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A Fall Trip...to
buy gas. |
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A Fall Trip...to
buy gas. |
Going to Escalante Utah. What are you going to do there? Buy gas. This conversation set the tone for the last big ride of the year. 1500+ miles in three days. A couple of buddies and I like to do at least one big sport oriented ride every year. The big one had already occurred, but we wanted a nice ride to cap the season. October in northern Colorado can be an iffy proposition weather wise, so we decided to head west and south. Tom decided to ride his new YZF600R and Bob decided to take his big bike, the R1100GS. I was going to ride my Kawi ZX9R. I'd taken the afternoon off to get ready to go. The bike was serviced, packed, and ready to roll. I'd even put on a new rear tire the night before. I wanted to get to Denver, about 60 miles, meet the boys, and head out. Only needed to stop for gas, but I was a little late and in a hurry. You can guess the rest. So after I dusted myself off, I looked at the bike and discovered enough busted equipment to preclude riding the ZX9. I called Bob and we went over our options. If I could locate the most critical part, the peg mount, I'd take my bike. A couple of fruitless calls netted no parts. So, I called Bob again and he kindly offered use of his "little" bike, a ZX6R, trusting me with his bike in spite of my little accident. I unpacked the bike, put my stuff in my pickup, and hurried south. Still needed gas, still in a hurry. Fortunately, the nice officer who stopped me saw my helmet on the seat of the truck and took pity. No ticket, just a warning. Our credo for these trips is "No tickets, no crashes." Hate to screw it up before the trip is even started. We're running late due to my screwup, but still hope to miss most of the rush hour traffic. We jump on I-70 to head west. Freeway travel is never wonderful, but at least I-70 has nice mountain scenery. Could be on I-70 in Kansas... The weather is perfect, unseasonably warm for October. The numerous tunnels provide some diversion, as I drop a couple of gears and wrap up the Muzzy equipped ZX6R. It echoes nicely... Bob, in the lead, just shakes his head. We slide through Eisenhower tunnel and then over Vail pass (10,666'). As we get further west, our pace picks up a bit. We'd been pretty good about our speed, but that only lasts so long with this crew. The road through Glenwood Canyon is spectacular. We stop for gas in Glenwood Springs and then make Rifle just before dark. At the motel we break out some nice 15 year old McCallan single malt and celebrate getting out of town with a shot. We wander across the street for a pretty good Chinese meal then take a walk while Bob and Tom smoke expensive stogies. It's been a good evening after covering about 190 miles. He passes a pickup...I see a puff of black and white feathers! Next morning is chilly and clear. Everyone dons electrics and we continue down I-70, clipping along at just below the ton. It's just after sunup, and a sheriff going the other way apparently has more important things on his mind. Turning onto US 6 we head for Palisade and breakfast. After an unusual meal, huevos rancheros on potatoes, we head southwest and hook up with CO 141. We get gas in Orchard Mesa, to a man anticipating one of the nicest motorcycle roads in the state. CO 141 splits from US 50 at Whitewater. This state highway is a great motorcycle road that lasts all the way to Uravan, about 80 miles. Good surface, almost no traffic, lots of curves with nothing tricky, and pretty good visibility make the road a real sport riding nirvana. The first half of the road runs in a canyon, almost all of it descending. Red sandstone and gray granite cliffs line the route, exposing some classic geology. We rip along, Bob in the lead. He passes a pickup pulling a stock trailer and I see a puff of black and white feathers. One magpie out of a group tries to stay for one last bite of breakfast roadkill. It's his last. Must have been better than the huevos... After the impact Bob notices a sharp loss in power. We stop to inspect for damage. The busted right side brush guard is holding the brake on. We remove the offending bits and press on. At the bottom of the canyon is the small town of Gateway.
way. Tom sees a bit over 140, a shade faster than me. We take a break near Slick Rock for the boys to enjoy a cigar. ...we see lots of deer sign...pavement littered with grill and headlight pieces! Zipping by Dove Creek, we head for Utah. The road, US 666, is fairly straight but roller coasters up and down over the low mesas of Anasazi country. Juniper trees' dark green contrasts with the reds and yellows of the sandstone. As we enter Utah, we see lots of deer sign. Parallel black streaks on the road ending in a dark splotch of pavement littered with grill and headlight pieces. This is not a place to go fast after dark. We're near the border, too, making discretion even more important. Most states seem to like the revenue generated by tourists and state lines seem to bring more speed law enforcement. We get to Monticello and pick up US 191 heading south, which is straight and open. We maintain a moderate pace and coast into Blanding for gas. Four miles further south we pick up UT 95. This is canyon country, mesas separated by steep walled arroyos. The road surface and visibility are good and the traffic light. The road snakes in long sweepers along the mesa tops, changing to sharp switchbacks as it drops down into the canyons. More sweepers across the canyon bottoms and then more sharp stuff as we climb out of the canyon. The sequence repeats. We scream along, having a ball. We pass through one of the deepest road cuts anywhere. Comb Ridge is a hogback, formed from a monocline, a big ripple in the Earth's crust. It interrupts the horizontal sandstone beds forming the mesas and canyons. The cut is at least 200 feet deep and just over two lanes wide. We pass Natural Bridges, concentrating on the road, missing it completely. The mesas spread out and we drop into the canyon system that holds Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation area.
