2013 Summer Ride - Day 11 - Colorado Nat Mnmt - Independence & Cottonwood Passes

I had set an alarm for 6:00 but I awoke at 5:30. I showered quickly, ate some fruit and was out the door by 6:00.

The 60 mile road from Price to Green River isn't what you'd call scenic. I kept my speed below the speed limit and scanned often for animals on the road. I also spotted 2 police cars waiting for the speeders that always seem to frequent this road. The sun rose not far out of Price and I got a few pictures.

After an hour I arrived in Green River and gassed up the bike. I bought some water to drink and to take with me.

Out on the I-70 freeway I raised my speed up to just over the limit and burned down the road. This early the road was pretty empty and the temperatures were low, about 72. It was actually an enjoyable ride over to Fruita Colorado. I exited the Freeway and rode over a McDonalds for a bit more breakfast. I checked the location of Nannette's cell phone and it still looked to be at Lisa's. I decided that I had the time to go ride through the Colorado National Monument. It was straight up the road from where I'd exited (on purpose).

I flashed my park pass again and rode into the monument. The road climbs up onto a mesa just outside of Grand Junction, then winds along the edge of the mesa giving beautiful views out across the valley. I rode just above an idle, stopping often to admire the views. I passed about a hundred motorcycles going the other way so it's a pretty popular bypass.

By the time I reached the end, Nannette texted to say they were past Green River and on their way to Grand Junction.

I rode the city streets through Grand Junction back to I-70 and continued East. My gas was down to about 1/4 of a tank and I figured I should get gas before leaving the city but I never came across one. Finally about 10 miles out of town I saw an exit sign showing gas. It turned out to be 2 hours off the freeway. I gassed up and got more water. A quick text from Nan showed that they were only 30 minutes behind me now, so I got back on the road East.

As I got close to Glenwood Springs I called Nan and we made plans to meet up for lunch when I got there. I exited at the first exit and started looking for somewhere interesting to eat. I saw fast food, chilis, and a few generic hamburger places that I rode past. Then I spotted Vic's Route 6 Cafe. It looked like just the place and pulled into their parking lot.

I texted directions to Nan and went in to get a table.

The cafe was full of odd nic nacs like old gas pumps, road signs, model planes, stuffed animals, and other interesting memorabilia. I ordered an appetizer and a soda (I usually don't drink soda, but I needed a pick me up), and settled in to wait for Nan and Kyle. They arrived after 15 minutes and we ordered our lunch. It was very good.

While we ate, I asked Nan if she'd mind if I headed home via a longer but much more interesting route than the freeway. She said she didn't mind, but didn't want to take any longer to get home so they'd stay on the freeway. We finished eating then kissed goodbye. I headed South toward Aspen and they continued East toward Vail.

I gassed up close to the freeway because I've been burned by the gas prices in Aspen in the past. It's often $1.50 more a gallon once you reach the sacred grounds and the beautiful people. The 30 miles to Aspen aren't very interesting but at least it was getting cooler and cooler.

On the other side of Aspen the highway began to climb toward Independence Pass. There are beautiful views of the mountains all along the road. In a few places the road narrows to nearly single lane proportions but I met only a few cars coming the other way. As I got close to the pass, the reason became clear. There was road construction going on with only a single lane in each direction. There was a very long line of cars so they must have been holding traffic for some reason. I had to way 15 minutes before they let us go.

When I reached the top I took a picture and drank some water. This is the first time I've been on Independence pass without it being freezing cold. It was about 60 degrees and quite nice. But I've got even more plans so I didn't stay long.

The ride down the far side of Independence is ever more impressive and beautiful than the Aspen side. There are some beautiful valleys surrounded by mountains leading all the way down to the highway. Once on the highway I turned South towards Buena Vista.

In Buena Vista I turned West to ride up Cottonwood Pass. I've been wanting to ride up this pass for over a year. Last August I rode this same round across Independence pass (freezing cold) and when I came to Buena Vista I was soaking wet and freezing so I didn't do Cottonwood. But today was a beautiful day and I had the time to ride the pass.

It was about 16 miles to the top of Cottonwood and the last 7 miles are really impressive. About as good as Independence. Big wide speepers and sharp tight switchbacks leading up to over 12,000 feet. The pavement ends at the top of the pass so I didn't go any farther. I took pictures and walked around for a while, then headed back down to Buena Vista for gas.

