading down, this is what we see coming up. Yeah!
Wee!!!
Geez, how many beautiful mountain lakes can one see in a day? Come on!!
OK after some more ride, we make it off the mountains...
We head for the Colorado Springs, via Buena Vista. Dinner there and then I ride to Pueblo for the night while my buddy heads home north. I got a long ride tomorrow! I think about 500 miles that day. That did not suck!!
I also realize there is a smudge on camera lense therefore a lot of photos have a smudge on them.
DAY 3
4:00 AM Sunday... I get up and realize that there is a flaw in my plan: no winter gear and I forgot that I need to go to Raton Pass (high) and I bet it'll be cold! Quick check of the weather... low 50s or high 40s. Hmmm... remember I packed light? That means no liners for my Airglide gear...
Anyway, I put on every T-shirt I have, one long sleeved shirt, and then my mesh gear on top. Then my rain gear on top of that to break the wind a little. I hightail it south. Pitch dark, nobody on the road, no other bikers anywhere. Ah, whatever! I make it over the Raton pass without too much trouble. Heated grips rock!!
After the breakfast in Raton, I head east... it's chilly, quiet, beautiful...
Anyho, after a while, getting closer to Texas, I see a genuine Texas storm forming in front of me. Come on storm, bring it! I wear my rain gear when it's not raining, give me what you got!
It just so happens that the storm splits up as I approach and then closes behind me so I ride through with only 20 drops on the visor. Meh. Probably better that way as I saw some lightning too...
Actually, I know what happened. The storm did not want to mess with the Strom! Plus the shark teeth!!
The rest was relatively uneventful. Hit the wind around Dalhart and it followed me to after Wichita Falls. Got up to 102 degrees as I was coming back. Eh! Rolled home just after 6 PM; I left 5:20 AM a little over 2 1/2 days ago...
Trip stats:
Total miles traveled: 1978.9
Gas used: 37.65 gallons
Average MPG: 52 MPG! Now - for the kind of riding I was doing, that blows me away!!
Things that I learned:
I had a lot of people slow down next to me on the highway to look at the bike or even take pictures. Shark gets the attention what can I say. Lots of bikers turned heads too...
All in all, it was awesome!!
I test the waters with my imminently patient wife (who I am sure is now wondering how we went from getting a bike for small rides to me riding to Colorado for 3 days by myself - and that goes well. Call up my buddy in CO - has no immediate plans for the weekend. Yay, it's on!! Check with few riding buddies if they can make it but nope - other plans are in motion. That's okay; I really have been itching for a solo ride like this so I'll live!
Talk to the kids, sort out what to take (have to pack light as I never did get soft bags that I would like to have for situations like this) and clock is ticking...
Route taken there and back is basically from DFW, to 287, to Amarillo. Then through Dumas, Raton to CO.
DAY 1
5:20 AM Friday I kiss my son and wife goodbye (our little girl was still sleeping) and roll out. After a few hours, I am of course still in Texas. It'll take me about 5-6 hours to Amarillo... So it's kind of flat:
Fast forward to Texas panhandle, as the scenery does not change much. Ah now - we are getting closer! See those are some big hills coming up in the distance!
Ah this is why... New Mexico is here. Someone had too much time with that sign...
Took a quick detour to Capulin volcano. Cows on the road. YO! COWS on the road!!
OK back on track.. still in NM, somewhere before Raton. My first look at the Rockies!
Get it? Rockies rock! I crack myself up...
Anyway... made it up to Raton pass and to CO:
I meet my buddy later that night and we spend the night at Pueblo. 650 miles for the day not too bad.
DAY 2
6:30 AM next morning (Saturday)... it starts slow. We head west through Canyon City. Finally then we find some canyons; I already started wondering how come that all the mountains are over there as opposed to here?
Things get better by the minute though... here for example, we are heading down from Monarch Pass. We swapped the bikes for about 30 miles, I am riding my buddy's FJR and he is on my Wee:
A rare photo taken by me, of my own bike being ridden by my buddy:
Swapped the bikes back. FJR is nice! I'll say though - that seat is a torture device and the bike needs risers for someone as tall as me. Anyway, after Gunnison we hit the lake:
Heading north now... stopped to marvel the Black Canyon:
A panoramic shot, sometime before Maher:
Pushing on... geez definitely rocks in those Rockies!
Had lunch at Aspen (got there via Carbondale)... heading out:
Climbing up to Independence Pass... yeah that line down there is the road we are on:
A panoramic shot of the lake up on the Continental Divide (12,000 something feet):
As we are heading down, this is what we see coming up. Yeah!
Wee!!!
Geez, how many beautiful mountain lakes can one see in a day? Come on!!
OK after some more ride, we make it off the mountains...
We head for the Colorado Springs, via Buena Vista. Dinner there and then I ride to Pueblo for the night while my buddy heads home north. I got a long ride tomorrow! I think about 500 miles that day. That did not suck!!
I also realize there is a smudge on camera lense therefore a lot of photos have a smudge on them.
DAY 3
4:00 AM Sunday... I get up and realize that there is a flaw in my plan: no winter gear and I forgot that I need to go to Raton Pass (high) and I bet it'll be cold! Quick check of the weather... low 50s or high 40s. Hmmm... remember I packed light? That means no liners for my Airglide gear...
Anyway, I put on every T-shirt I have, one long sleeved shirt, and then my mesh gear on top. Then my rain gear on top of that to break the wind a little. I hightail it south. Pitch dark, nobody on the road, no other bikers anywhere. Ah, whatever! I make it over the Raton pass without too much trouble. Heated grips rock!!
After the breakfast in Raton, I head east... it's chilly, quiet, beautiful...
Anyho, after a while, getting closer to Texas, I see a genuine Texas storm forming in front of me. Come on storm, bring it! I wear my rain gear when it's not raining, give me what you got!
It just so happens that the storm splits up as I approach and then closes behind me so I ride through with only 20 drops on the visor. Meh. Probably better that way as I saw some lightning too...
Actually, I know what happened. The storm did not want to mess with the Strom! Plus the shark teeth!!
The rest was relatively uneventful. Hit the wind around Dalhart and it followed me to after Wichita Falls. Got up to 102 degrees as I was coming back. Eh! Rolled home just after 6 PM; I left 5:20 AM a little over 2 1/2 days ago...
Trip stats:
Total miles traveled: 1978.9
Gas used: 37.65 gallons
Average MPG: 52 MPG! Now - for the kind of riding I was doing, that blows me away!!
Things that I learned:
- Camelback is your friend. No way would I have made it without it. Bought a basic 50 oz model at Sports Authority and refilled it along the way several times.
- My 8GB Zune was my friend. Other than the tracks I have on it, having the FM radio to break the monotony at times was great.
- I found that my Etymotic Isolator earbuds were not really all-day comfortable for me. So I am glad that I had other set of corded silicone earplugs. I'd switch to that for an hour or two and it was all good.
- The Wee was awesome all the way, just chugging along. Does not matter if it was 75 MPH on the highway for hours in heat or screaming around mountains at 10,000 feet. I rode the oxygen-starved engine hard high in the mountains and it just took it all, never skipping a beat, giving me 60 MPG climbing the highest passes! I do think I'll want to add a fork brace for some added cross-wind stability.
- Beaded seat cover is out for long distance. Bicycle shorts are in. Yeah no airflow but really, more comfortable for me. I still will use the beads for short distances.
- I could not have made it without Crampbuster. Totally worth $10!
I had a lot of people slow down next to me on the highway to look at the bike or even take pictures. Shark gets the attention what can I say. Lots of bikers turned heads too...
All in all, it was awesome!!