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Motorcycles, Mountains, Madmen and Memorials or....
- Thread starter AusFletch
- Start date
Let's start at the beginning.
My lovely wife, AusWife, introduced me to Southwest Colorado about 20 years ago. She and her family have been spending summers in Lake City since she was a teenager. It's a big part of who she is and she is a big part, the biggest and best part, of who I am so we started visiting there together. We even honeymooned in Lake City and have visited annually, sometimes more frequently, ever since.
AusWife and I have camped, fished, hiked, jeeped, motorcycled the streets and basically bummed all around the San Juans for the past dozen and a half years. I had not, however, ridden a dirt bike or dual-sport in the area.
Well, uh, that is because you never had a dual-sport bike, you might say. You are correct, sir, I might defensively reply. Fortunately, I rectified that tragic situation this spring when I bought a new-to-me 2005 Suzuki DR650. I spent the spring happily prepping it for this trip. The last few weeks before vacation were like Christmas every day except Santa was wearing UPS Brown.
So....before we go stampeding off to the mountains let's review all the 'neccessary' modifications for this trip:
New IMS Tank & Corbin Seat
Ebay BBQ Rack and Givi top case plate
Givi top case ('borrowed' from my GS)
VERY cool North Face Waterproof Zipper Duffell
(ignore the background....we'll get there soon enough)
Slipstreamer Spitfire Windshield
Garmin 60Csx GPS w/Ram mount AND Garmin 2610 (also 'borrowed' from the GS)
(can you tell I REALLY like gps's???)
Cigarette Lighter Accessory Socket
Maier Pro Woods Brush Guards
Airbox modification, re-jetting and K&N Filter (hard to see without x-ray vision!)
I suppose that covers the equipment.
Oh, wait, did I mention I bought AusWife an accessory of her own to bring with us?
A slight (mis)adventure involving a motocross track, a jump, an upended motorcycle and some burning flesh served to dampen AusWife's enthusiasm for piloting her own ride. We sold the awesome little XT to a lady from Houston who ended up in Silverton, CO for the Horizons Unlimited meeting the same week we were there. Small world. Still wouldn't want to paint it, tho....
Auswife preferred to spend her days doing this while I was bombing around the mountains:
Auswife and I loaded up two weeks ago Friday and headed out. This guy followed us the whole way and I just couldn't seem to shake him:
Back to the alliterative title of this post.
I suppose the MOTORCYCLE part is pretty obvious as is the MOUNTAIN part.
MADMEN refers to a secondary reason for my last several trips to SW Colorado. I have a very good friend who runs the HardRockHundred 100-mile mountain race that starts in Silverton and winds through Telluride, Lake City, Ouray, multiple mountain passes, a 14'er, averages >11,000 feet in elevation and ultimately climbs and descends 33,000 feet before ending back up in Silverton. I have helped pace my buddy for part of this race in previous years so you must trust me when I say that those who participate in this race are indeed MADMEN. This year I would pace from Ouray to Telluride.
http://www.run100s.com/HR/
The MEMORIAL part of this trip was a unique event and one that, while important and meaningful, I hope not to repeat again in the very near future. Auswife and I did not spend the last 14 years visiting Colorado alone. We were always enthusiastically accompanied by our Brittany named Weller. Weller was more than a pet. He was a companion in every sense of the word but he was more than that. Weller shared the past 14 years with AusWife and me. We were young and newlyweds when Weller joined our family. The 3 of us grew up together and he served as a constant in our lives. He was a backdrop for all the meaningful events that we experienced as we grew up ourselves. He was a gentle dog but had the heart of a lion when it was necessary. He loved nothing more than drinking from cool mountain streams and he faithfully, if uncertainly, climbed mountains with me. He was never happier than when he was in, or travelling to, Colorado. In the days before he passed I promisd him, I promised myself, that I would take part of him back to his favorite stream and the top of a mountain we climbed together. He was a good dog. We do not miss him any less as time moves on.
