I'm just here for the mountains - the Great Divide Ride 2017

[Tourmeister]

I tried it before and didnt work. I used the below but with brackets.
{img}http://imgur.com/EzDQ7oD{/img}

You have to link directly to an image file. That link does not go directly to a file. If it did, there should be a file name that ends with something like .jpg, .gif, .bmp, etc,... Like this,

(img)http://i.imgur.com/EzDQ7oD.jpg(/img)

Which, when you replace the ( ) with [ ], gives this,

Which is freaking huge...

The problems with imgur is that they don't want you linking to the image without the viewer actually going to their site. So they try to hide the link to the actual image file. Sites like SmugMug will provide you the BBCODE needed to display the images in the body of your posts. They also allow for you to use different sizes.

 

[AdamM]

All great advice Tourmaster and by the end if the trip I was a totally different rider. I was nervous on dirt and didn't understand the importance of standing and counterbalance. Rocks were much easier to ride over going faster and standing up. You made very good points and I was curious above standing and water crossings so thank you. I am in decent shape and didn't feel tired or fatigued.

Collin

I'll vouch for that!
Colin - you improved DRASTICALLY over even the first few days! By the end, you were definitely much more confident/in control - and I expect you'll continue to get even better.

...now about that tire selection for mud/wet conditions.....

 

[Tourmeister]

All great advice Tourmaster and by the end if the trip I was a totally different rider. I was nervous on dirt and didn't understand the importance of standing and counterbalance. Rocks were much easier to ride over going faster and standing up. You made very good points and I was curious above standing and water crossings so thank you. I am in decent shape and didn't feel tired or fatigued.

Collin

All lessons learned by me via the school of hard knocks and from the advice of more experienced riders. I have had numerous long trips where my riding improved dramatically from the start to the end of trip as I got useful advice and gained more confidence. I probably should have started my dirt riding career on something other than an 02 R1150GS I have a 530 KTM that is FAR lighter and easier to handle, but now that I have become a better rider, I find myself enjoying the more challenging stuff (to a point) on my current 07 R1200 GS. It is also fun since I can take one of my kids with me so long as we stay sane on what we ride Getting that lighter bike though was a BIG help in me learning better skills and gaining more confidence, which all translated into me riding the GS more proficiently!

 

[Snuggs0802]

Does anyone have any track files of the route ridden?

Rich, were the rocky climbs in the forest between Cuba and Abiquiu NM?
Just curious about where you found challenges along the route, and if it was the same spots where I had fun as well on my TRIP.

 

[collin228]

I'll vouch for that!
Colin - you improved DRASTICALLY over even the first few days! By the end, you were definitely much more confident/in control - and I expect you'll continue to get even better.

...now about that tire selection for mud/wet conditions.....

Thanks Adam. Glad you were able to make this last minute trip. Hard to prepare for that mountain pass....

Did you and Curtis make it to Canada?

Collin

 

[tres_nombres]

Thanks for the help up that hill Retiredtosoon. That's me carrying the pannier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tres_nombres]

Does anyone have any track files of the route ridden?



Rich, were the rocky climbs in the forest between Cuba and Abiquiu NM?

Just curious about where you found challenges along the route, and if it was the same spots where I had fun as well on my TRIP.

Yes that is where stony hill was and the class 2 downhill section of the ride.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AdamM]

Thanks Adam. Glad you were able to make this last minute trip. Hard to prepare for that mountain pass....

Did you and Curtis make it to Canada?

Collin

Hey Colin,

Of our original 8 - Curtis and I were the only 2 to make it to Steamboat for the final group dinner.
Then next day, we had breakfast at a nice little cafe, then parted ways.

Curtis continued on solo toward Banf-stopping to talk to interesting people and wild camping his way though Wyoming and Montana. Along the way, he met up with young guy from another CDR riding group who'd lost his companions along the way.
Close to the border, he had a minor mishap; and the bike landed on his foot breaking a bone at the base of his toe. He is now casually making his way back to Houston, with crutches now strapped to the side of his bike

I had to head back to Katy for work the next week; so took off by road south through the mountains to Trinidad; then home via Amarillo. 36 hours - the last thru 107 deg heat! It was rough. !

 

[miltonotto]

Rich, were the rocky climbs in the forest between Cuba and Abiquiu NM?
Just curious about where you found challenges along the route, and if it was the same spots where I had fun as well on my TRIP.

Yes, the same route. The rough stuff on Forest Rd 144. Nice trip by the way.

