Colorado 141 one day; Montrose to Greeley the next...

[Phil Tarman]

I'm not going to go into any great detail today (and you all know I love to go into great detail ) because I'm tired, but I had two days of great riding yesterday and today.

Yesterday was CO-141, for us a loop from Montrose to Whitewater to Gateway to Naturita to Ridgeway and back to Montrose. I was riding with an old Concours Owners Group buddy I've ridden with since 2005. Gateway has a resort and auto museum built by the Discovery Channel founder and we visited the Museum and ate at the resort. The ride has spectacular scenery. RedNigel described as being like something out of an old cowboy movie and that's a good decision. I got 68+mpg on that ride, which may be my highest ever with the NT.

I had planned to ride home from Montrose today by going through Paonia, Glenwood Springs, Toponas, Kremmling, Granby, and Rocky Mountain National Park. That ride would have taken about 8 hours and I had Homeowners Association Meeting I needed to be at by 6:30PM. So, naturally, I woke up at 4AM, after being up fairly late with my son trying to figure out an itinerary to get to Mt. Pleasant, TX, Labor Day weekend for my ex-brother-in-law's funeral. I couldn't go back to sleep, but decided to try till about 7:30 and then just ride through Denver (almost as much fun as RMNP) because it cut a couple hours out of the trip. I finally got out of Montrose at about 9, and got to Denver about 2. I was getting tired, hadn't had enough coffee and got gobsmacked by the sheer number of vehicles going 15mph over the speed limit. So I took a break at McDonalds, hopped back on the Interstate which now had 3PM traffic and found out that the ramp from I-76 to northbound I-25 was closed. That made me take a less desirable route home. I had ridden 270 miles when I gassed up and still had nearly a gallon. But I only got 63+mpg today.

I'll throw in a few more details and some pictures tomorrow. Now I'm going to go to bed!

 

[Woodaddict]

please don't tell us anymore details like......I left late because I left the key on again and drained the battery...……..

 

[Phil Tarman]

please don't tell us anymore details like......I left late because I left the key on again and drained the battery...……..

I told you! I've reprogrammed myself. I now take the key out of the ignition and put it in my pocket before I take my helmet off! Geesh!

 

[mikesim]

Mike

I told you! I've reprogrammed myself. I now take the key out of the ignition and put it in my pocket before I take my helmet off! Geesh!

Time will tell.... time will tell....



Mike

 

[Phil Tarman]

Mike

Time will tell.... time will tell....



Mike

Skeptic!

 

[mikesim]

Skeptic!

Realist!!

Us olde fartz are hard to reprogram.... <sigh>…..

Mike

 

[Phil Tarman]

More detail. And pictures!!

First of all, I need to backtrack. I said in my first post on this thread that I got 68mpg. Wrong. My best ever was 68mpg, but this ride only gets me 64mpg. Still pretty good considering that I rode a brisk pace all the way.

Steve Cook, my old COG buddy, and I met for breakfast at McDonalds in Montrose and visited for till 9:30 till we hit the road. We took US-50 north through Delta and then on towards Grand Junction before turning left onto CO-141 toward Gateway. The road starts climbing and turning as soon as you get on it and we were trapped behind a Dible Fuel Company gas truck heading all the way to Gateway. It probably took four miles to get around him. You climb through rocks on the left and a canyon on the right before entering a wider stretch with farms dotting the valley. The farther west you ride the higher the rocks get -- red rock walls covered with varnish. There were three short construction zones, but for the most part the road was brand-new asphalt and a dream to ride. There had been a sign at the beginning of 141 saying that due to construction loads wider than 10' were prohibited between 8AM-6PM Monday through Friday. 20 miles into the ride, on the downhill side of Unaweep Divide, there was a sign saying bicycles were prohibited during the same times. I think if I'd ridden a bicycle 20 miles up that road only to learn that I couldn't keep going, I would have been more than just a little bit p*ssed!