Well, that will have to do for tonight. Tomorrow we visit friends in Sipapu, unload the bike in Taos and finally make it to the Rocky Mountains.
-AUSFLETCH
My lovely wife, AusWife, introduced me to Southwest Colorado about 20 years ago. She and her family have been spending summers in Lake City since she was a teenager. It's a big part of who she is and she is a big part, the biggest and best part, of who I am so we started visiting there together. We even honeymooned in Lake City and have visited annually, sometimes more frequently, ever since.
AusWife and I have camped, fished, hiked, jeeped, motorcycled the streets and basically bummed all around the San Juans for the past dozen and a half years. I had not, however, ridden a dirt bike or dual-sport in the area.
Well, uh, that is because you never had a dual-sport bike, you might say. You are correct, sir, I might defensively reply. Fortunately, I rectified that tragic situation this spring when I bought a new-to-me 2005 Suzuki DR650. I spent the spring happily prepping it for this trip. The last few weeks before vacation were like Christmas every day except Santa was wearing UPS Brown.
So....before we go stampeding off to the mountains let's review all the 'neccessary' modifications for this trip:
New IMS Tank & Corbin Seat
Ebay BBQ Rack and Givi top case plate
Givi top case ('borrowed' from my GS)
VERY cool North Face Waterproof Zipper Duffell
(ignore the background....we'll get there soon enough)
Slipstreamer Spitfire Windshield
Garmin 60Csx GPS w/Ram mount AND Garmin 2610 (also 'borrowed' from the GS)
(can you tell I REALLY like gps's???)
Cigarette Lighter Accessory Socket
Maier Pro Woods Brush Guards
Airbox modification, re-jetting and K&N Filter (hard to see without x-ray vision!)
I suppose that covers the equipment.
Oh, wait, did I mention I bought AusWife an accessory of her own to bring with us?
A slight (mis)adventure involving a motocross track, a jump, an upended motorcycle and some burning flesh served to dampen AusWife's enthusiasm for piloting her own ride. We sold the awesome little XT to a lady from Houston who ended up in Silverton, CO for the Horizons Unlimited meeting the same week we were there. Small world. Still wouldn't want to paint it, tho....
Auswife preferred to spend her days doing this while I was bombing around the mountains:
Auswife and I loaded up two weeks ago Friday and headed out. This guy followed us the whole way and I just couldn't seem to shake him:
Back to the alliterative title of this post.
I suppose the MOTORCYCLE part is pretty obvious as is the MOUNTAIN part.
MADMEN refers to a secondary reason for my last several trips to SW Colorado. I have a very good friend who runs the HardRockHundred 100-mile mountain race that starts in Silverton and winds through Telluride, Lake City, Ouray, multiple mountain passes, a 14'er, averages >11,000 feet in elevation and ultimately climbs and descends 33,000 feet before ending back up in Silverton. I have helped pace my buddy for part of this race in previous years so you must trust me when I say that those who participate in this race are indeed MADMEN. This year I would pace from Ouray to Telluride.
http://www.run100s.com/HR/
The MEMORIAL part of this trip was a unique event and one that, while important and meaningful, I hope not to repeat again in the very near future. Auswife and I did not spend the last 14 years visiting Colorado alone. We were always enthusiastically accompanied by our Brittany named Weller. Weller was more than a pet. He was a companion in every sense of the word but he was more than that. Weller shared the past 14 years with AusWife and me. We were young and newlyweds when Weller joined our family. The 3 of us grew up together and he served as a constant in our lives. He was a backdrop for all the meaningful events that we experienced as we grew up ourselves. He was a gentle dog but had the heart of a lion when it was necessary. He loved nothing more than drinking from cool mountain streams and he faithfully, if uncertainly, climbed mountains with me. He was never happier than when he was in, or travelling to, Colorado. In the days before he passed I promisd him, I promised myself, that I would take part of him back to his favorite stream and the top of a mountain we climbed together. He was a good dog. We do not miss him any less as time moves on.
Well, that will have to do for tonight. Tomorrow we visit friends in Sipapu, unload the bike in Taos and finally make it to the Rocky Mountains.
