We had some fun in Colorado...
Starting with this pink tutu...
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More to come...
Well with a title like that...I'm in.
Woohoo! I've been waiting for this to start!!
HANG ON! Wait a minute now, the popcorn is almost done...gotta have some popcorn for this ballerina dance. :D
This oughta be interestin'...
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Glenn, you really know how to pick titles for your ride reports. I can't wait to find out how you came up with this one.
Doing some off road riding in Colorado is one of the things on my bucket list so I'm really looking forward to this report. Maybe it will help motivate me to replace my old KLR with something more suitable for this kind of riding.
Rather than make a separate thread, I'll piggyback my photos/commentary here.
kdtrull, Nice Goat and myself loaded and leaving Vinemont Friday morning...
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The trip out was fairly unremarkable, but we did stop in famed Dodge City for a short walk-around...
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Somewhere in western Kansas...almost as if a gleaming Heavenly light was being cast upon our destination.
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And then...finally!
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We stopped short of our final destination for a warm up ride on Phantom Canyon and Shelf Rd. north of Canon City, which are part of the Gold Belt Scenic Byway.
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@Brian A @Mulley @Fencejumper09 Brian, Mulley and David...
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The first full day of riding out of Taylor Park had Ken, Glenn and I riding to Mirror Lake and Tincup Pass.
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This was my first time at this altitude (approx. 10k at the lake) and I was winded just walking around taking photos.
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Glenn took a hard line about 2/3rds up Tincup Pass and went down in the rocks. We got the bike upright and had to take a breather. Ken's topo GPS showed that the trail got much steeper just ahead...we were all sucking wind, and not wanting to bust ourselves or the bikes on our first day we decided to head back down.
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We also rode part of Slaughterhouse Gulch and found this old cabin...
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Our accommodations at Holt's Ranch in Taylor Park got botched by the management and they shorted us one cabin. Glenn and Ken stayed in a tent the first night and I slept (well...tried to) on a fold-out cot that would probably be deemed in violation of the Geneva Convention if employed by our Military for use by POW's, so we decided to head for Gunnison, CO and find a hotel room. As soon as we unloaded our gear, we went in search of hydration...
This place had some
awesome pizza and brew!
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Tuesday was the first day of our 3 day loop where we'd be hauling our gear with us and staying in hotels along the route.
Final prepping in Gunnison before heading out...
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Our first section was part of the Colorado Back Country Discovery Route (COBDR)...awesome trails!
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Then we arrived at our destination for the evening...the Silver Spur motel in Lake City. Ken, Glenn and I (Strike Force Bravo) arrived about an hour before the others (Brian, David, Mulley, Jeff, Dan and Steve...Alpha Team). We passed the time by downing some grub and brews at the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill about a block away (no pics...but a phenomenal burger).
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Day two promised us even better views and terrain than the day before.
First, we tackled Engineer Pass...
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Then we headed down and into Animas Forks...
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This is where we crossed paths with the Alpha Team by chance...
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While riding around the Animas area, I had a couple of musings waft through my brain...
While feeling "Adventurey" on my dirt bike with all my cool gear, I realized that all the structures were built by men and women that had to haul everything they needed (tools, materials, food, clothing, etc.) along the same trails 140+ years ago via horse-drawn wagons, compared to my lightweight fuel-injected machine with 10" of suspension travel...and they didn't have a climate-controlled motel room with internet and hot water waiting for them at the end of the day. It definitely put things into perspective for me and gave me a great sense of respect and admiration for the people who forged and pioneered this nation.
At the other end of the spectrum...
Animas Forks is the "hub" for numerous trails that lead to several of the popular mountain passes...it was very busy with people on/in rented atv's, side-by-sides and Jeeps. Some of the trails are very steep with loose, rocky terrain and precarious drop-offs (often hundreds of feet down) looming just inches away. With the only apparent requirement to rent being "Do you currently have a pulse?" (and maybe a Driver License for the Jeeps), I was shocked that we didn't see any kind of crashes, roll overs, carnage, etc....especially knowing that some of these people have probably never driven off-road before in their lives. I can't go a day at work without dealing with someone that couldn't avoid crashing on a straight, flat piece of smooth interstate six lanes wide. My faith in humankind was restored (at least until I go back to work Wednesday...)
