Colorado Bound now with Pics
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bikemikewcr
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Day 7 - The biker gang visits Leo's mom
Today started after a great nights sleep of mountain fresh air, great food and even better company. After a nice home cooked breakfast we started to get our gear together so that we could pack the bikes and get some miles under us. When we went outside we noticed lots of frost all over the bikes so you know it got nice and cold last night. There are a few pics below of the frost on my trusty stead. As we were leaving I just had to stop and take a picture of my ride with Trout Lake and the mountains in the background. Waking up to this view was amazing and I wanted to take part of it back with me. From here we were on our way to Montrose to visit Leo's mom in her assisted care home. She lives in a regular house in the complex that is across from what she calls the big house. This is were all of the meals are served. When she told us that we were going to the big house for lunch I told here that I made my self a promise to stay out of the big house on this trip but I am not quite sure that she got it. Well at lunch she tells us a story of when she was younger and was dancing on a piano after drinking 1/2 a bottle of bourbon. We all had a good laugh at that one. When we were leaving she asked us to make some nice noise with our bikes when going down the streets playing the vtwin pipes. You see, she had told all of her friends that her son was coming by with a biker gang to visit her and wanted to make sure that they all knew we were there. Some gang, A general manager for a hotel, two executive chefs and and F&B quality control manager. It was more like the mid life crisis crew. From here we made our way to Salida, CO where we spent the night. We found a nice little restaurant near the river and had an early dinner and back to the hotel. We picked up some coldies on the way back so that we could celebrate David's birthday as it was the next day but we would not all be together tomorrow night as David and Leo were heading back to Vegas and Christian and I would be making the trek back to the east. We parked ourselves at a picnic table near the river at the hotel and enjoyed some nice cold ones. Today we rode 255 miles and the total for the trip so far is 3,067 miles.
Today started after a great nights sleep of mountain fresh air, great food and even better company. After a nice home cooked breakfast we started to get our gear together so that we could pack the bikes and get some miles under us. When we went outside we noticed lots of frost all over the bikes so you know it got nice and cold last night. There are a few pics below of the frost on my trusty stead. As we were leaving I just had to stop and take a picture of my ride with Trout Lake and the mountains in the background. Waking up to this view was amazing and I wanted to take part of it back with me. From here we were on our way to Montrose to visit Leo's mom in her assisted care home. She lives in a regular house in the complex that is across from what she calls the big house. This is were all of the meals are served. When she told us that we were going to the big house for lunch I told here that I made my self a promise to stay out of the big house on this trip but I am not quite sure that she got it. Well at lunch she tells us a story of when she was younger and was dancing on a piano after drinking 1/2 a bottle of bourbon. We all had a good laugh at that one. When we were leaving she asked us to make some nice noise with our bikes when going down the streets playing the vtwin pipes. You see, she had told all of her friends that her son was coming by with a biker gang to visit her and wanted to make sure that they all knew we were there. Some gang, A general manager for a hotel, two executive chefs and and F&B quality control manager. It was more like the mid life crisis crew. From here we made our way to Salida, CO where we spent the night. We found a nice little restaurant near the river and had an early dinner and back to the hotel. We picked up some coldies on the way back so that we could celebrate David's birthday as it was the next day but we would not all be together tomorrow night as David and Leo were heading back to Vegas and Christian and I would be making the trek back to the east. We parked ourselves at a picnic table near the river at the hotel and enjoyed some nice cold ones. Today we rode 255 miles and the total for the trip so far is 3,067 miles.
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bikemikewcr
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bikemikewcr
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Thanks SixPak, I wish I could have had time for more stops to take some more thought out pictures but I am glad that I got what I did.
bikemikewcr
Active Member
Day 8 - The day of high altitude
Today started off with the sun out in full force again and the temps in the 70's. After packing the bikes and grabbing some breakfast we discussed where we would part ways. We decided that the four of us would ride together to the summit of Independence Pass. From there David and Leo would continue down the other side of the mountain and head out through Aspen to catch the interstate west to Utah and Christian and I would go back down the way we came up and work our way to Loveland Pass and get east of Denver and find a place to stay for the night. As we started making our way towards 82 the temps started dropping and for good reason, we were climbing in elevation. After we passed Twin Lakes we came up to the only spot where they were doing road construction to repair the damage from the winter but the good thing is we only had to wait for about 5 minutes and we were back on our way. As we climbed up in altitude the sights were just incredible and around every bend they just got better. We did not stop on the way up for any pictures as we were all excited to get to the summit and be at 12,095 foot above sea level. I must say it was pretty incredible being up this high. There was a scary moment for me as I was leading our group of four up to the summit and one of the last turns is a tight left hand turn that has a sign posted for 10mph and as we were just getting into the turn a semi was coming the other way and taking up 1/2 of our lane as well and there was nothing on the right except for at least a 1,000 foot drop. After we rounded that tight turn we made our way up the the summit where the sign and restrooms are. When we got there we lined ourselves and the bikes up in front of the sign for the obligatory photo. We spent about 30 minutes up here and walked out to the overlook area and took some more pictures. We also managed to pelt David with some snowballs for his birthday as it was today. After we said our goodbyes Christian and i made our way back down the mountain and stopped to take some pictures. When we got back down to Twin Lakes we thought it would be a good idea to stop for a snack and a bottle of water as both of us were feeling a bit short of breath and sluggish and wanted to avoid any possibility of altitude sickness. We got to talking to a local woman who owned a gift shop there and she asked where we were heading and when we told her that we were on our way to Loveland Pass she told us that a fuel tanker had overturned on the pass in the morning but that it should be open by now. After this we were back on our way and feeling better and could not wait to get to Loveland Pass for some more fantastic views. Well as we were approaching the turn off for Loveland Pass we were disappointed that it was still closed from the earlier incident. This means that we need to stay on the slab and head past towards Denver. This also turned out to be a real headache as they had the two left lanes closed and we sat in bumper to bumper traffic for 45 minutes. After we passed through the construction zone we made our way to Limon, CO and decided to crash for the night. Today we saw some great views and travelled 302 miles bringing my total to 3,368 miles and 16 states. While we had dinner we discussed our plans for getting home and where we should stop for the night tomorrow. We settled on pushing forward for a long day tomorrow and make it to St. Louis and visit with Christians mom for the night. This would also get us both back home one day earlier and allow a days rest before returning to work on Monday.