-AUSFLETCH
Gilk51
2
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2005
- Messages
- 17,300
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- 26
- Location
- Arlington, Texas
- First Name
- Charles ("Chuck")
- Last Name
- Gibke
for me, too14 years is a good, long life for a large dog. Sorry to hear that you lost him but it sounds like there are a lot of good memories there.
Can I spill the beans? AusWife really has a "normal" name - Paige.
(it's wonderful what you learn on Pie Runs)
M38A1
Admin
Great start!
100 mile run I can't begin to imagine, especially at those elevations.
100 mile run I can't begin to imagine, especially at those elevations.
You know, DaimlerChrysler gets their panties in a wad when you do that.
Until DaimlerChrysler sees fit to offer us an affordable diesel 4x4 they can keep their panties. Waddded or not.
I am done with Jeeps for the time being. My in-laws just bought a Rubicon and while it is an AMAZING 4x4 I will never buy something that gets that kind of fuel mileage again.
I've done 50-milers and have long assumed I would do a 100-miler someday. However, after finishing 15 mountain miles and then realizing I would have to speed up, rest less AND do it again 6 more times in the following 40 hours I am having 2nd (and 3rd and 4th and 5th) thoughts myself...
OTOH, going over Virginius was one of the most amazing things I have ever done:
But I get ahead of myself....I have not even gotten you all to Colorado much less to the top of Virginius. -FRED
14 years is a good, long life for a large dog. Sorry to hear that you lost him but it sounds like there are a lot of good memories there.
Can I spill the beans? AusWife really has a "normal" name - Paige.
(it's wonderful what you learn on Pie Runs)
We were lucky to know him for so long. How's the old saying go? "I wish I could be as good a man as my dog thinks I am?" I learned a great deal from the old boy. Never say no to a run or a walk. Chase EVERY squirrel. Sniff EVERY butt. Road trips rock - especially if the windows are down. Protect people you love. Stop to smell the flowers (and the weeds and the dirt and the sidewalk and everything else). Play hard. Rest hard. Love everybody.
Okay, where were we? On the road out of Austin and headed to New Mexico, I do believe.
Let's review the Cast of Characters on this expedition:
Paige (the wife formerly known as AusWife. Thanks, Chuck.)
Me. Fred. AusFletch.
The Ride (this IS a motorcycle post, after all)
Weller
Random Marmot
The four of us (we didn't meet The Marmot until much later) loaded up in Austin in a pickup truck generously/recklessly loaned to the expedition by a very good friend. We left Austin at oh-dark-thirty and drove for 11 hours until we encountered long-time friends from Austin who were in Sipapu staying at their folks' wonderful cabin at 9,000 feet.
Still a small world. Still wouldn't want to paint it.
After a refreshment and some visiting we were off to our destination for the night. Taos. And The Historic Taos Inn.
[Brief Review Interlude: The Taos Inn is a horrible, unfriendly and wholly unpleasant place. None of y'all should ever visit there.
Personally, we stay there any time we are within 200 miles of Taos and have driven all the way from Austin for cocktails, dinner and a one-night stay. ]
We love the local character(s).
Per usual at the Toas Inn, we ate lavishly, drank copiously, and rested comfortably. (Okay, THAT is quite enough adverbs for an entire trip report.)
First thing in the morning we separated the motorcycle from the truck to properly enjoy the mountain roads.
We unloaded the bike with extreme care (wow, it sure takes a lot more words to say the same thing without adverbs!) then I geared up, mounted the bike, set the GPS, thumbed the starter, dropped her into gear, let out the clutch and rode, ohhhhhh, about 30 feet before I dug the front wheel into the parking lot gravel and crumbled unceremoniously (doh! adverb!) to the ground.
As luck would have it this would constitute fully 50% of my spills over the next two weeks! The hand guards earned their keep in the first 5 seconds of riding... I picked up the bike, dusted us both off and started out again hoping - like the scene in Garp when the plane crashes into his house - that my trip was now disaster-proofed!