From Animas we took Mineral Creek Trail (no pics...it was a challenging, rocky downhill descent for miles) to the Million Dollar Hwy. and ascended Ophir Pass.
Ophir seemed more like a huge pile of loose rocks than an actual mountain.
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We ran into the Alpha Team at our gas stop in Telluride and teamed up to take the trip up and over Imogene Pass. The weather was becoming ominous (the A Team had just endured a heavy rain coming down Black Bear Pass) and we started up Imogene in a drizzle. The A Team scorched their way up the mountain as we took more of a "plodding" pace. The rain became heavier and the mud and rocks became slicker as we ascended. Just past the old mine approx. 2/3rds of the way up, we encountered a steep, loose, rocky section with a switchback thrown in at the top for extra measure.
We had a bike go down pretty hard, and with the altitude and conditions we were all three huffing and puffing pretty hard once we got the bike upright and turned around. We conferred amongst our trio and decided to turn around and call it a day. I discovered that going down a muddy, slick, narrow, rocky mountain trail isn't really much easier than trying to go up.
At the top of the section in question...
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We later found out that there was a much easier line around the section that torpedoed us. >:(
We backtracked and did a fun, 50 mile section of pavement between Telluride and Ouray that allowed us to dry out our riding gear.
Our destination for that night was Twin Peaks Lodge in Ouray. My view out the front door the next morning...
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Day three...
We left Ouray and took the Million Dollar Hwy. through Silverton back to Animas.
Stopped for construction south of Ouray...
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From Animas we made it up and over Cinnamon Pass...
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We stopped for lunch in Lake City, then wound our way back to Gunnison.
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That led us to Friday and (unfortunately) the trip home.
There's some beautiful scenery between Salida and Canon City...
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We ran into some heavy storms on the stretch from Pueblo to Trinidad. Waiting out a hailstorm under I-25 north of Trinidad...
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To give some backstory...
I sold my Husaberg a few months ago and picked up the KTM 450 I eventually took specifically for this trip. The 'Berg was an excellent bike, but it has a plastic subframe, no provision to mount a rear rack, and a small 2.2g tank (and the options of adding larger fuel capacity are scarce ). As a longer-range dual sport, I thought it's capability was limited. I bought the KTM in Memphis in May with the intent of prepping it for the trip.
As soon as I got it home, I found coolant mixed with the oil in the crankcase. I replaced the waterpump seal with the hope that it was an easy fix...nope. I then surmised that it was a bad head gasket and possibly a warped head. I dropped the bike of at Max Motorsports for then to take a look-see. Due to their workload, it took a while before they could crack it open. Turned out that the "top end job" done by the previous owner consisted merely of tossing in a new piston and valves. Max sent the head out to have the valve seats cut and the cylinder off for honing and replating. The coolant issue turned out to be a bad waterpump shaft, which was replaced also. As the countdown to the trip turned from weeks into days with still no bike, I really began to sweat it...I was seriously worried that I might not make the trip (like "losing sleep" worried). I even began exploring other options...rent a bike? Buy another bike and sell it when I get back?
With time running out, I got the call on Tuesday morning (three days before trip departure!) that the bike was ready to be picked up. What they didn't realize was that I was almost there already, ready to lay down a mushroom cloud...
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I needed to do a shake down ride to make sure it ran correctly and to get some break-in miles on it so I could do an oil change. I also had a ton of farkling I needed to do. I did approx. 110 miles on Wednesday, changed the oil, and got everything adjusted and installed.
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I was abit miffed with the guys at Max leading up to the ride, but the bike ran performed flawlessly over the 5 days/470 miles of riding and I couldn't be happier with it.
Nice pictures. That area is absolutely amazing. If you haven't been you don't realize how far you can go on mostly dirt. I remember one day we did 156 miles when we were staying near Salida. I think about 20 of it was paved. We were just having fun cruising around the mountains. Tin Cup pass really isn't that bad. There's a restaurant in Tin Cup that has excellent pie called Frenchies.
