bigdon Rocks the COBDR

[bigdon55]

I had been planing to finish the TAT this year but with the Weather acting up and changing the route I decided to wait. I had friends riding the East Coast but I really wanted to ride the West in the Fall.
I had bought the Colorado Back Country Discovery Map last year. I whipped it out,that,s what I'm going to do.
I called all my wishy washy riding buds that weren't going East but non of them can go. Had to wash their hair or something . The only other option was to go ahead and do it.

COBDR here I come!

Looks promising !

I hauled the DRZ out to Utah to see Scott, Julie , and the 3 Step Hideaway.

What a Great place and a awesome place to start and adventure!

Scott, Julie, and Bailey are awesome and treat you better than Family

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[bigdon55]

My home for the night

After unloading my bike and getting a Cat Scan, I notice a gas leak

Fuel is leaking out of the carb. Crap !
Scott helps me get the bike on the lift and off comes the carb, numerous times. The carb bowl gasket is leaking . After several attempts to get it to seal ,I think it's good. We eat a great steak , corn , salad,and maybe a cerveza or two. Life is good.

Day 2 I wake to coffee and a beautiful Sunrise

I get geared up and loaded, crap, gas is still leaking. Back to the lift.

Scott had Dr.Rocks DRZ 400 stored in his shed. He had called to see if the good Dr. had a spare bowl gasket in his bag of tricks. Doc told us to check and see and if not cannibalize his bike and get what we needed. ( Big Thank You Dr.Rock) I did not want to do that but thought I had no other choice.
We install the good Dr's. gasket and check still leaking not bad but I'm going to be in the sticks ,alone, for a while. Back off comes the carb. In a last ditch effort I ask Scott if he had in pipe dope. Why yes ,yes he does.
I very carefully applied some thread dope and then reinstalled the gasket. I think it is holding. Reinstall , wait a few minutes, Hallelujah it's dry !

Scott thinks that with my Luck I may need some help. He says, you've Dr.Rock parts on your bike ,you need some Anti Hassel Tassels(http://www.anti-hassletassels.com/) to ward off the evil spirits.

Thanks to Scott, Dr.Rock and Anti Hassle Tassels ,I expected no more problems.
I geared back up with the greatest confidence and left 3 Step in a Cloud of Dust at crack of 10:30.
I scoot South East through Dove Creek to Cortez ,Co. to start The COBDR.
I did not go all the way to 4 corners.I had been there,done that. They did not need another $10 from me.
With my A/H Tassels blowing in the breeze that may have been the smoothest 70 miles of Black Top I have ridden.

I start to pick up the trail but wait, It's lunch time!

This Guy comes in as I was leaving

He was finishing the trail on his new 1190

Sweet

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[ghostrider1964]

Fun to do as a group but seems like I mainly travel alone

 

[bigdon55]

The roads North of Cortez start out wide and smooth!

Beautiful Blue Skies

It's a great day to be alive!

Hunters Camps are everywhere

The roads are not crowded

Just beautiful

Home for the night. Just South of Telluride.

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[The Bruce]

 

[Tom]

Oh, rookie... an arigator...

Jealous I am.

 

[bigdon55]

I wake to another great weather day and get to start with Ophir Pass.

It's a bit rocky but not bad.

I actually walked around a little. I live at 465' and was now at nearly 12,000'. It did not bother me ,much.

I continue over Red Mountain and Corkscrew Passes without any trouble.
The road started to get more interesting up Hurricane and California.

After a beautiful morning with great views and fun roads I round a sharp steep switchback, and run out of talent!

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[ghostrider1964]

That last pic looks like an Ooops

 

[Vinny]

 

[bwdmax]

Well what happened next? Did you find your talent under the bike when you picked it up.

 

[humanrace]

My talent ran out near that same spot.

 

[ghostrider1964]

My talent ran out near that same spot.

Tis a bit rocky right there. I have run all that Animas area

 

[bigdon55]

If you remember, in our last segment I talked about walking around at 12,000' not giving me much trouble. Well picking up my bike and getting it stabilized gassed me big time. You know all the disclaimers, it's steeper than it looks , etc.

Why do the wheels always stay on the up hill side ?
After pulling the bike around, standing it up and getting the side stand down I was breathing hard. I took a little brake then tried to start the bike. When I pulled the clutch in ,the bike started to slide backwards and dang near fell again. I had to get a big rock behind the wheel to be able to hold the bike.

Finally the bike starts, I get on and ride more aggressively to the top.

Glad to be here! Look a Lake

Well worth the effort!

Then it was on up California Pass with no problems.

Art

These guys were having a great time until the new Husky started puking oil!

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[Tracker]

Excellent pics and report!

Seeing old mining ruins makes me think about the challenges of running a mule for supplies/transportation, no chainsaws, power or power tools, etc. Tough men, those miners.

 

[ekms377]

Nice!

 

[bsheet2]

Nice! That is a great ride through there.

 

[tricepilot]

Really nice report.....

 

[bigdon55]

I found a really nice spot to take a break

The only problem, I should have taken a left about 10 miles back. Crap !
Now I'm on the right road

These guys were having a blast

Had to do a little mining work

They would not let me in

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[JasonJ]

 

[The Bruce]

"Ran out of talent." I'm sure I'll be able to use that quote in the future.

 

[BIG A]

Great report Don!! Your pictures are awesome!!

 

[bigdon55]

I made it to Lake City early afternoon and set up camp in town.

These guys and their Wives invited me to Dinner

They were riding Razors and camping in RV's

We had a good meal at some French place. They were really nice people and I enjoyed the evening.

Day Three I head towards Buena Vista

I lucked out and had perfect weather for the entire trip

That DRZ is very photogenic

Made it to Pitkin for a Cheeseburger no Ice Cream

This is JP. He was having fork seal problems and I am a fork seal specialist. I loaned him my nifty difty brass feeler gauge and he cleaned them out. Good as new. Helping JP out would pay off later !

His group had a smorgasbord of Adventure bikes. One of every kind.

Great Guys

Then I stir some more gravel

Look Moose!

Over Cottonwood Pass

I start down the paved side of Cottonwood and these Two welcomed me to the first curve with High Fives and Back Slapping.

They had been camped some where close for the week and riding to the top every afternoon to have coasting races on the way down. I think they had a really good time and were full of Life. Had a good chat and down the hill I went.
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[bigdon55]

I made it to Buena Vista and stayed with my good friend Gene. Gene lives there and rides all over the place. I talked him into riding part of the day.
He invited Tom to go with us.

We saw some more pretty colors and some great trails through the Four Mile Area.

I had some routing problems on my GPS. I should blame it on Garmin but it was my fault. I got in a hurry when I was making my route from the Map. I should have gone to the Web Site and loaded the tracks, but did not.
Anyway, while we were floundering around trying to stay on route, JP and Crew catches us at this water crossing.

It looked a little tricky but it was no big deal

Scott

Rolo ?

Yo

JP

Tom

and Gene

The names may have been changed because of my CRS
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[bigdon55]

Look , another water crossing

Then on to some more great roads and beautiful weather

and on up to Weston Pass

Just Awesome

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[The Bruce]

Love those aspen alleys this time of year.