| We follow the fast flowing Arkansas
river where river rafters are doing a booming business
and head for Leadville. The climb is slow and
steady and your never realize how high you are until you
get there. Starting out from New Mexico means I go
through this 10,000 foot town three times on the trip.
The view of the highest point in Colorado, Mt. Elbert on
our left is to say the least, most impressive. If you
cover up the green grass in the foreground, it could be a
winter scene for all the snow still left. Over Fremont pass and I find myself alone except for the couple in the 300ZX who think they can match my pace. I don't think so. Pace this. Back to the Interstate and into Vail we get into some rain. Not bad because it cleans all the bugs off the bike. My earlier thoughts are confirmed here, I had better protection from the elements on my Concours than I do now on this ST1100. No time to compare bikes though, just to be here on a bike - any bike - makes it worthwhile. Great evening meal in Vail Village and a good start the next day from Minturn, after we bump start Mark's ST with a weak original battery. Headed up Battle Mtn, some of the guys are detained by the area traffic rules and regulations enforcement staff. No damages though, a few well timed "yessirs" and "we will be careful" and everybody is underway. But two close encounters in the first 35 miles of the day is not the best way to start the day. The rapidly deteriorating battery has to be tended to sooner or later so we start looking. But in the meantime, let's do Independence pass. And while were at the top, let's do a group photo. Black leather against blinding white snow. Great pic! Down the twisty road that narrows to a lane and a half between blasted rock and evergreen trees, "Yield to Oncoming Trucks" Oh sure, just tell me if there are any around this blind corner. Into Aspen we encounter sandbags everywhere. An effort to keep the high waters in the yards and out of the houses. Even a couple of hotels in town have some balconies as beach front property. Aspen is looking very crowded and very over blown. We push on looking for a dealer who might have a battery for the ST. Carbondale, contrary to legend, does not have a M/C dealer, so we take a side trip to Glenwood Springs where we locate a well-stocked business establishment on the edge of town. Remember all those horror stories from old Route 66 about breaking down and falling into the clutches of some unscrupulous tow truck driver with "MOM" tattooed on his arm? Well these guys didn't have the tattoo, or the spray cleaner/polisher I wanted, but they did have the $100 battery for Mark's ST. No, that's not a misprint. We could have pushed it home for that price. |