 

[Trail Boss]

It was the afternoon of day 2 and we were finally riding in actual rocks and stuff. Cool. It wasn't long afterwards that we arrived at a steep, rocky, class 3 climb. Three riders on big adventure bikes were struggling to get all three bikes to the top of the climb. In a sympathy move as he rode by, Milton dropped his bike too.

Bob and I rode our 500s to the top and then walked back down to assist everyone else. With some huffing and puffing (did you know there is noticeably less oxygen at 9000 feet than at sea level?) we finally got everyone to the top of the hill.

Bob and I then had a discussion about what to do next. It was getting late in the day and we were unsure of how hard the next section of dirt was. If it was as difficult as the last section we were going to end up spending the night on the mountain, which was a scenario that neither of us thought would be fun or interesting. Should we go for it? Or, considering the lateness of the hour, turn back and ride pavement the remainder of the way.

Then, a guy on a 4-wheeler rode up and told us that the hard stuff ended about a mile ahead. Excellent news. We decided to proceed on.

We sent the big bikes and Milton on ahead, with Bob and I bringing up the rear.

A short distance later, I rounded a curve, started another steep rocky climb - though not as difficult as the first one - and saw a pannier box in the road. But no motorcycle. Why was a pannier box sitting in the road? Where was the motorcycle it belonged to? Did the owner know he was missing a box?

I rode to the box and then spotted Jesus and his motorcycle off the side of the road. He had hit a rock, deflected off the road, and was stuck.

The slope was too steep and the bike too heavy for Jesus to pull the bike up and back onto the road by himself. Bob parked his bike and walked back to us and between the three of us we quickly got the big beast back on the road.

After a few more bobbles, Jesus was on his way with no other issues the remainder of this day's ride.

'Murica

The sun went away and we were still on the mountain. Finally, about 10 pm, we reached pavement at Abuquiu, NM. After brief stop at a closed convenience store to put on another layer, we rode 30 or so minutes of pavement to our hotel in Espanola, NM, arriving about 10:30 pm. I was tired - two long days and not enough sleep were catching up with me.

 

[Trail Boss]

Bob reviews day 2 (click on the picture)

Dan reviews day 2 (click on the picture)

 

[Tourmeister]

Bob parked his bike and walked back to us and between the three of us we quickly got the big Yamaha back on the road.

You must still be tired from the trip...

 

[Trail Boss]

You must still be tired from the trip...

Well, darn it.

Thanks for catching that.

 

[Trail Boss]

Today, day 3, we are leaving New Mexico behind and climbing the big mountains of Colorado.

Despite our late arrival the evening before, we are up relatively early, packing the bikes and getting ready to ride. The weather is perfect and the forecast for the day and the remainder of the week is also perfect. Lows in the 40s and 50s, highs in the 70s and 80s, and sunshine all day long. We couldn't ask for better weather.

We still haven't encountered any snow. Despite heavy snows in the Rocky Mountains over the winter, and a strong snow storm just two weeks before your trip, there was no snow anywhere on the routes we had ridden so far. Still, I had been warned multiple times prior to the trip that we would likely have to reroute around the high passes due to snow. Today's route climbs Indiana Pass, the highest pass on the entire CDR, so I was expecting for the pass to be closed.

Such was not the case. There was no snow anywhere on the ride below 10,000 feet, and all the roads and passes above 10,000 feet were open.

In good spirits, we backtracked from Espanola to Abiquiu, and then headed east and north on the designated route.

Bob's happy dance (click on the picture)

Rich's happy dance (click on the picture)

Leaving Abiquiu we began climbing and the views of the national forest were quite nice.

Shortly after hitting the first dirt of the day, we encountered the day's first obstacle - fire. There was a significant fire in the forest and a large portion of the forest was closed, including the road we wanted to ride. Time to reroute.

After examining the map at length, we finally ended up bypassing the fire via pavement to Chama, NM. By the time we arrived, it was early afternoon (2 pm) so we elected to have lunch at El Bruno's restaurante y cantina, a joint recommended on the bicycling maps of the CDR. The food was quite good.

After our fine meal, we had a decision to make. Should we ride dirt with the high probability of repeating days 1 and 2 - i.e. making slow progress and getting in after dark - or stick with pavement and arrive considerably earlier. The lateness of the hour and the accumulated fatigue resulted in us choosing to stick with the pavement.

For the past couple of days, as I was riding along, I was thinking about the ramifications of being in Colorado on the evening of the third day. I even asked my riding buddies what they thought about being in Colorado. (Click on the pictures)

You shouldn't enter the state without taking a photo of you and your bike at the border.

The view from the top of Wolf Creek Pass

 

[tricepilot]

The video segments are hilarious!