Today started off with the sun out in full force again and the temps in the 70's. After packing the bikes and grabbing some breakfast we discussed where we would part ways. We decided that the four of us would ride together to the summit of Independence Pass. From there David and Leo would continue down the other side of the mountain and head out through Aspen to catch the interstate west to Utah and Christian and I would go back down the way we came up and work our way to Loveland Pass and get east of Denver and find a place to stay for the night. As we started making our way towards 82 the temps started dropping and for good reason, we were climbing in elevation. After we passed Twin Lakes we came up to the only spot where they were doing road construction to repair the damage from the winter but the good thing is we only had to wait for about 5 minutes and we were back on our way. As we climbed up in altitude the sights were just incredible and around every bend they just got better. We did not stop on the way up for any pictures as we were all excited to get to the summit and be at 12,095 foot above sea level. I must say it was pretty incredible being up this high. There was a scary moment for me as I was leading our group of four up to the summit and one of the last turns is a tight left hand turn that has a sign posted for 10mph and as we were just getting into the turn a semi was coming the other way and taking up 1/2 of our lane as well and there was nothing on the right except for at least a 1,000 foot drop. After we rounded that tight turn we made our way up the the summit where the sign and restrooms are. When we got there we lined ourselves and the bikes up in front of the sign for the obligatory photo. We spent about 30 minutes up here and walked out to the overlook area and took some more pictures. We also managed to pelt David with some snowballs for his birthday as it was today. After we said our goodbyes Christian and i made our way back down the mountain and stopped to take some pictures. When we got back down to Twin Lakes we thought it would be a good idea to stop for a snack and a bottle of water as both of us were feeling a bit short of breath and sluggish and wanted to avoid any possibility of altitude sickness. We got to talking to a local woman who owned a gift shop there and she asked where we were heading and when we told her that we were on our way to Loveland Pass she told us that a fuel tanker had overturned on the pass in the morning but that it should be open by now. After this we were back on our way and feeling better and could not wait to get to Loveland Pass for some more fantastic views. Well as we were approaching the turn off for Loveland Pass we were disappointed that it was still closed from the earlier incident. This means that we need to stay on the slab and head past towards Denver. This also turned out to be a real headache as they had the two left lanes closed and we sat in bumper to bumper traffic for 45 minutes. After we passed through the construction zone we made our way to Limon, CO and decided to crash for the night. Today we saw some great views and travelled 302 miles bringing my total to 3,368 miles and 16 states. While we had dinner we discussed our plans for getting home and where we should stop for the night tomorrow. We settled on pushing forward for a long day tomorrow and make it to St. Louis and visit with Christians mom for the night. This would also get us both back home one day earlier and allow a days rest before returning to work on Monday.
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bikemikewcr
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bikemikewcr
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Day 9 - A long boaring ride
Day nine started off with us leaving Limon, CO with a goal of reaching St. Louis by the end of the day. This day was filled with wind and sun. The ride was long and hot but needed as this would get us each home a day earlier. The wind was bad enough that we had to ride with the bikes leaned over to the right for most of the day just in order to go straight. Today we managed to get a little over 800 miles in along with 3 more states (Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois)and made it to Christian's mothers house where she had some nice cold refreshments waiting for us and a fantastic meal to go along with those coldies. Thanks again for your hospitality.
Sorry, no pics from today.
The total for states is now at 19 and the mileage is 4,143
Day nine started off with us leaving Limon, CO with a goal of reaching St. Louis by the end of the day. This day was filled with wind and sun. The ride was long and hot but needed as this would get us each home a day earlier. The wind was bad enough that we had to ride with the bikes leaned over to the right for most of the day just in order to go straight. Today we managed to get a little over 800 miles in along with 3 more states (Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois)and made it to Christian's mothers house where she had some nice cold refreshments waiting for us and a fantastic meal to go along with those coldies. Thanks again for your hospitality.
Sorry, no pics from today.
The total for states is now at 19 and the mileage is 4,143