The closer you get to Gateway, following West Creek on its run toward the Delores River in Gateway, the canyon floor gets wider and lusher and homes start to get more expensive; no longer ranches but luxurious mountain retreats for rich folks. There are still older ranches here and there, but they're getting squeezed out by developers.

Just before arriving at Gateway, you catch a glimpse of the La Sal Mountains in Utah.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Gateway, as I mentioned, has been given life by the decision of the Discovery Channel's founder to build a huge ranch just east of town and then to develop a high-end resort/condo/Auto Museum there. The little store that was one of the only businesses the first time I rode through Gateway back in 2001 is gone, but there's a new convenience store with gas that's opened on the east end of town, the school's been rebuilt, and the church close to the highway looks as if it's gotten new life, too.

Steve and I stopped and toured the Auto Museum. There are 49 cars in the collection. I was surprised that there were only a few Fords -- two Model T's (an immaculate 1912, and a later model Model T Racer), and four Mustangs and one NASCAR race car. Most of the post-40's cars were GM models. The centerpiece of the collection is the only Olds F88, a Harley Earl designed concept car. After an hour in the museum, we ate at the Paradox Grill and then hit the road.

The pictures I've included are of (as best as I can remember): a late-30s Cord, a custom 1912 Model T, a Model T Racer, a Pierce-Arrow, a late-30s Chrysler Woody, a '57 DeSoto, a '56 DeSoto, an early '50s Cadillac, three shots of the Olds F88 concept car, a row of '50s classics, a Cunningham CR-2 coupe, a Chrysler 300, a ?? Corvette, and a view of the surroundings as we left the Paradox Grill.

I had heard a rumor that the Resort and the Museum were for sale and we asked the attendant who took our $10 apiece for admission about that. He said that they've all heard the rumor that the owner has everything for sale: his ranch and home, the resort, the museum, several thousand acres of land, and the 2nd home he's got up on top of one of the mesas to the west of the resort. The management hasn't said a word to the employees. My guess is that if whoever buys it doesn't keep the resort and the museum open, little ol' Gateway will slowly fade into oblivion, although there may have been enough 2nd and vacations homes built in the valley east of town to keep it going.

 

[Phil Tarman]

The Rest of the Ride Back to Montrose:

After eating, Steve and I were back on the road. The highway from here rides up the slow river grade cut through the canyon by the Dolores River. The Uncompahgre Plateau is to the east and the La Sal Mountains to the west in Utah. The canyon has red rock walls and swooping curves. There are stretches of open range, but we saw no cattle on the road. Traffic was light and we could enjoy the ride in a fast and relaxed fashion. Toward the southern end of the canyon the road begins to climb above the river and we passed the Hanging Flume, a wooden structure clinging to the east wall of the canyon above the river that gold miners had built in the 1800s. South of that 141 follows the San Miguel river after its confluence with the Dolores. You pass Uravan, an abandoned uranium mining site and the junction with CO-90, which runs south and then west into the Paradox Basin past the villages of Bedrock and Paradox before climbing into Utah and heading toward US-191 south of Moab. Naturita is the first town and is showing some tourist attraction growth and boasts of a few newer eateries and even a brewpub. After climbing steep and winding CO-141, the road becomes CO-145 and you're into pasture land, passing through Redvale and Norwood (a slightly bigger town than Redvale), and then go down the long descent back to the San Miguel River on Norwood Hill.