Quote from: griff on July 31, 2018, 09:09:57 AM
Nice pictures. That area is absolutely amazing. If you haven't been you don't realize how far you can go on mostly dirt. I remember one day we did 156 miles when we were staying near Salida. I think about 20 of it was paved. We were just having fun cruising around the mountains. Tin Cup pass really isn't that bad. There's a restaurant in Tin Cup that has excellent pie called Frenchies.
We had Frenchy's burgers and pie Friday! Tincup Pie was epic!!!
Looks like a great trip ! I have been going to CO. (bro. still lives there) since '85 kayaking, camping, skiing but have never dirt biked it. The altitude seems to get to me more and more though.
Quote from: Johnny Tobyone on July 31, 2018, 11:18:13 AM
The altitude seems to get to me more and more though.
When I hiked back to my bike at the top of the section on Imogene, a guy in a Jeep that had been spectating our bike wrangling skills said "So you're a flatlander too, huh?"
"How
{huff} did
{pant} you
{gasp} know?"
Man it looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I could actually do these trails on my big GS (just not at your pace). I gotta make it out there sometime.
Thursday, July 19th
- Ken stayed at my house.
- We tried and failed to load three bikes on a 5x10 trailer.
- I drank and got in the pool.
- Ken sat in a lounge chair and watched the stars.
Friday, July 20th
- Kevin met us at my house at 6am.
- I cooked eggs, bacon, and toast.
- We drove from Alabama to Stillwater, Oklahoma.
- Stopped at Lake Hill Motors in Corinth, MS. Nice, big dealer with lots of gear and a bike museum.
- Stopped at Honda of Russellville in Arkansas. Nice, big dealer with lots of bikes and gear.
- Ate lunch at CJ's Butcher Boys Burgers in Russellville (very good).
- It was 106 degrees at 2:00pm.
- Spent the night in a hotel (free, because I had some travel points).
- Ate dinner at Chipotle and did not die. Almost asphyxiated Ken with gas, however.
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Saturday, July 21st
- Breakfast in hotel
- Drove from Stillwater to Pueblo, Colorado
- Stopped at Mid America Powersports in Wichita, KS. Nice, big dealer with lots of gear and several sexy KTMs.
- Kevin and Ken bought some spare levers.
- Stopped at Wal-Mart in Wichita for supplies/food. Ate lunch at the onsite Subway.
- Wal-Mart version of Pepsid AC tastes like ass + toe jam.
- Counted 41,649 windmills before I stopped counting.
- Stopped at Dodge City, Kansas for gas, photographs, and ice cream (still hot outside).
- Stopped at border of Colorado for photos and sticker assault.
- Dinner at Burger King in Lamar, Colorado.
- Spent the night in downtown Pueblo where they had ample parking for trucks and trailers... not.
- Lots of golfers and geriatrics who did not approve of our joking and smelliness.
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Sunday, July 22nd
- Left hotel at 6:00am
- Breakfast at MacDonalds; gas and water at CircleK
- Saw a really hot, young backpacker chick
- Drove from Pueblo to Cañon City to meet Mulley, BrianA, and Fencejumper
- Unloaded bikes and rode part of the Gold Belt Scenic Byway (Phantom Canyon Road and Shelf Road)
- Returned to Cañon City and loaded the bikes up
- Ate lunch at Bunk House Burgers; upset lady behind counter by putting ketchup on my fries
- Stopped at Wal-Mart in Gunnison for last minute supplies/food
- Rain clouds were looming overhead
- Made it to Holt's Guest Ranch at Taylor Park, where we were told that we only had two cabins, not three....
