May I Ride in the Mountains

[KsTeveM]

I don’t know, can you? No, no….I mean in the month of May I will ride. Normally I black out my calendar for this weekend in May as not a “Stevo Ride Weekend”. But my wife declared a girls weekend for this Mother’s Day and the women folk are headed to the coast.

Now what? I don’t see sitting around at home by myself. I was full on plotting and scheming about what should I do….aka where should I ride. I was literally all over the map. Then someone I work with turned in vacation to go to a graduation in Denver. Let me get this straight, you are leaving in the middle of this week, to go to the middle of Colorado, and you are driving, solo? Hmm…..brain started moving at mach 10.3, yes faster than Maverick. And the Super Enduro must have known something was up too, he got himself ready last weekend just in case we had to throw down. Good thinking little big buddy.

I have a rough plan. It goes like this, step 1 hitch a ride to Colorado and get dumped out. Step 1 complete suckas! Brrrrrr!

 

[_RG_]

And where did we get dumped along the way?

 

[gixxerjasen]

I see you've packed your two cell phone cases.

Running light and going commando again, woohoo! Must be chilly in that pic.

 

[bwdmax]

I hope it’s in the middle of NOWHERE and it’s cold tonight.




You know, so you can really enjoy the beauty of a crisp mountain night and a good campfire.

 

[Tourmeister]

 

[misterk]

Go west young man

 

[Tigerkf]

Really Steve, Again? I literally just stopped crying after seeing your last trip and now you're doing it to me again? Well, go ahead get it over with, rip the band-aid off.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Really Steve, Again? I literally just stopped crying after seeing your last trip and now you're doing it to me again? Well, go ahead get it over with, rip the band-aid off.

Same, doesn't he realize some of us have to work.

And by "Work" I mean refreshing Steves RR for more pictures.

 

[KsTeveM]

And where did we get dumped along the way?

 

[craftkr]

I'm really envious of you right now sitting at my desk.... at work.... and I swear I could've cut the air with a knife this morning with all the darn humidity...... So yeah you enjoy your cold, snowy, two wheeled adventure..... and take allot of pics.

 

[KsTeveM]

Step 2—Wake up, twist throttle. Rocky Mountain May, couldn’t get much higher…..or colder.

I remember saying to myself just the other day, self, this is it. No more cool weather, summer is upon us. Time to start sweating when mowing, when working in the garage, when riding the bike etc. When those thoughts bounced around inside my mostly empty melon, I never expected to be in the middle of Colorado on my bike a week later looking at snow. Ain’t life grand? Yes, and chilly.

I wanted to go due south today, but that pass was still snowed in. So I worked my way west and then south in the Arapaho National Forest going past several little ski resorts.

I am cold, no way around it. The cold is making its way around my layers, and I am wearing several as I don’t own nice 4 season stuff…aka old rich guy suite. And I’ve said it before and will probably say it gain….heated gear is for weenies, anybody have some I can borrow? I knew I would see snow and most likely experience some moisture, this surpassed my expectations. It wasn’t awful, the cold or visibility issues, just a distraction. I dealt with it.

Going due south now, I’ve been called Cool Breeze many times in my life, but I don’t think this is what they meant. Did I mention it is cold?

Finally some blue skies and the temps got better. I stopped in a town and snagged some grub.

Onward. I’ve been through this zone before in the Pike NF in a 4wd and figured it was desert enough to pull off today, and hopefully not muddy.

And then blam! The views were killer.

I had to shed a couple layers and get my dirt paw gloves on, we were stepping up our game in here on an OHV route!

It has a certain roller coaster flow to it in here, up/down, fun cornering.

Yeah buddy!

Ok enough, I need to tuck in my chin and make like a tree.

Hopped across some pavement and immediately got into more dirt. Total between these two zones, probably 50 to 60 miles. Noticed I was in the San Isabel NF at this point. Had to stay on my toes with some mud snow stuff.

This area has been pretty good riding. I rode some of this area probably 10 years ago, we took turns on a YZ250 and XC450. And now here I am on little big buddy. Not something I could have foreseen, riding solo on a big bike through here.

And there is no truck parked at the trail head this time. There is something liberating about that. And something a little scary about that. Ride accordingly. Or not.

It’s hard not to think about the cool passes and trails in this area within view…..that are snowed in. Clear the mechanism. I’m here, on the Super Enduro, enjoy what is enjoyable right in front of you!!