The road climbs again along the river toward the junction which takes you to Telluride on 145 and on to the towns of Delores and Cortez much farther to the south. We went east on CO-62, climbing over the Dallas Divide, with the spectacular San Miguel Mountains until we reached Ridgeway and junction with US-550. Ridgeway is growing and has many good places to eat, galleries, shops serving tourists, climbers, and people looking for supplies for adventure on water and rock. Dennis Weaver, who played Chester on Gunsmoke (I'm glad most of you on this list are like me and old enough to remember Gunsmoke!) lived there for quite a few years after he retired and was instrumental in the towns growth. We passed the entrance to Dennis Weaver Park as we headed north towards Montrose. Ridgeway State Park has a large lake, where we saw people on standup paddleboards and an anchorage with quite a few larger (20-25') sailboats. The road to Montrose follows the Uncompahgre River before emerging into the wider valley that houses Montrose. I stopped and saw Steve's new house and renewed my acquaintance with his wife before going back into Montrose to clean up before joining my son and daughter-in-law at the Montrose Public Library where she was organizing a program that night.

 

[jmoore]

Phil, sounds like a very enjoyable ride.

 

[Phil Tarman]

The Rest of the Way Home:

I had planned to get out of Montrose at about 6AM (yes, Jim Rau, I can get going that early! It's just not my favorite thing to do) and ride home through Delta, Paonia, over Hoosier Pass, Glenwood Canyon, and then north to the junction at Toponas south of Steamboat Springs, east over Gore Pass to Kremmling, then to Granby and over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, and home. That ride would have taken about 8 hours but gotten me home in time for an homeowners association meeting.

But my daughter-in-law Tania had organized the program at the library the night before and we had gone to it. It was an interesting program about the towns, ranches, and resorts that were flooded when Blue Mesa Reservoir was built in the '60s. Blue Mesa is along (and under in a couple of places) US-50 between Montrose and Gunnison. After the program, we had gone to eat and then back to the kid's house so Chris and I could figure out flights to Dallas on Labor Day weekend so we can go to my ex-wife's brother's funeral in Mt. Pleasant, TX. By the time I got back to the motel and in bed, I slept quickly but then woke up at 4AM after about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. At 5:30, I decided I'd rather play in Denver's traffic at 2 or 3PM and maybe get some sleep than ride the Park after not-enough sleep.

Well, you know the rest. I never got back to sleep. I gave up, ate a crappy motel breakfast and left Montrose at 9AM. Riding east over Cerro Summit and then Blue Mesa Summit, I got to the Lake Fork Bridge and what's known as the Middle Bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir. I had always known that the riverbed was quite a ways down, but until the program at the library, I hadn't known that the Lake Fork Bridge roadbed was 280 feet above the old Lake Fork Creek level. The Middle Bridge is about 380 feet above the flooded Gunnison River's original level. The last time I'd been on US-50 had been about a year and half ago when the lake level was at the lowest it had been since the dam was finished. After Colorado's record snowfalls last winter, the lake is now completely full for the first time in years.

Traffic through Gunnison and over Monarch Pass was relatively light and I made good time. The only pictures I took today were of the south end of the Collegiate Range, the highest peaks in Colorado, before I got to Buena Vista. After crossing Trout Creek Pass and turning north towards Fairplay and Denver, the wind started really blowing. Wind is normal in Colorado and it's very unusual to have not had anything over a 4-5mph breeze in five days of riding until halfway through the fifth day!

By the time I got to Denver, I was hot and needed coffee, so I stopped at a McDonald's just off I-70 on the west side of Denver. The 45 minutes I spent there gave the traffic to pick up to Denver's usual afternoon madness. This was exaggerated by the closure of the ramp from I-70 eastbound to northbound I-25. That meant that I took I-76 through Commerce City, getting off to get gas, and then taking US-6 back to 76 and US-85 north through Brighton to get home. I was here by 4:30 and made my meeting.

 

[junglejim]

I had planned to get out of Montrose at about 6AM (yes, Jim Rau, I can get going that early!

Well, you know the rest.

left Montrose at 9AM.

Well none of always accomplishes all our good intentions. And I understand that "family" comes first. Pushing yourself makes for an unhappy rider. Just enjoy the ride. That's what it's all about.

 

[mikesim]

As soon as I first started reading it, I knew there was a "but" to the story. Another one of Phil's early starts at the crack of nine!

:ROFLMAO:

Mike