- ... and they do not allow tents
- Owner-lady disappeared for 30 minutes while we stewed on that
- Survived hail storm
- Owner-lady reappeared and agreed to let us pitch a tent if we did not kill her for fucking up the cabins
- Even though we had reservations and had paid a deposit, it took us 2 hours to negotiate and check in
- Ken and I were a little chilly in the tent; Kevin had a bar in his back all night on a shitty cot
- Lots of gophers/prairie dogs making noises all night and running around our tent
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My photos are terrible and are requiring a little post processing. This is approximately the point we had to turn around on Tin Cup Pass. The big loose rocks were getting closer and closer together. Too much, too soon....fat-boy stroke gland expanding rapidly. Was happy to turn around and try another way.
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Mirror Lake:
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This thread rules.
If you guys are ever in this area again, Mt Princeton has a really nice ride up it other than where the huge wash going down the mountain is. That parts a bit sketchy as you can look down a couple of thousand feet off the side of the trail. The cool thing is on top of the mountain at the end of the trail is a public chalet that you can stay in for free. It actually was stocked with food and beer when we were up there. It's on the Nathrop/Buena Vista side of the mountain.
Make sure to click the little gear icon and select 1080p
https://vimeo.com/282583014
A = Approximate point of turn around on first shot at Tin Cup Pass.
B = Apparent increase in grade....couldn't tell you for sure because...well, we didn't actually see it! ::)
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Those are some nice photos!
Quote from: Nice Goat on July 31, 2018, 09:40:21 PM
Those are some nice photos!
+1!
What camera were you using? I might have to pick one up.
Quote from: KevinB on July 31, 2018, 10:05:57 PM
+1!
What camera were you using? I might have to pick one up.
It's the little green fujifilm, waterproof point and shoot cam. The raw files were terrible. A pass through Adobe Lightroom made them viewable. The newest Lightroom has a new magical "dehaze" slider....good stuff.
Quote from: kdtrull on July 31, 2018, 11:08:03 PM
It's the little green fujifilm, waterproof point and shoot cam. The raw files were terrible. A pass through Adobe Lightroom made them viewable. The newest Lightroom has a new magical "dehaze" slider....good stuff.
Just finished editing mine in Lightroom 4! I could have used that dehaze for sure! Hope to get my report started tonight! Just trying to think of a funny title!
Man, I'm jealous! :) Really enjoying the pictures and video. Thanks for posting!!
Just another photo dump. Sorry, I had no idea where I was most of the time....even in the face of two GPS units.....too much, too fast again. My biggest mistake was not being more organized. Sensory input overload.
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Beautiful How many GPS's can a DRZ hold ??
Great pictures and ride report. Thank y'all fer makin' me want to hit the road.
Quote from: Johnny Tobyone on August 02, 2018, 09:16:42 AM
Beautiful How many GPS's can a DRZ hold ??
Have you met Kyle? I'm pretty sure one time we camped he had 4 and he still got lost. Well, since he was leading a group technically not lost. He's got a GPS mounted for any detour.
Adding one more item to the bucket list! Thanks for the inspiration!
It was a truly fantastic trip. I plan to chime in some now and then once
@Fencejumper09 gets his report going. I rode with David and
@Mulley and our friend Dan (from Flagstaff, AZ) the most over the course of the week, And the four of us shared a cabin at Holt's Guest Ranch. Since I spent most of the week with David, I'll comment now and then when he gets his report going.
All that said, we saw all others fairly frequently and stayed with them at the hotels when we were on the three-day loop. Even ran into
@odell2115 and his crew at Animas Forks one day.
First time since riding Baja I did a video. I tried to cover all the bases when it comes to what we did and rode. Sadly, I got no video of the harder, rougher, rocky riding, like Napoleon Pass, Tincup Pass and a few other areas that were pretty darned rough. I guess I was too busy trying not to crash to have been bothered with mashing a few buttons to get video.
Personal amazing accomplishment, for me at least: I rode 6 days in Colorado, some of it pretty rough stuff, and never dropped the DR650 one time. That is a major victory for me. Last time we rode Colorado that was not the case. I left a headlight shroud and a right side cover somewhere on the trail in Colorado during the trip 3 years ago. Also have a dent on each side of the gas tank, compliments of falling over in rough rocky areas. Glad to say we played together much better this trip!
