The call for the day is kick stands up at 8:30, so I set my alarm for 6:30, and, of course, I woke up at 5:30. I spent a while reading facebook, news, and instagran. Then I played about 10 games of Freecell Solitaire (as me about freecell sometime).
When I looked again, it was 5:40 so I gave up on going back to bed. I tiptoed around the room getting dressed and starting to pack up my stuff. Sean was still sound asleep (I thought) but when I came out of the bathroom he was awake and browsing on his iPhone. He said he hadn't had such a good sleep in a long time because their bed is old and needs to be replaced.
Nan and I have the same complaint so we spent a few minutes discussing sleep number beds and just how many kidneys we'd have to sell to afford one.
We packed up nearly everything and packed it down to the bikes. It was nearly 7:00 so we decided to go looking for breakfast.
Due to Covid the hotel offered a sack with a danish in it or something like that. There was a restaurant just behind the hotel and we rode over there. I texted John where we were and they rode over to join us.
I just got a couple eggs over easy and some bacon. It took nearly an hour to order, get served, and pay so we rushed back to finish getting ready. I needed to get a last few things and fill my hydration pack with ice and water.
We gathered up in front of the hotel and talked over the day's plan. Everyone but Sean and I were from Arizona and everyone was concerned with how cold it was going to be going over some of the passes. I tried to assure everyone that it wasn't going to be very cold, but most people bundled up anyway. I allowed their worries to convince me to put a jacket over the my long sleeve shirt and soon regretted it.
I've always been surprised at the traffic in Durango. It's a fairly small town but we had to stop at many lights with bumper to bumper traffic, but once we actually rode out of town, the traffic melted away. I was already sweating in my jacket and wished we could stop, but I kept going. We would soon start climbing and the temperature would drop.
The road doesn't climb much for 10 or 15 miles until we passed the Pergatory ski resort.
I always forget the name of the first pass, but we wound our way up the side of the mountain towards the pass. We also noticed some smoke starting to smudge the distant details of the mountains. There is still a large fire North of us about 150 miles and a few other fires around the state.
I really started to enjoy the cool air and the beautiful vistas around us. I wish the air was clear, but you get what you get at this time of year. Using my new super duper video camera setup, I got some good videos of the group riding around some of the hairpin turns and other fun riding features.
We stopped at the top of Molas pass. We always stop on Molas pass because it's got a great view and a working bathroom. With this many people over 50, the lowest common bladder time is about 45 minutes and no one complains when we stop for a bio break.
I was struggling with the bluetooth system on my Spyder so I didn't even go look at the view.
My bluetooth keeps locking up or failing to connect. It takes about 30 seconds for the bike to fully boot up and link, so I usually don't know the bluetooth is screwed up until everyone is already staring to pull out of the parking lot and by that time, I just have to go and suffer without any music #firstworldproblems
After Molas, we rode down into Silverton. The road hugs the cliffs above town and gives a great view of the town. I took a few videos of the decent and hope they turn out good.
We found a big parking area to fit all the bikes. All the ladies headed off to do a bit of browsing but most of the guys just stood by the bikes and chiselled into the canyon wall and no guardrails with a sheer drop to the bottom of the canyon. It still makes allot of people very nervous to travel this road.
Eventually we all wound up in a place called Moustache. We were there because they make "the best peach cobbler in the world". I was feeling a bit peckish so I ordered one and it was exceptionally good. I finished half and was so full I had to stop.
We mounted up and headed back down the road.
From Silverton to Ouray is a fantastic road. There's big wide sweepers, some tight hairpins, wide vistas, and about every other scenic type of road you can think of. But what everyone really remembers is the road chiseled into the canyon walls and no guard rails protecting the 1000 foot drop to the floor of the canyon.
We were zooming along the no guard rail section when we hit a big construction zone. The road was narrowed to a single lane and we had to take turns passing through that section. When it was our turn, we went past the construction and it looked like a huge chunk of the road had fallen away. I hadn't noticed because I was busy paying attention to my driving, but several people said it looked pretty scary with guys hanging over the edge working on repairs.
Soon after the construction we arrived in Ouray. It's one of my favorite places to visit but I've never actually spent a night here. I always seem to be there around lunch time, but never dinner time.
We ate at a place called Maggie's. They were absolute sticklers for wearing face masks. Greg really doesn't like the whole face mask rules and walked in without one. They told him to leave so he went and got his mesh face mask, but the manager wasn't buying it and sent him out again. This time he grabbed his buff but he wasn't happy about it.
We placed our orders and paid, then climbed some stairs and went out behind the restaurant to some covered picnic tables. It was shaded and cool so we were enjoying it. Our food came out very quick and everyone seemed to enjoy whatever they ordered.
A big sign on the back door told us we couldn't go back inside and that we were supposed to take the alley around the block to get back to our bikes. I'd never been boot out of a restaurant into the alley before. At least is was a fairly clean alley.
Once we left Ouray the temperature really started to climb and by the time we reached Montrose it was 95 degrees. OUTCH!!!! I haven't seen 95 since the last time I visited family in Phoenix over Christmas.