Weller rode with me since he had never ridden a motorcycle before.
Being wary and observant folks we soon spotted an unmistakable sign that we were approaching The Promised Land (aka Ubiquitious 'Welcome to Colorful Colorado Posed Photo').
An hour or two of unremarkable riding afterwards led to the gateway to Lake City - Slumgullion Summit.
Beyond the summit lay the reason we (well it's the reason the motorcycle and I) came here...hundreds of square miles of THIS.
Before long we pulled up at my in-laws' cabin outside Lake San Cristobal for the night.
I just heard AusWife, er, Paige pull up in the driveway so this will have to do for now. Next time we head off into the High Rockies. Stay tuned....FRED
Let's review the Cast of Characters on this expedition:
Paige (the wife formerly known as AusWife. Thanks, Chuck.)
Me. Fred. AusFletch.
The Ride (this IS a motorcycle post, after all)
Weller
Random Marmot
The four of us (we didn't meet The Marmot until much later) loaded up in Austin in a pickup truck generously/recklessly loaned to the expedition by a very good friend. We left Austin at oh-dark-thirty and drove for 11 hours until we encountered long-time friends from Austin who were in Sipapu staying at their folks' wonderful cabin at 9,000 feet.
Still a small world. Still wouldn't want to paint it.
After a refreshment and some visiting we were off to our destination for the night. Taos. And The Historic Taos Inn.
[Brief Review Interlude: The Taos Inn is a horrible, unfriendly and wholly unpleasant place. None of y'all should ever visit there.
Personally, we stay there any time we are within 200 miles of Taos and have driven all the way from Austin for cocktails, dinner and a one-night stay. ] We love the local character(s).
Per usual at the Toas Inn, we ate lavishly, drank copiously, and rested comfortably. (Okay, THAT is quite enough adverbs for an entire trip report.)
First thing in the morning we separated the motorcycle from the truck to properly enjoy the mountain roads.
We unloaded the bike with extreme care (wow, it sure takes a lot more words to say the same thing without adverbs!) then I geared up, mounted the bike, set the GPS, thumbed the starter, dropped her into gear, let out the clutch and rode, ohhhhhh, about 30 feet before I dug the front wheel into the parking lot gravel and crumbled unceremoniously (doh! adverb!) to the ground.
As luck would have it this would constitute fully 50% of my spills over the next two weeks! The hand guards earned their keep in the first 5 seconds of riding... I picked up the bike, dusted us both off and started out again hoping - like the scene in Garp when the plane crashes into his house - that my trip was now disaster-proofed!
Weller rode with me since he had never ridden a motorcycle before.
Being wary and observant folks we soon spotted an unmistakable sign that we were approaching The Promised Land (aka Ubiquitious 'Welcome to Colorful Colorado Posed Photo').
An hour or two of unremarkable riding afterwards led to the gateway to Lake City - Slumgullion Summit.
Beyond the summit lay the reason we (well it's the reason the motorcycle and I) came here...hundreds of square miles of THIS.
Before long we pulled up at my in-laws' cabin outside Lake San Cristobal for the night.
I just heard AusWife, er, Paige pull up in the driveway so this will have to do for now. Next time we head off into the High Rockies. Stay tuned....FRED
Time constraints and my utter inability to hold a candle to Gypsy's trip report compels me to ditch all attempts at wit, charm and prose and switch to a shotgun approach of visuals and captions.
Let's start with a sample day of riding in the San Juans. This was my first day in the mountains on the DR.
Starting out from Lake San Cristobal towards Cinnamon Pass and Silverton:
I picked up a friend in Silverton and took her on her very first ever motorcycle ride from Silverton to Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway. She paid me one of the nicest compliments I have received in a long time when she said the only reason she would ride a motorcycle was because she knew I would be careful and not let anything happen to her. Trust is a wonderful thing to give and to receive.
The view looking down into Ouray - Switzerland of America
I dropped my wonderful friend off in Ouray, made plans to rejoin them in a week for the HardRock Endurance Run and headed out for Engineer Pass and the return trip to Lake City
This guy lost a wheel of his Tacoma and was blocking the trail. I had no useful tools or skills so I went for help.