Anyway, here is the video. Hope you enjoy it and it, along with all the stuff in the Colorado Ride Reports, helps to motivate to plan yourself a trip to enjoy what we got to enjoy. Colorado offers something for EVERYONE, regardless of riding skills.
It's worth the time and money. Every hour and every dollar.
I already want to go back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wyB4rAkV74
Fantastic! It was such an amazing trip! To be able to check some boxes off my bucket list before I even turn 35 is amazing! I am really blessed! Hoping to pull the trigger on a new computer to help cut down on the video editing time in the next week!!
Monday, July 23rd
- Showers at Holts were okay except for the constantly changing water temperature
- Breakfast at Taylor Park Trading Post was AWESOME (omelette and waffle bar ... made to order!)
- Fueled up the bikes with ethanol-free
- Took off for Mirror Lake and Tincup Pass
- Mirror Lake was beautiful
- About a mile from Tincup Pass, I dropped my bike on the baby heads.
- We all agreed that Tincup was too much work.
- We were not acclimated to the altitude either.
- Turned around and headed for Union Park and Slaughterhouse Gulch
- Around lunchtime we headed back to Taylor Park Trading Post for lunch
- Decided that we could do better on accommodations and found a place in Gunnison
- Packed up and moved to Gunnison
- Washed clothes, trucks, and bikes and adjusted gear and luggage for the 3-day loop.
- Had dinner and brewskies at High Alpine Brewing Co. in Gunnison
Below was planned route, but we only completed about 40% of it.
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Tuesday, July 24th
- We all slept much better this time
- Typical budget-hotel breakfast
- Briefly visited two motorcycle dealers -- Gunnison Motorsports and Sun Sports Unlimited
- Fueled up the bikes and headed east on Hwy 50
- Followed the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route to Lake City
- Traveled through Razor Dome, Cochetopa Canyon, Powderhorn Wilderness, and Los Pinos Pass
- We went miles and miles across prairies and through forests without ever seeing another car ... it felt "free range"
- Saw many free range cows, beavers, and chipmunks also
- Arrived at Silver Spur Hotel in Lake City
- Silver Spur was very basic accommodations. Okay for me, but wouldn't put the family here.
- Showered and ate a late lunch/early dinner at Packers Saloon (very good)
- We needed to rejet Ken's DRZ but had problems with the carb disassembly
- Ended up fixing the carb through some good ol' fashioned redneck engineering
- Drank beer until about 10pm and went to bed
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??? This thread is like a baddassery overload! ???
Baddassery may not be a word, but it should be. ;D
Quote from: yamahamer on August 04, 2018, 09:13:56 AM
??? This thread is like a baddassery overload! ???
Baddassery may not be a word, but it should be. ;D
Oh it's a word.
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Awesome pics!
It was literally a sensory overload for me...like the first trip to Toys-R-Us for a 5 year old.
The value of having someone with the drive, conviction and aptitude to put together and execute a trip like this cannot be overstated.
From the last minute load-out/transport changes, to the places we laid our heads at night (some of which were quite nice), to the very paths upon which I nearly shat myself at times....
everything was pre-planned and/or handily adapted on-the-fly and I was able to knock the old noodle out of gear and just tag along....thanks to one solid dude.
You da man, Old Goat.
Gratitude.
Lotta' thanks to Kevin as well....for dragging my bike and half my junk across the country and back (and about a hundred miles out of your way). You got some points in the bank too, bro.
Video from Tuesday, July 24th
https://vimeo.com/283609170
Was power loss very noticeable or no big deal?
On any bike 250cc or smaller, you can notice a significant power loss. There just isn't enough air.
I would not try to ride the Colorado mountains above 9,000 feet with anything less than 350cc.
Whatever bike you take, make sure it is jetted for high altitude. If you have EFI, you are golden.
Quote from: Nice Goat on August 07, 2018, 02:47:24 PM
On any bike 250cc or smaller, you can notice a significant power loss. There just isn't enough air.
I would not try to ride the Colorado mountains above 9,000 feet with anything less than 350cc.
Whatever bike you take, make sure it is jetted for high altitude. If you have EFI, you are golden.