I’m in the Rio Grande NF now. I tried a route to get up in the mountains to check out an old mine. Denied, snow/road preservation. I wanted this though. Figured out a work around.

Then had to walk around…..I will win!

Had to hike a couple clicks but I got it done. I guess it was worth it.

And to prove I didn’t download pics off the web, here is my proof!

The old town is still kind of there and functioning. Population of 17 now. Hard to imagine in its prime there were 36 saloons and 7 dance halls at this location in 1880. More to post, part 2 coming.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Awesome! I'm so jealous. Except for that cold crap. Seriously, heated gear is worth every penny, as long as your bike's electrical system can support it.

 

[KsTeveM]

I tried to route around rain and through a pass, no go. Tried a second, no no go. I had to backtrack a bit, and did get rained on and hailed on but it was just the fringe of that cell thank goodness and I out ran it.

Popped out and rolled through another town, Saguache. My brain doesn’t know what a saguache is, sounds like the name of Sam Elliot’s mustache or something. So I looked it up, it’s a Ute word meaning “blue earth”. I’m not feeling blue, but certainly earthy….and enduroie. And jeepy.

Pushed south on some rural roads. Might have been hauling the mail.

It was feeling like the 9th inning but I couldn’t stop thinking about the dunes. Had to rally myself.

Decided to venture over that way. Come on, you knew it was going to happen. I think I even heard a few of you whispering…..go, for us, little big buddy.

The dunes….I wanted to know more about how this came to be. President Herbert Hoover made it a National Monument in 1932. The locals pushed for this, to keep it from being destroyed by gold mining or for resources to make concrete. Wow, never crossed my mind we could have screwed up this natural wonder.

The tallest dune on this continent is here, 700’. It’s hard to imagine that all this sand use to be in the mountains. Creeks and streams brought in large amounts of sediment and sand into the valley and the wind blew the sand toward the bend in the Sangre De Cristos. With opposing storm winds helping to push/form them into dunes. There you have it. I couldn’t help it, I went into the 4wd area for several miles. Lots of fun.

V-Twin with 100hp slinging sand……makes you feel alive!!! Pretty sure I was winning.

The bike was a dream in here. The front MT43 doing his thang. And I was careful not to overfill the big safari tank. All alone out here……grinning from ear to ear.

Dadgumit……what a great way to wrap up the day!!!! Today has been so diverse. The geology, eco systems, climates and the temperatures.

Ok, I needed to beat cheeks for my digs. Rain was all around trying to get me. I was threading the needle.

I grabbed some throttle and got to zig zagging back roads. Weather was all around me but didn’t get me. It was actually kind of cool dodging the storms and enjoying the desert smells. This pic sums it up well doesn’t it?

It was a long day and I’m tired. Almost didn’t do the ride report. But I like doing it when it’s fresh on my pea brain. I’ve got a space heater in my little cabin going and about to be lights out for this roaming cowboy. Tomorrow should be interesting, got some stuff up my sleeve, hopefully not muddy snow. Nighty night!!

 

[Tourmeister]

Absolutely stunning pics in that last post!!

 

[Cagiva 549]

Been wearing heated gear for over 20 years , yep I’m a wuss , a warm wuss and have been down right toasty when playing in the snow

 

[woodsguy]

Nothing wrong with being warm!

 

[Gravel Guy]

 

[LicketySplit]

Burr….

I’m on my way home and am enjoying your seeing your progress. Really looking forward to the long group ride in Sept/Oct.

Keep it coming!

 

[woodsguy]

@KsTeveM , not sure to call you a hero or head case but I LOVE it!!!!! 950 looks great.

 

[KsTeveM]

@KsTeveM , not sure to call you a hero or head case but I LOVE it!!!!! 990 looks great.

Both probably. And the 950 is a good lookin little fella, he thanks you.

 

[G-Mans-World]

@KsTeveM nice man this sounds like unlimited fun best greetings from Austin and enjoy.

 

[misterk]

i believe some of those pics would qualify for a magazine cover somewhere!

 

[Boulder Ed]

makes me wanna move back but I know better and now hate cold and snow. A buddy from my past is a die hard, expert rider in Buena VIsta, very close to where you were. We used to have ADV rallys up there. If it were just in the 50-60's you'd be golden. Incredibly late spring this year!

 

[craftkr]

Loving the ride report! Keep it coming!

 

[jerrybo]

Br-r-r-r, Your're lots tougher than me! Great pictures< thanks for sharing