 

[Vinny]

Great to report .love the video additions. Jesus, go faster, that 1190 can take it. Thanks for posting. CO is the best state and region in the world IMHO.
Sorry I missed it.
Richard, good job getting into a 500. Perfect for your travels.

 

[miltonotto]

After examining the map at length, we finally ended up bypassing the fire via pavement to Chama, NM. By the time we arrived, it was early afternoon (2 pm) so we elected to have lunch at El Bruno's restaurante y cantina, a joint recommended on the bicycling maps of the CDR. The food was quite good.

]

For the record, El Bruno's was in Cuba, where I met Richard, Bob, & Jon on Day 2

10 miles out of Cuba we turned off paved State Hwy 126
onto Santa Fe National Forest Road 70.
A perfectly delightful road twisting thru thick stands of fir, pine and aspen.

Soon we hit the harder stuff

Everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough

I fell 3 more times after the hill. Twice in the dark.

Finally, about 10 pm, we reached pavement at Abuquiu, NM.

Very kool shot

 

[miltonotto]

Day 3. Quick breakfast in Abiquiu

Pondering KTM's recommended oil change

Looking down on Canon Plaza, NM. Day3

 

[Trail Boss]

Richard, good job getting into a 500. Perfect for your travels.

Thanks Vinny. I very much enjoyed the 500 during this trip.

 

[Trail Boss]

We spent the night of day 3 in Del Norte, CO at the Windsor Hotel, the best hotel of the trip.

The owners have spent $3 million or so restoring and upgrading the place and it shows. The rooms were very nice and the on-site restaurant was both good and fancy. Elk steaks anyone? I recommend it the next time you need a place to stay in Del Norte.

After getting checked in and cleaned up, I joined my support crew (wife, daughter, grandson) at a local pizza & beer brew pub in Del Norte. Each day, as I was riding my motorcycle, these three were driving our support vehicle and enjoying tourist stuff along the way.

Mark reviews the day (click on the picture to see the video)

Adam nearly died but was saved at the last minute (click on the picture to see the video)

John reviews the day (click on the picture to see the video)

Curtis loves water crossings (click on the picture to see the video)

Uh oh, Milton's getting sick (click on the picture to see the video)

Mark enjoying the morning sun, day 4.

Ready to ride

 

[Trail Boss]

The riding on day 4 was all easy class 1. We spent the morning riding the high plains and then the afternoon in the mountains, crossing Marshall Pass at 10,842 feet in the process.

Colorado (and Northern New Mexico) has a billion trees. To be fair, I didn't count them all, but there are a heck of a lot of them.

Look, snow! After four days and 800 miles, we finally see snow.

Okay, that's not exactly accurate. It's just that before leaving on this trip I had been quite concerned that Colorado would be snowed in and that we would not be able to get over any of the passes. The reality turned out to be very different - there was a disappointing lack of snow. I think the lesson here is that you never know what the conditions might be.

Marshall Pass

This is the actual pass - not much to look at is it?

After crossing Marshall Pass and beginning our descent, the views were wonderful.

I got a pinch flat on my front tire a short time later. I rolled over a sharp edged rock and immediately thought to myself, "I'll bet I'm going to get a flat from that" and, sure enough, a few minutes later my tire was flat. After a relatively quick repair, we were on our way again.

It was a short day - for us. Today's route was about 170 miles and we actually arrived at our destination in Salida, CO in mid-afternoon. Giving us enough time to explore downtown Salida and enjoy a meal and a cold beverage at a well-regarded local establishment.

And with that, my riding ended. I elected to spend the fifth and final day doing tourist stuff with my family (wife, daughter, grandson). We drove over Hoosier Pass, played in the snow, visited Breckenridge, saw a moose, and took a Jeep tour.

Breckenridge as seen from the top of one of the ski slopes

At the end of day 5 we enjoyed a group dinner at the Mahogany Ridge brewery & grill. Out of the original 41 riders who started this trip in Silver City, NM five days earlier, 24 attended our celebration meal.

Elk steak

 

[Trail Boss]

Final thoughts

I realize that the CDR is on a lot of riders' bucket list. And I wouldn't try to persuade anyone from doing it. However, speaking just for myself - and this is just one man's opinion - I wouldn't do it again. The riding was too easy for my tastes. A 1000 miles of class 1 gravel roads is boring to me - I definitely prefer class 2 and class 3 riding. The scenery is nice but didn't make up for all the class 1 riding. Again, that's just my take on things. As the saying goes, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Cheers until next time.

 

[copb8]

Ready to ride

I see James has upgraded his riding attire.

 

[tricepilot]

James was a true pleasure to be around and made the whole experience fun!

 

[tricepilot]

Once again, Rich's video clips are awesome