The Motorcycle Sports Touring Club here along the Colorado Front Range is a fairly active group, thanks mainly to our president. There's almost always at least one event a month and they move around between north of Denver and occasionally as far south as Colorado Springs. I usually can't make the events or rides because of being on call for Hospice, but one of my co-workers agreed to cover for me today. When I knew that I could make the ride, I gave Ken Malone (RedBird on our Forum) a toot and invited him to join me.
I got away from the house at about 8:20, and met Ken 25 minutes later at a Pilot truck stop just off of I-25 and the road from Berthoud, where Ken lives. As I pulled up he was finishing a topping off his tank. 3 miles later, I passed 5,000 miles for the year. It was smoky and visibility was restricted along the interstate, but the mountains were showing up clearly.
Traffic was relatively light on I-25 and I-76 and 70. We rode past Coors/Molson's breweries before getting to Golden where the SMTC group was gathering at a Starbucks. I topped off my tank and Ken did, too. At just a little after 10, we pulled out and headed for the turn onto Golden Gate Canyon Road. There was quite a bit of traffic, but we were rarely held up. It's only 19 miles to the junction with the Peak-to-Peak highway, but it probably took close to 40 minutes. Lots of tight corners, hairpins, and elevation change. The road gets up above 9,500 feet after starting at about 6,000 feet just on the outskirts of Golden. The Peak-to-Peak is a faster road, going past a couple of very small towns, and has a few sets of linked hairpins that get you down the hill. At Nederland, it opens up a bit more and we made good time to Estes Park. Aspen were beginning to change and the temps were comfortable. Long's Peak was, as always, rugged and imposing on our left, with more mountains to our right (east) as we rode down into Estes. There was a bicycle tour going on and my step-son-in-law told me it was probably the Peak-to-Peak ride. It was amazing how fast some people can pedal a bike up a steep grade. I was glad that there were quite a few going as slow as I used to go uphill.
When we got to Estes, one of the MSTA group who lived in Ft. Collins, had skipped the ride and ridden to Estes to make reservations so we could mostly sit together on the patio. As we ate, an overcast developed above us. I think it was probably smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire burning north and west of Estes Park.
After lunch, we split to go our various ways down the hill. Ken and I were going to ride together, but as we were getting ready to ride, he got a phone call that his cat was throwing up, so instead of going down US-34 with me, he took US-36 to Lyons and home to his cat.
The ride down Big Thompson Canyon is a good ride -- except for the fact that today, there was someone in a Chevy Cruze who mostly drove between 30-35mph. He/she must have passed at least 15-20 "Slow Traffic Pullouts," totally oblivious to the fact that there were 20-25 vehicles being held up. Finally, about 10 miles from the bottom of the canyon, she/he pulled into a park and things sped up a little bit. As I got to Loveland, the smoke was thicker, but not awful. I ended up riding about 199 miles and it was good to take Horse through some twisties.
I'll post some pictures later in the weekend.
By the time I got home to Greeley, the temperature was up to 92F
I got away from the house at about 8:20, and met Ken 25 minutes later at a Pilot truck stop just off of I-25 and the road from Berthoud, where Ken lives. As I pulled up he was finishing a topping off his tank. 3 miles later, I passed 5,000 miles for the year. It was smoky and visibility was restricted along the interstate, but the mountains were showing up clearly.
Traffic was relatively light on I-25 and I-76 and 70. We rode past Coors/Molson's breweries before getting to Golden where the SMTC group was gathering at a Starbucks. I topped off my tank and Ken did, too. At just a little after 10, we pulled out and headed for the turn onto Golden Gate Canyon Road. There was quite a bit of traffic, but we were rarely held up. It's only 19 miles to the junction with the Peak-to-Peak highway, but it probably took close to 40 minutes. Lots of tight corners, hairpins, and elevation change. The road gets up above 9,500 feet after starting at about 6,000 feet just on the outskirts of Golden. The Peak-to-Peak is a faster road, going past a couple of very small towns, and has a few sets of linked hairpins that get you down the hill. At Nederland, it opens up a bit more and we made good time to Estes Park. Aspen were beginning to change and the temps were comfortable. Long's Peak was, as always, rugged and imposing on our left, with more mountains to our right (east) as we rode down into Estes. There was a bicycle tour going on and my step-son-in-law told me it was probably the Peak-to-Peak ride. It was amazing how fast some people can pedal a bike up a steep grade. I was glad that there were quite a few going as slow as I used to go uphill.
When we got to Estes, one of the MSTA group who lived in Ft. Collins, had skipped the ride and ridden to Estes to make reservations so we could mostly sit together on the patio. As we ate, an overcast developed above us. I think it was probably smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire burning north and west of Estes Park.
After lunch, we split to go our various ways down the hill. Ken and I were going to ride together, but as we were getting ready to ride, he got a phone call that his cat was throwing up, so instead of going down US-34 with me, he took US-36 to Lyons and home to his cat.
The ride down Big Thompson Canyon is a good ride -- except for the fact that today, there was someone in a Chevy Cruze who mostly drove between 30-35mph. He/she must have passed at least 15-20 "Slow Traffic Pullouts," totally oblivious to the fact that there were 20-25 vehicles being held up. Finally, about 10 miles from the bottom of the canyon, she/he pulled into a park and things sped up a little bit. As I got to Loveland, the smoke was thicker, but not awful. I ended up riding about 199 miles and it was good to take Horse through some twisties.
I'll post some pictures later in the weekend.
By the time I got home to Greeley, the temperature was up to 92F
