Colorado Cruiser: Colorado Hidden Roads - Day 1

I've ridden allot of roads around Colorado in the last 6 years. Most of them I've ridden many times.

But there are a few that I've just never been able to fit into the schedule. They usually take you too far out of the way, or you just don't have the time. But this trip is about 3 of those roads and making the time to ride them. I'll talk about the roads more tomorrow when I actually DO make the time to ride them.

Today was about getting enough done at work so I wouldn't feel guilty and cancel the whole trip, and getting 200 miles South to meet up with my riding buddy John in Gunnison Colorado.

Work was the normal state of affairs, with me trying to get something done, and every 5 minutes, someone popping their head in my cube and saying "have you got a few minutes for a quick question?" But I did get them all answered and got done what I was trying to finish.

I wanted to leave by noon, but I didn't actually get out the door until 1:00. The plan was to get to Canon City or even Sidalia for lunch, but by the time I was out the door, I was starving. I also needed to gas up the motorcycle and buy some gatorades, so the bet place to do all 3 was the gas station and McDonalds near the office. So I began my trip with a 3/4 mile ride and a stop for lunch. How boring is that?

School had just started today, so as I pulled into McD's there were 5 cars full of teenagers also pulling in. I quickly hopped of the bike and ran in ahead of them to get my order before the decision-fobic teenagers could dominate the place. I got my meal quickly, then listened to teeny boppers scream, poke, laugh, and throw food for the next 15 minutes. I wolfed down my meal and got out of there.

The ride out of Colorado Springs, down Hwy 115 to Hwy 50, and then West into Canon city was cool and normal. I rode through Canon city without stopping, figuring I'd gas up in Salida. But I did have something new I wanted to try. It's called Skyline Drive. This morning I asked a friend at work about it and he gave the rundown. The entrance isn't in the middle of Canon city as I've always thought, its a one way road that starts about 3 miles West and feeds back into Canon city. No wonder I've never been able to find it.

I road down Hwy 50 and saw the entrance on the right. It climbs quickly up a few hundred feet to the top of a ridge running beside the highway. As I rode along, the ridge got higher and narrower until you're riding right at the top with a drop on each side. It wasn't thousands of feet high, but it was high enough for a beautiful view out each side. I stopped several times for pictures and just to enjoy the view and the cool breeze blowing up and over.

Once I was back in Canon city I wound my way back onto Hwy 50 and started up the canyon. Hwy 50 follows the Arkansas river for about 50 miles to Salida. Not far down the road, I saw a sign saying that there was an accident 46 miles ahead and to look for an alternate route. The detour would add over 100 miles to my ride, and I just didn't want to do that. I decide to ride slow instead. Maybe if I take an hour to cover the distance, the accident would clear before I got there.

The best thing was that the sign did work to detour all the cars and trucks off of Hwy 50 which is normally packed with vehicles. I puttered along the beautiful canyons without any cars behind me, in front of me, or even coming the other way. It was the first time I've ever relaxed on that ride because there's usually someone 3 foot off my rear tire trying to make me go faster.

I stopped for gas near the end of the road and someone said the accident was cleared. I reached the accident scene and barely had to slow down as I went past. Nice.

After Salida begins the climb up Monarch Pass. Looking into the distance I could barely see the mountains. I didn't know if it was smoke from all the wildfires, clouds, or even rain. It turned out to be smoke. I passed a few wet spots on the roads, but the rain kept skirting to the North (where the detour would have led me) so I lucked out even more.

Once at the top of the pass I stopped for the obligatory picture by the sign (I have 20 of them now I think). Then I went into the store and bought some fudge. I love the fudge from Monarch Pass.

Back outside I munched a piece of fudge and enjoyed the brisk cool air. It was probably 40 degrees and dropping. The wind picked up and some light rain began to fall. I figured my time to get drenched had come. I got on the bike and started down and I guess I outran the rain. Because 5 miles later and I was still dry.

The 50 miles to Gunnison were pretty bland behind a slow moving Motorhome and 20 cars.

I found John already checked into the Hotel. We relaxed a bit, then trying to find somewhere to eat. Yelp wasn't much help so we decided just to cruise the town looking for the most crowded restaurant. It turned out to be the Gunnisack. Sandwiches, salads, and burgers.

I also sent a message to a fellow Ford Bronco enthusiast in town and he joined us. He's an interesting character. He moved to Gunnison about 15 years ago to ski the nearby Crested Butte for a year, and just stayed. He's had allot of jobs and owned a few businesses over the years, but he does whatever it takes to stick around.

We chatted about his heli skiing, car building, and work history with a few of our own stories and tall tales as well, then went out to see his classic Bronco. For those who don't know, the Classic Bronco was build from 1966 to 1977. Mine is a 1970.

It was an ok first day. The highlight was Skyline Drive. I'm going to have to add it to my list of standard roads to ride, especially when I do the Guffy Road loop.

Highway 115 South Bound. Look at that sparkling clean windshield. That took me 10 minutes.