From Buena Vista I followed highway 24 West through Woodland Park and down into Manitou Springs and then into Garden of the Gods. I parked the bike and took few minutes to relish the memories of this wonderful vacation. Today has been a wonderful day of riding. The temperature hasn't gotten much over 84 degrees all day, and most of it has been in the 70s.

Reluctantly I rode on toward home, stopping to get a Jimmy John's #9 sub.

Now it's 2 days later. I've spent the evening sitting out in from of my house, enjoying the 65 degree evening and the gentle breeze. It's a nice clear night to spend with the computer. Writing this last ride report is the final bit of the vacation business left. I'm already thinking of other rides to do, like taking my grand daughter up to Rocky Mountain National Park to camp for a night, or going to Mount Rushmore.

It's embarrassing, but I only live 6 hours from Mt Rushmore and I've never been there. I've got lots of things I want to do this summer.

Until the next ride report, Goodbye


Sunrise of the Central Utah Desert


Purple Mountains Majesty


Stopping for Breakfast


Colorado National Monument


Riding up onto the Mesa


More climbing


Scenic Overlook


More view


The Goldwing with Grand Junction in the distance


Climbing while looking back


Tunnel on the climb up


Another tunnel


Looking out at a pinacle. One year on the 4th of July I watched a group climb that rock to plant a flag


Another horseshoe turn, almost at the top of the mesa now


Vics Route 6 Cafe


A pretty scruffy picture of me with some of the stuff in Route 6 Cafe


Nan and I in the cafe


Heading up out of Aspen toward Independence Pass


Narrow road on the way to Independence Pass


Move views


Some sort of mining structure


Looking back down at the road I'd just come up


Waiting in line at the construction on Independence Pass


Repaving the road


Posing by the sign. I hate when people park in front of the sign then walk off


The bike posing


Starting down from Independence


More beautiful views on Independence


A hairpin turn on the decent


Riding up toward Cottonwood Pass


Final climb up to Cottonwood


The bike on Cottonwood


Me and the bike on Cottonwood


Looking West off Cottonwood Pass


Looking down the 13 miles of gravel road on the West side of Cottonwood


Looking West off of Cottonwood


Looking back at the top of Cottonwood Pass as I'm descending


Descending Cottonwood


Crossing the valley East of Buena Vista


Parked in Garden of the Gods


Picking up a sub sandwich

2013 Summer Ride - Days 9 and 10 - Apline Loop - Price Utah

Sunday was a relaxing day. I got up early and worked on a ride report, then started to cook some dinner. Mike doesn't eat breakfast, but he had bought allot food just for us. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, milk, and orange juice.

Mike has church leadership meetings starting at 7:00, so he left before I even got up.

I ate some breakfast then went out to unstrap the motorcycle. Nan wants to use the car today so we needed to take the motorcycle off.

By 10:00 both Kyle and Nan were up. They ate breakfast and we all laid around enjoying a quiet day. Mike came home about 11:00 and we talked some more. Both Kyle and I borrowed white shirts from Mike and Nan put on a blouse and skirt, then we went to church with Mike. We only stayed for the first 90 minutes then left.

Nan really wanted to get a pedicure so she called a Walmart to see if their nail salon was open. They said it was so we drove over there. It wasn't open. She called a 2nd Walmart and asked them to verify if the salon was open. We drove 10 miles to get to it, but again, it wasn't open. I guess they don't really check, just tell us what will get us there. So after all of that we wound up wasting 2 hours and got back to the house about the same time as Mike.

The temperature was up into the 90s and neither Kyle nor I felt like riding so we just sat around and took naps.

For dinner, Mike cooked some pork loin, roast potatoes, carrots, and bread. It was a great meal.


Monday July 15, 2013

I got up at 7:00 and went for a short ride around some of the back streets.

Mike works out of his house when he's not travelling, so by the time I got back he was in his office with the door closed. I could hear a conference call going on. Nan and Kyle got up and we decided to go out for breakfast. Kyle and I rode while Nan followed in the car. We drove East on the Lehi highway and stopped at a burger king. After breakfast Nan left on her continuing quest for a pedicure while Kyle and I continued East into the mountains. This road leads to a national forest highway known as "The Alpine Loop".

I flashed my national parks pass at the entry booth and we started the climb up the road.

I love this piece of road. It winds around behind the mountains through pine forests and aspens. We took our time winding up the road with almost no traffic around us. When we reached the far end, we just flipped around and rode right back the way we'd come.

