Junglejim (Jim Rau) and his '07 Versys 650 riding friend, Mitch, spent the night with us last night. They've got 16 days to ride "West" and then back to Wisconsin.
They had planned to go to northern Washington, but decided that they didn't want to be playing "Dodge the Fire." We got up and were on the road a bit after 8AM this morning. Mitch and I were on our bikes in the driveway waiting for Jim to get ready. He was probably about 5-6 minutes behind me in being ready to roll. Write it down in your diaries, my friends -- I think it's the only time that's ever happened.
We got gas, ate a quick breakfast at McDonalds, and then took US-34 to I-25 to CO-14 in Fort Collins. After working our way through Fort Fun, we got off of US-287/CO-14 to focus our attention on CO-14, the Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway, and the 98 miles it covers to get over Cameron Pass at 12,264 feet and down to Walden in North Park.
We bought gas and I got 54mpg. We had hoped Larry Hull, my NC700X buddy would be able to go with us so he could blow us away the 80mpg figures he's been getting, but he called in to work.
We ate at the River Rock Caf?, a very nice restaurant in downtown Walden, where I had the River Rock Volcanic Eruption hamburger. When I ordered it, the waitreess told me it was the hottest hamburger (hot in the spicy sense) I was ever likely to eat. It had a scorching Habanero sauce and jalapeno peppers. She wanted me to understand that if I ordered it after her warning, I had bought it whether I could eat it or not. The first bike I took was agonizing -- I thought I had made a mistake. But I stuck with it and managed to eat it all. In addition to being very hot, it was also probably the messiest hamburger I've ever eaten.
We went on south and west to the Mile Zero marker where CO-14 starts at the intersection with US-40 at Muddy Pass, about five or ten miles from Rabbit Ears Pass. Jim and Mitch turned right and I turned left, going south toward Kremmling. About 10-15 miles north of Kremmling, I hit heavy cold rain. I had worn my 'Stitch (for the first time since last fall) and it kept me dry, but it didn't keep my warm. It rained until just as I got to Granby and turned north toward the town of Grand Lake and the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. I stopped at the visitor's center before the Park and put on my waterproof gloves and my Warm'n'Save electric jacket. That made the rain stop and it even got warmer for while. But when I got above tree line and into the Arctic tundra at 12,000+ feet, the temp dropped to 50. I never turned the jacket on, but I was sure comfortable with it on.
Weekdays after the start of school are nice days to ride through the Park. I was never behind anyone who held me up except for one Chevy Cruze on top who persisted in driving at about 28mph. Speed limit is 35 and it's enforced fairly rigorously now, so I wasn't wanting to go much faster. I finally was able pass him on the outside on a long right hand curve where there was no solid yellow line.
This time of year, you don't see many critters until late in the evening when the elk start bugling. I saw one cow elk up at about 11,500 feet and that was it. In downtown Estes Park, right across from the Stanley Hotel (where "The Shining" was filmed) there was a huge bull elk laying in the shade surrounded by his harem. In Estes, the temperature was 71F; by the west side of Loveland, it was up 81F, east side of Loveland was 85, and here at the house it was 91F at 6:30.
Parenthetically, we haven't had air conditioning since the 3rd week of July. It hasn't been as bad as I would have expected, but Saturday night it was still 75 at 3:00AM. It's 72 now at 11:00 but the ceiling fan makes it bearable. The AC guy is scheduled to get here on Thursday morning. I'm ready!
I got a text message from Jim at about 7:30. He and Mitch are camping in Rangely tonight. Tomorrow they'll ride south over Douglas Pass, through the Colorado National Monument, and then take CO-141 from Whitewater through Gateway to Naturita. From there, they'll go by Telluride and ride down to Cortez and to Four Corners. Since Jim's usually riding by 6:30 or 7:00 (when he's not with me), they'll probably make all that tomorrow.
They had planned to go to northern Washington, but decided that they didn't want to be playing "Dodge the Fire." We got up and were on the road a bit after 8AM this morning. Mitch and I were on our bikes in the driveway waiting for Jim to get ready. He was probably about 5-6 minutes behind me in being ready to roll. Write it down in your diaries, my friends -- I think it's the only time that's ever happened.
We got gas, ate a quick breakfast at McDonalds, and then took US-34 to I-25 to CO-14 in Fort Collins. After working our way through Fort Fun, we got off of US-287/CO-14 to focus our attention on CO-14, the Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway, and the 98 miles it covers to get over Cameron Pass at 12,264 feet and down to Walden in North Park.
We bought gas and I got 54mpg. We had hoped Larry Hull, my NC700X buddy would be able to go with us so he could blow us away the 80mpg figures he's been getting, but he called in to work.
We ate at the River Rock Caf?, a very nice restaurant in downtown Walden, where I had the River Rock Volcanic Eruption hamburger. When I ordered it, the waitreess told me it was the hottest hamburger (hot in the spicy sense) I was ever likely to eat. It had a scorching Habanero sauce and jalapeno peppers. She wanted me to understand that if I ordered it after her warning, I had bought it whether I could eat it or not. The first bike I took was agonizing -- I thought I had made a mistake. But I stuck with it and managed to eat it all. In addition to being very hot, it was also probably the messiest hamburger I've ever eaten.
We went on south and west to the Mile Zero marker where CO-14 starts at the intersection with US-40 at Muddy Pass, about five or ten miles from Rabbit Ears Pass. Jim and Mitch turned right and I turned left, going south toward Kremmling. About 10-15 miles north of Kremmling, I hit heavy cold rain. I had worn my 'Stitch (for the first time since last fall) and it kept me dry, but it didn't keep my warm. It rained until just as I got to Granby and turned north toward the town of Grand Lake and the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. I stopped at the visitor's center before the Park and put on my waterproof gloves and my Warm'n'Save electric jacket. That made the rain stop and it even got warmer for while. But when I got above tree line and into the Arctic tundra at 12,000+ feet, the temp dropped to 50. I never turned the jacket on, but I was sure comfortable with it on.
Weekdays after the start of school are nice days to ride through the Park. I was never behind anyone who held me up except for one Chevy Cruze on top who persisted in driving at about 28mph. Speed limit is 35 and it's enforced fairly rigorously now, so I wasn't wanting to go much faster. I finally was able pass him on the outside on a long right hand curve where there was no solid yellow line.
This time of year, you don't see many critters until late in the evening when the elk start bugling. I saw one cow elk up at about 11,500 feet and that was it. In downtown Estes Park, right across from the Stanley Hotel (where "The Shining" was filmed) there was a huge bull elk laying in the shade surrounded by his harem. In Estes, the temperature was 71F; by the west side of Loveland, it was up 81F, east side of Loveland was 85, and here at the house it was 91F at 6:30.
Parenthetically, we haven't had air conditioning since the 3rd week of July. It hasn't been as bad as I would have expected, but Saturday night it was still 75 at 3:00AM. It's 72 now at 11:00 but the ceiling fan makes it bearable. The AC guy is scheduled to get here on Thursday morning. I'm ready!
I got a text message from Jim at about 7:30. He and Mitch are camping in Rangely tonight. Tomorrow they'll ride south over Douglas Pass, through the Colorado National Monument, and then take CO-141 from Whitewater through Gateway to Naturita. From there, they'll go by Telluride and ride down to Cortez and to Four Corners. Since Jim's usually riding by 6:30 or 7:00 (when he's not with me), they'll probably make all that tomorrow.