Add to all that, the sun beating down on us and I was very glad when we got back on the road to cool off.
You have to go another 10 miles out of Montrose before you gain any altitude, and even then, it's not much. The temperature dropped down to 90 but because the sun was beating down it still felt super hot.
We were now riding East on US Highway 50 which is the designated detour route for all the traffic that would normally go on I-70. All of that means the road had allot of traffic and we were stuck behind some slow moving semi trucks and RVs.
We climbed up onto the Gunnison Mesa and began winding our way through the hills and valleys. Every so often a cloud would pass over and cool us off a bit. When we're reach the far end of the shadow I always felt like turning around and riding back into the shadow.
We rode along the edge of Blue Mesa reservoir for 30 miles. I normally like this ride, but not in the heat (have I whined about the heat enough yet?)
We were just a few miles out of Gunnison when the traffic came to a halt. We weren't all together due to passing and other things, so the guys in the lead stopped early leaving a nice gap in front of them, then they waved to the rest of us to sneak around the traffic and come up with them. I felt a bit guilty doing that but we were there so long, no one cared after a bit.
It turns out there was a serious accident ahead of us and they had completely shut the road down.
We talked amongst ourselves and the cars around us. Karen even walked 1/2 mile ahead to see what she could find out. But she came back with just the news we already had.
Finally, after half an hour we saw movement far ahead. We'd had several false starts and people weren't eager to put helmets and gear back on, but this was the real thing so we buttoned up and moved forwared. There was a huge patch of sand spread across the middle of the road where the accident had happened. I'm hoping it was to cover up oil and not some other fluid.
The line out the other side was a couple miles long. We rode past giving thumbs up to encourage the drivers that they would finally get to move.
We stopped in Gunnison for another bio break and to get something to drink. Angela went in and bought a bag of ice and we all took turns filling up our water containers. I had bought some gatorade in Montrose and chugged my 2nd bottle, then drank a bunch of my water as well. It was still 92 degrees and I was ready for some cooler weather.
From Gunnison we headed North toward Crested Butte. But after 10 miles, we turned East toward Taylor Park. The road to Taylor Park goes through a beautiful series of canyons following a river. (Anywhere else in the world it would be a creek). The road goes for 15 miles before emerging near the dam and leaving us on the shores of Taylor Reservoir.
We followed the road half way around the reservoir past the town of Taylor park. There were UTVs and ATVs everywhere, as well as dirt bikes, RVs and trailers. The whole area is a an offroader's dream destination. There are 4 or 5 high passes that all drop into the Taylor area.
We only cared about one pass, Cottonwood Pass.
Yes, the very same pass that Sean and I were on just yesterday. I don't mind one little bit that we road over the same pass 2 days in a row, and we will be riding over it again in 3 days. It is such a fantastic road that it would take allot of riding to get bored with it.
Just a couple miles after leaving Taylor Reservoir, the temperature was already dropping. We zoomed along the twists and turns climbing up toward the pass. We had to pass a few slow cars, but nothing scary. The speed limit was 35. Just saying I knew what the speed limit was.
After what seemed like only minutes, we reached the top of the pass. We were just 1/4 mile short of the actual pass when we turned off to a scenic view. The same view Sean and I stopped at yesterday.
We took more pictures and said our OOOs and AAAAs. Ron flew his drone around for a bit, then we saddled up for the last 20 minute ride down into Buena Vista (Pronounced a bYOUna ).
We checked into the Super 8 motel then met up to find some dinner. A couple guys head for a nearby chinese place and the rest headed for a brewpub. The menu was "fashionable" pizzas and seemed to take forever to place an order. So Sean and I peeled off to get a sandwich from Subway and took it back to the hotel to eat in peace. I'm not sure where everyone else wound up, but past experience says it took them 2 more stops to find somewhere everyone was happy with.
Sitting at a table in front of the hotel with a nice breeze and comfortable chairs was a great way to wind down from a long day but fun day of riding.
After we ate, a couple of Sean's friends came to visit him so I headed to the room to begin the ordeal of producing this blog. I first gather pictures and videos from all 3 cameras onto a large hard drive. Then while they load, I open a web page to blogspot and create a new blog. Then I just start typing. Trying to tell the story of what happened for the day.
Sometimes I have some specific event I want to foreshadow and highlight, but usually it's just the odd things that happen.
I have my great great grandfather's journals and I'm always intrigued by the things he thought were common place. He talks about hitching the mules to drive the wagon to town and the mules getting spooked and the wagon flipping over. Then he had to flip the wagon back, rehitch and continue the journey. Just everyday things to him. I wonder how my every day things might be viewed 100 years from now.
Anyway, once I've written the story and the photos have been saved, I upload the photos to the web and to the blog. The last things is putting descriptions on the photos or deleting them when I have 10 of the same thing.
If I'm really ambitious I'll proof read what I've written, but usually (as now) it's fairly late, I want a show and to go to bed, so I just publish the story and hope I have mortally offended someone.
Loading up the bikes