Shortly after finding some Jeepers (sorry, DaimlerChrysler) to help the Tacoma guy I ran across this dude riding an off-road unicycle at 12,500 feet. He was also in town for the HardRock Hundred. Remember the MADMEN in the title???
My homage to Tourmeister:
This was a very cool house on the way down from Engineer to Lake City. There is actually a way to the house by car but you wouldn't see it if you didn't look (and perhaps trespass a little bit) very carefully...
One VERY happy DR rider relaxing in Ouray
Because he knows these are waiting for him in a beautiful room in an inspiring locale at the end of a good, exhausting day of motorcycle riding
The next several days were pretty much the same. Wake up early, ride a great motorcycle on dirt roads in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I saw this, uh, vehicle in several places before we captured a picture of it. I would have loved to have talked to this guy. Add him to the MADMEN. I doubt he was there for the race but I think he probably deserves the moniker just the same.
Weller finally made it to our destination.
It was a fantastic trip. I rode almost a thousand miles of dirt and 1,500 total. I only dropped the bike once after The Parking Lot Incident. The second time was user error going up a Engineer over a series of rock steps with a stream running down them. I was timid on the throttle, lost momentum with feet dangling in the air and tipped over with no damage to me or the bike. Despite several hairy moments, particularly when I accidentally took a trail I thought was a 'shortcut' and thought I was going to die for a about a mile, I learned a great deal about riding off pavement.
Let's start with a sample day of riding in the San Juans. This was my first day in the mountains on the DR.
Starting out from Lake San Cristobal towards Cinnamon Pass and Silverton:
I picked up a friend in Silverton and took her on her very first ever motorcycle ride from Silverton to Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway. She paid me one of the nicest compliments I have received in a long time when she said the only reason she would ride a motorcycle was because she knew I would be careful and not let anything happen to her. Trust is a wonderful thing to give and to receive.
The view looking down into Ouray - Switzerland of America
I dropped my wonderful friend off in Ouray, made plans to rejoin them in a week for the HardRock Endurance Run and headed out for Engineer Pass and the return trip to Lake City
This guy lost a wheel of his Tacoma and was blocking the trail. I had no useful tools or skills so I went for help.
Shortly after finding some Jeepers (sorry, DaimlerChrysler) to help the Tacoma guy I ran across this dude riding an off-road unicycle at 12,500 feet. He was also in town for the HardRock Hundred. Remember the MADMEN in the title???
My homage to Tourmeister:
This was a very cool house on the way down from Engineer to Lake City. There is actually a way to the house by car but you wouldn't see it if you didn't look (and perhaps trespass a little bit) very carefully...
One VERY happy DR rider relaxing in Ouray
Because he knows these are waiting for him in a beautiful room in an inspiring locale at the end of a good, exhausting day of motorcycle riding
The next several days were pretty much the same. Wake up early, ride a great motorcycle on dirt roads in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I saw this, uh, vehicle in several places before we captured a picture of it. I would have loved to have talked to this guy. Add him to the MADMEN. I doubt he was there for the race but I think he probably deserves the moniker just the same.
Weller finally made it to our destination.
It was a fantastic trip. I rode almost a thousand miles of dirt and 1,500 total. I only dropped the bike once after The Parking Lot Incident. The second time was user error going up a Engineer over a series of rock steps with a stream running down them. I was timid on the throttle, lost momentum with feet dangling in the air and tipped over with no damage to me or the bike. Despite several hairy moments, particularly when I accidentally took a trail I thought was a 'shortcut' and thought I was going to die for a about a mile, I learned a great deal about riding off pavement.
DaveC
0
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- Sep 29, 2004
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- David
- Last Name
- Carter
I think this ride report would and could have been a lot better...........................................
if I was in it!
Great shots, camera? Timer shot on the stream crossing?
if I was in it!
Great shots, camera? Timer shot on the stream crossing?