I've been there on three different bike trips. Everything loses power. This trip I was on a KTM 500 EXC which is fuel injected. There was some power loss but the bike makes so much power, it wasn't an issue. My first trip there was on a DRZ400S with an FCR pumper carb (from an 'E' model). It did perform ok above 12,000ft but the power loss was pretty bad. No wheelies at elevation. The next trip I took the same DRZ but with a big bore kit making a 440cc. This little bit of displacement made a huge difference. That bike ripped compared to a stock DRZ and was still pulling wheelies at 12,000ft.
One year I took my 2000 KTM 200 EXC 2-stroke for some single track use. It did just fine but it was hard to jet perfectly for varying elevation. At 9,000ft it would be a little lean but good at 10,500 or more. Those are picky engines for jetting anyway.
I've been with friends that had WR250R (street legal version) that had the piggy back fuel injection tuners. Those did really good until about 10,500ft. It was like the map didn't know what to do up there. The bike lost all power very abruptly. I tried riding one of them and it was pretty pathetic. I'm not exaggerating when I say it felt like it was down to less than 15HP but that bike isn't know for high horsepower at sea level.
Others on big bikes like a DR650 seem to do just fine up there. I rode a DR650 around Ecuador and although I think my rental didn't have a good tune to begin with I could still pull all of the mountains just fine.
The wife and kid made it up on a DR200 and a KX85 but there was power loss.
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Ha! Should have pointed out that my opinion on engine size was based on the rider being a full-grown, corn-fed adult male. If you only weigh 140 pounds, ride whatever you want!
The 690 did great! I thought it was anemic at first when it struggled to pull 3rd gear wheelies and then I remember I had a 16 tooth sprocket on the front!
Still can't believe I left the sumo gearing on for this trip!!
struggled to pull 3rd gear wheelies and then I remember I had a 16 tooth sprocket on the front! (That is awesome!)
@TWJohn It is a gift and a curse!
Wednesday, July 25th
- Another good night of sleep, even though the rooms were very basic at the Silver Spur
- Woke up about 6:00am
- I had dropped my helmet the day before and broken the Sena BT mount
- Fixed it with plastic epoxy & a zip tie
- Walked a couple blocks to Confluence Cafe and had an All American breakfast sandwich, coffee, and orange juice
- Kevin and Ken joined me a short while later
- After breakfast, we filled up on gas and headed out toward Engineer Pass
- Saw beavers and chipmunks galore!
- Ran into Mulley, Brian, Fencejumper, etc., at Animas Forks
- The pink tutu was passed to Ken because of his carburetor trouble the night before
- Rode down mineral creek, then Million Dollar Hwy to Ophir Pass
- Nearly lost my ass coming down Ophir because of the baby head boulders
- Stopped to get a photo at a creek crossing and was nearly eaten alive by biting flies
- Made it to Telluride just in time to avoid getting rain soaked
- Hung out at San Miguel Country Store waiting for the rain to subside
- Mulley & crew arrived from Black Bear Pass, soaked from the rain
- We took off toward Imogene then changed our minds and went around through Ridgeway
- Arrived at Twin Peaks Lodge and Hot Springs around 6:00pm
- Had a minor come-apart in the hotel lobby over the stupid $100 deposit
- Got to the room and realized that the deposit was probably for the hotel bathrobes
- Showered and downed some tequila, then we all walked down to Maggie's Kitchen for burgers
- Had the Green Chile Cheeseburger .... yum!
- Waitress was a young girl from Turkey who was extremely friendly and outgoing
- Got back to the hotel, drank beer, and told stories until about 10:00pm
- Passed out ... exhausted!
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Video from Wednesday, July 25th ... click 1080p!
https://vimeo.com/285411080
Great trips, great pics and great videos. I'm jealous. Riding off road Colorado is definitely on my buckets list.
I'm curious about how this trip came about. It looks like there were three separate groups form this forum out there at the same time. Was that planned or coincidence?
Many thanks to Ya'll for putting in the effort to produce this outstanding rider report. If this doesn't inspire more of us to head out there in the upcoming years I don't know what will.