Except that we took a detour out to see a bit natural spring. We got off the bike and Kyle realized that he hadn't put on any sunscreen and had been riding in a t-shirt. He quickly slathered some on but he was looking pretty red.

There is a trail system through the springs. We thought we might do a short loop through the first pools but we wound up walking all the way around because it was so nice. By the time we got back it had warmed up quite a bit. We spent some time talking with a few people who rode quads in from the East. They said it was fun but they were wanting to rest in the shade before starting back.

We on the other hand, wanted to get on the bikes and grab some altitude to cool off. We rode back up to the alpine loop and finished riding back to Mike's house. Nan was back but Mike was still in meetings, so we hopped in the car and headed for Cafe Rio for lunch.

While we ate we talked about what our plan was for the rest of the trip. Nan kept talking about leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) and getting to Grand junction for the night but I really didn't want to ride across the desert in the heat of the day. Finally we decided to load up, then visit friends in Springfield and continue on to Price Utah to stay the night with my cousins there.

Back at Mike's house we loaded the bike back on the trailer (Kyle rode it on this time), then packed our gear in the car. I texted Mike that we were ready to leave and he came down to say goodbye.

I rode behind them for the 20 miles to Springfield in 96 degree heat. By the time we got there I was drenched in sweat and downed a whole gatorade. We visited with Steve, Lisa and their son Jared for an hour. Jared is about 28, but he had viral meningitis as a child and continues to think and act like a young boy. He is a hoot talk with and Nan has always loved visiting him. We all enjoyed the visit.

We gassed up in town then headed South East towards Price. To my delight, the temperature dropped just as soon as we started up the canyon and I had an enjoyable hour long ride to Price.

We reached the home of my cousin Lisa and her husband Jay by 7:30. They had waited for us before having dinner. We had fresh baked bread, chicken, salad, and vegetables. It was delicious. Half way through the meal another cousin Lanelle and my aunt Nellene came by to visit. We enjoyed an hour chatting while eating all the fresh bread and fruit. We shared stories of kids and grand kids and all of the other cousins. Even though it was my family, Nan's the one who remembers everyone's name, what they're doing, where they are, and how old they all are. I'm dreadful at that sort of remembering but I do love hearing the stories.

After Lanelle and Nellene left we went down stairs and chatted until we were all nodding off. Lisa pointed us to our rooms then went to their own room.

My plan is to get up very early and ride across the desert from Price to Green River, then I-70 East to Grand Junction before it gets hot.

The start of the Alpine Loop


More Alpine Loop


Looking down off the Alpine Loop towards the mountains


Water flowing out of the springs


Looking through the trees at the spring


Kyle by some of the springs


Back on the Alpine Loop


More Alpine Loop

2013 Summer Ride - Day 8 - Jackson Hole to Lehi Utah

I woke up at 5:00 and peeked out the door to see how cold it felt and whether John and Angela were already on the road. To my surprise, John's Harley was still sitting there. On many trips I've awaken to find John long gone down the road home. I thought for a few minutes about whether I wanted go for a ride back to Teton national park or not. I decided NOT to ride and went back to bed.

I woke again at 6:45 and once again peeked out the door. To my surprise, John's bike was still there, but Erics bike was gone. Yesterday Shauna had said that she wasn't budging until 9:00. I showered and grabbed the computer to upload photos. I carried one of our chairs outside and sat enjoying the cool air while I tried to write a ride report.

Just after 7:00 John came out and started loading the bike. We chatted a bit about Eric and Shauna leaving so early and about the weather. The clouds to the South looked like they were threatening rain, but the forecast said the rain wouldn't come until later.

We made more small talk as they finished getting the bike ready, then eventually after all other excuses and distractions were done, they got on the bike and with a final wave, they left. It was 8:15. I went back to my chair by our door and continued writing. But the sadness of the end of the ride was on me and I didn't get much written.

At 8:30 I heard a hotel door open and looked up to see Shauna coming out of her room. Oops, maybe they hadn't left already. Shauna said that Eric had left earlier without a sound and she awoke to a pretty empty room. Jokingly she said she hoped he hadn't just left her here. She noticed that John's bike was gone. She looked disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye and I explained that we thought they'd already left.

A few minutes I heard a motorcycle coming up the road and looked around. It was Eric on his goldwing. He parked the bike and likewise looked sad that they hadn't had a chance to say goodbye. By this time, Nan was up and came out to talk. Kyle began to put the trailer together so we could load up the bike and Nan began packing all the clothes and loading the car.

