Ride The Continental Divide by Karl Zuercher

If you've never done it - Do it! Ride all the paved Continental Divide passes in Colorado, in order, this time from north to south. This year's ride was perfect. Sunshine and balmy weather at every turn, where rain, snow, and cold, threathened other riders two weeks before.

A debt of gratitude to Mark Folsom from the Concours Owners Group who did a terrific job of organizing and made the ride most enjoyable. He is very knowledgable about the roads, places to stay and where to go to sample the local cuisine.

A good mix of riders and bikes left the Rabbit Ears motel in Steamboat Springs. Getting things going up Rabbit Ears pass itself and right on to Muddy Pass; sorry, can we do that one again? I think I missed it. Never mind, I'll slow down next year. Outside of Granby we pick up a couple more bikes. One an old ragged out Kawasaki something that blew blue smoke constantly, but boy can he ride it! I learn a lesson early; leave out before the guy on the Yamaha 1000 FZR and then listen to the sound as he passes me at speed. I worship the RPM gods. Over Willow Creek pass and blast through the trees, gobble up the wide open spaces into Walden and the head for Cameron pass and the Poudre River Canyon. Absolutely gorgeous, but all the local traffic on Sunday afternoon makes it less so. Typical of most of Colorado this year, they have more snowmelt and the resulting runoff than they know what to do with! Places we go show signs of flooding and high water. River runners heaven almost everywhere.

Ending up the day in Estes Park, we are pumped and ready for the next morning ride through Rocky Mountain Park. The view out the front windows at the old Stanley Hotel during breakfast just whets our appetite for more twisty roads. Unfortunately the cars and RV's are out early too. But prudent and timely passing can take care of most of that. Up into the park you can still see the scar from the Fawn Lake Dam break of a decade or so ago that flooded Estes Park. Nothing but a bare dirt and rock gash straight down the hillside. Going up over the top we see lakes still frozen over, snow in abundance, and more scenery than you can ever hope to capture on film. Although Randy, from Littleton tried by hanging his camera around his neck so he could get some "in action" shots" I hope they come out.

Berthoud Pass is really pretty this time of year, really not much traffic, or if there was it was dispatched with ease by the group. On to the Interstate and change your mind set to accomodate the mindlessness of the cages crawling on all fours. But soon enough we are off and climbing again up Loveland Pass. Narrow, barrier-less and steep drop offs. Great view looking back down at the Eisenhower Tunnel. Several hairpins and a steep decent to ski area country on the other side. Hard to believe a few years ago, this was the main drag over the divide before the tunnel was built.

Into Breckenridge, nice town, nice place to eat. With food and fuel we are off again to conquer Hoosier pass. Being Indiana born, a moment of silence please. Ok, at speed, a moment covers a lot of distance. Open 'em up in the space between Fairplay all the way in to Buena Vista where we bunch up some.

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