On top you can see for miles. Unfortunately you probably don't want to, as barren desert and straight roads prevail. But it's fast. The low sun flashes between the aspen like a strobe light The gas station in Hanksville is built in a cave. The natives know how to survive the desert wind and heat in the summer. We gas quickly and head to our night's destination, Torrey. After about 10 miles the road, UT 24, gets interesting again. More red cliffs flanked by cottonwoods, willows, and by fairly fresh pavement. As we enter Capitol Reef National Park, the turns are tighter and there is some traffic, but we take full advantage of a nearly perfect road.
Next morning we get up and jump on the bikes, sans luggage, for a pre-breakfast ride. The road, UT 12, climbs and we lose the red cliffs, getting into more mountainous terrain. The road opens up and the surface stays good, although the curves are less sharp. The trees change from cottonwood to juniper and then to pinon, and finally ponderosa and aspen. The aspen here are just turning gold, unlike the ones in northern Colorado that are already bare. The low sun flashes between the aspen like a strobe light and causes my left eye to go into visual overload. We dodge cattle, some startled by the noisy pipe on the ZX6. In places we can see for miles out onto the desert. We begin to descend and head back down into more canyon country. The road tightens up again. We are having a ball. Left, right, left, right.
We pack our bags, check out, and head for Hanksville and points south. The road back to Lake Powell is as much fun going down as it was going up. I pull a little gap on Bob and Tom, but they are right behind me as I stop at Jacob's Bench again. We chat a bit and head for the turnoff on UT 26 to try some new road. We get there and a big yellow sign warns of a steep unpaved section of road, so we bail on that option and head for Blanding and gas. Comb Ridge is even more impressive from the east. Back through the canyons and mesas we scream. We pause in Blanding for gas and head south on US 191. Traffic increases, slowing our pace. We're going the speed limit and seem to be standing still. The road is open, straight, and boring. It improves at Bluff, where we catch UT 163. The road is better and traffic much lighter. We wick up through nice sweepers with good visibility and nice surface. When we reach Colorado, the road goes dead straight and is rough with patches.
country is harsh and deserty, and the road boring all the way to Cortez. Turning east toward Durango on CO 160, the road and scenery improve, but the traffic increases. In Durango, we find our motel, dump our stuff, and head for a stroll and dinner. Durango is touristy, but a fun place. We wander around while Bob and Tom light their evening cigars. A brew pub catches our eye for dinner. After our meal it's back to the room for some shuteye. It's been a good day, and Bob has only had to dodge birds a couple of times. We covered about 420 miles. Next morning it's 38° when we get up, so our initial plan to ride before breakfast is scrapped. We amble into town, eat, then ride out. CO 172 takes us through sleepy Ignacio to CO 151.
Our pace continues to be good as we head for South Fork, where we cut north on CO 149. Lighter traffic allows us to pick it up even more. The road is good, fast with plenty of visibility. After about 10 miles and a change in county government, the road's surface changes. It turns rough with lots of patches. We continue past Creede, an old mining town, and the road begins to hammer my bladder. I finally pull over for some relief and Tom stops as well. Bob comes back and joins us, after "losing" us and wondering if someone had crashed. After heading out, another change in local government brings much better road, so we open it up again. My radar detector screams and Bob's apparently does, too, as we both climb on the binders. We're okay as a Bronco mounted sheriff drives by. We continue to climb, crossing Spring Creek (10,901') and then Slumgullion Pass (11,361').
get closer to Gunnison, it opens up more and the terrain turns to high desert. The Colorado State Patrol likes to use planes through this stretch, so we slow down a bit and roll into Gunnison. Heading out of Gunnison after a gas stop, we begin the long climb to Monarch Pass (11,312') on US 50. The road is good and we pick up the pace again. As we scoot up the grade, I push the big BMW. It's easy to ride fast, with an upright position and wide bars for leverage. I lose Bob and Tom in my mirrors. Cresting the summit and heading down, traffic increases and we get a bit more spread out. We want to stop in Poncha Springs for ice cream. When we arrive, the ice cream store is closed. We take another little break, see several State Patrol vehicles go by, and head out, cautiously. Bob and I trade bikes back and he leads, taking US 285 north. A couple of close encounters with the Minions of the Law later, we get to Buena Vista. More gas and it's north on US 24 through Leadville to I-70 for the return to Denver. The roads are good, but there is a lot more traffic, slowing our pace a bit. Traffic increases again on I-70. The bikes are the only vehicles with enough power to do 75 up the grade to the Eisenhower Tunnel. The wide smooth road would be a ball without all the damn cars. The guttural chuckle of the Kawi on trailing throttle reverberates through the tunnel. Out the other end we begin the long descent into Denver. Traffic is hauling, aided by gravity. As we approach Denver during rush hour, we are forced back into the real world. I stop at Bob's to pick up my truck and head home. The next 60 miles aren't as much fun as the last 470. Work tomorrow, but a perfect weekend blunts the "anticipation"... Harl Hoppler 1217 Robertson St |
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