Eric and Shauna were ready first and said their goodbyes, then climbed on the bike and rode off. More sadness as we all go our separate ways.

Kyle got the trailer ready so I hopped onto the sportster and idled it over and lined it up, ready to load it. I inched the bike up to the ramp, then gunned it a bit to ride up on, but I was a bit hesitant and the bike didn't mike it all the way up, then to compound it, I hit the brakes rather than add more throttle. The bike began to teeter and slowly tipped to the right and off the trailer taking me with it. THUD!!! Bike and I hit the pavement pretty hard.

Then I made my 2nd mistake. I quickly got up and started to pick the bike up rather than laying there and telling Kyle to take a picture. I'm so sorry about that.

The bike is pretty light so Kyle, Nan and I got it up pretty easily. I checked myself over and bit and found no signs of aches or pains from the fall, and Kyle likewise checked the bike and found no signs of damage. I know from previous experience with bicycles, horses, and swings, that I needed to get right back on and do the thing right so that it didn't leave a mental block.

This time I lined the bike up, ran up the ramp a bit, then applies solid and continuous power right up and onto the ram, and into the locking mechanism on the trailer. We finished strapping the bike on the trailer and got the lights rigged. We finished loading up the car, said a prayer together, then headed down the road.

Just 5 miles down the road the first drops of rain hit the windshield of the bike. Within another couple miles there was a steady sprinkle, then it got harder and harder. After 10 miles it was a very continuous heavy rain and I called on the CB to say I needed to stop and put on rain gear. We pulled over and Kyle got my winter jacket out of the cartop carrier. We hadn't used any cold weather gear so far so it took a while to find it. With a quick smile, Kyle also got my leather chaps out. I pulled everything on while cars continued to drive past. I was almost done when a big truck shot past at 60 miles an hour and drenched kyle with the wave of water caught in its slip stream.

We got going again and I felt allot better with the gear on.

By now the rain was coming down so hard that I could barely see through the Goldwing's windshield. I could wipe off my helmet shield with my glove just fine, but the windshield was nearly opaque with rain on both sides of the shield. I had to sit up a bit so I could see over the shield, but sometimes it was just point the bike at right side of the blurry black splotch visible through the shield, or at the red lights on cars ahead of me.

After 40 miles we arrived in a small town with a gas station and pulled in. I gassed the bike, then used a cloth to try to wipe the windshield a bit to encourage the rain to pool rather than stay as individual drops all the time. Back on the road it seemed to help allot. I could see through the windshield allot better. The rain settled down a bit but it remained a constant drizzle as the miles rolled by.

Kyle came over the CB every so often to direct me one way or the other. We came to a few gaps in the rain, and the road almost dried out once. But the rain always seemed to come back. A few times the rain came down so hard that I couldn't see through the windshield again and had to sit up to look over.

After 3 hours and 150 miles we finally seemed to clear the rain. We picked the speed up a bit headed into Evanston Wyoming for lunch. Nan spent some time with the GPS and picked out a chinese restaurant to eat at. The Hot Sour soup was great and added some welcome warmth. Nan and I liked our food, but Kyle said his was too greasy.

After lunch we gassed up and I put my warm weather gear back on. We got onto I-80 heading towards Salt Lake. Within 20 miles my jacket was all dried out and the heat set in. Pretty quick I needed to stop and get a drink of water. It's amazing that I spent so much time in rain and 50 degrees, then suddenly it was dry and 90+ degrees.

We finished the ride into Salt Lake then followed the road around to I-15 and South to Lehi Utah where our friend Mike lives. Mike was happy to see us, and we were happy to see is nice cold house. We unloaded our things and sat around talking for an hour.

Nan called around and found a Massage school where she could get a massage without 3 days notice. We dropped her off, then Mike, Kyle, and I went to a nice Indian restaurant that Mike likes. It was really good.

By the time we picked up Nan and got her some dinner then drove to Mike's we were all tired and ready to just watch TV and talk.

John and Angela leaving


Kyle Assembling the motorcycle trailer


More Assembly


Eric and Shauna leaving


Heading off toward the rain


Stopped to put on my rain gear


Wet roads


Kyle resting on Mike's floor


Resting on the couch while Nan checks her email and facebook


Here's a picture of the motorcycle trailer in garage back home. It just takes up a small corner