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The Rescue of Misfortunes
We didn’t know the Strom’s stator was toes up…we just knew the battery was fried and with a quick jump, the bike could run for a minute or so. Pushing on over the pass made rescue a 4X4 situation…way more difficult.
“Anybody have a tow strap?” someone asked. (Yep, I carry one. ) “Want to pull me back to Almont?” I waited for the punch line….
OK, no good solution here so a quick choice of the least bad option was called for. Dead bikes happen. Deal. We needed to tap dance our way out of this mess with as much delicacy as nature would afford.
“You folks point this thing toward Taylor Reservoir. If you get it running then ride like the wind toward camp. If not, we’ll be back…eventually.”
Bart and I pointed our 1190’s downhill and blazed a spirited dash back to camp to retrieve his truck and my ramp. Yes, ramps are big rattily cumbersome things that take up huge bits of room and pinch fingers but they do come in awful handy.
The rest you can imagine pretty much as it occurred. All were saved from the ravages of mountain predators and a passable meal was had well before midnight. Bike rental dude in Denver delivered a pretty good looking Yamaha Super T sometime before dawn and hauled away the remains of his Strom.
Next day…
Clearly, the leader of this adventure had misjudged the kinds of “gravel roads” we needed to stay close to. These boys were honestly traumatized and apprehensive about riding again. Yesterday’s adventure was way outside their image or experience of motorcycle riding. My mistake… e pluribus unum.
Let’s just go look at some really cool sites. (It took me about 10 minutes and two maps over coffee that morning to convince them they’d be safe.)
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is really spectacular. Most folks approach it from the south rim where the national park is located. Naturally we chose to come at it from the north rim which sees very little traffic. It’s a lot more fun getting there and makes a reasonable loop from Almont.
The roar of the river below, the enormity of the view... picture just don't work. Go there.
The route took us through Paonia, Colorado. Not a big place but there’s a “farm to table” type café that is worth the trip by itself. I'd been a few days before and thought it was great. The Living Farm Café. The crew said this was the best meal they’d ever had in Colorado. We passed the actual farm on our way out of town.
By this time the Aspen leaves were doing pretty well. We looped back through the huge stand just west of Crested Butte on the way to Kebler Pass. It’s a sight well worth your time… from both directions.
You have to know that a camera (least one held in my shaky hands) does outright violence to the actual scenery here. Both at the canyon and these gold colored valleys. Just literally awesome.
We didn’t know the Strom’s stator was toes up…we just knew the battery was fried and with a quick jump, the bike could run for a minute or so. Pushing on over the pass made rescue a 4X4 situation…way more difficult.
“Anybody have a tow strap?” someone asked. (Yep, I carry one. ) “Want to pull me back to Almont?” I waited for the punch line….
OK, no good solution here so a quick choice of the least bad option was called for. Dead bikes happen. Deal. We needed to tap dance our way out of this mess with as much delicacy as nature would afford.
“You folks point this thing toward Taylor Reservoir. If you get it running then ride like the wind toward camp. If not, we’ll be back…eventually.”
Bart and I pointed our 1190’s downhill and blazed a spirited dash back to camp to retrieve his truck and my ramp. Yes, ramps are big rattily cumbersome things that take up huge bits of room and pinch fingers but they do come in awful handy.
The rest you can imagine pretty much as it occurred. All were saved from the ravages of mountain predators and a passable meal was had well before midnight. Bike rental dude in Denver delivered a pretty good looking Yamaha Super T sometime before dawn and hauled away the remains of his Strom.
Next day…
Clearly, the leader of this adventure had misjudged the kinds of “gravel roads” we needed to stay close to. These boys were honestly traumatized and apprehensive about riding again. Yesterday’s adventure was way outside their image or experience of motorcycle riding. My mistake… e pluribus unum.
Let’s just go look at some really cool sites. (It took me about 10 minutes and two maps over coffee that morning to convince them they’d be safe.)
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is really spectacular. Most folks approach it from the south rim where the national park is located. Naturally we chose to come at it from the north rim which sees very little traffic. It’s a lot more fun getting there and makes a reasonable loop from Almont.
The roar of the river below, the enormity of the view... picture just don't work. Go there.
The route took us through Paonia, Colorado. Not a big place but there’s a “farm to table” type café that is worth the trip by itself. I'd been a few days before and thought it was great. The Living Farm Café. The crew said this was the best meal they’d ever had in Colorado. We passed the actual farm on our way out of town.
By this time the Aspen leaves were doing pretty well. We looped back through the huge stand just west of Crested Butte on the way to Kebler Pass. It’s a sight well worth your time… from both directions.
You have to know that a camera (least one held in my shaky hands) does outright violence to the actual scenery here. Both at the canyon and these gold colored valleys. Just literally awesome.
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