My Trip to Colorado

[VR6Dave]

A friend of mine and I travelled to Colorado the first week in July. Oklahoma was pretty uneventful scenery wise so I won't bore anyone with the few pictures I took there. We met in Clayton, NM and camped at the man made lake there. They uncovered dinosaur tracks trapped in stone when they dug the spillway so this was an extra attraction. We left the following day for Gunnison via a long, scenic route. We saw Capulin Volacno in NM, crossed the Rio Grande and up thorugh Creede and Lake City on our way. I was surprised to get as good as 50 mpg in the mountains. The first day in Coloroado we rode a loop that took us west along the Gunnison River to Gateway, CO. We were 8 miles from Utah at this point before we turned south and headed back. A few hours were spent in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The next day we headed north to Marble where they quarried the marble for the Lincoln Memorial and Wshington Monument. From there it was through Aspen and up to the Continenetal Divide. We crossed the Divide twice that day. We broke camp the following day and headed for home, made it back to Arkansas in under 24 hours despite a slow moving storm. The seat on the V11 is not made for comfort or touring. I didn't sit on the bike for 2 weeks after that trip! I'll plan another trip out there for sure but maybe take another bike. An excellent reference we used can be found here:

 

http://www.arkansasrider.com/coloradoguide.html

 

And information about someof the sites:

 

http://www.nps.gov/cavo/

http://www.claytonlakestatepark.com/

http://www.nps.gov/blca/

 

 

I'll try and post pictures when I figure out how to compress them to 200kb.

[Guest mikemathew]

We go other places, such as Snowbird, Alta, Vail, Whistler, and Jackson Hole, but have never found any one destination which offers all that Aspen does. Tucked away in the picturesque Roaring Fork valley, the cozy town of Aspen holds an abundance of unusual shops, gourmet restaurants, galleries, coffee houses, all sorts of bars/pubs, the famous "Crystal Palace" for a night of dining and entertainment - most within easy walking distance of Aspen's lodges, condominiums, and inns. Only a short 13 mile drive or free shuttle bus ride away is the Snow mass complex with its own shopping mall, miles of ski runs, and lots of condos, vacation homes, and hotels. Highlands Ski area and Buttermilk are on the outskirts of town. The "Aspen area" has four mountains for all levels of skiers from beginners to extreme skiers. We can stay a week and never have to ski the same run twice.

---------------------------------------------------------

mikemathew

Colorado Drug Addiction

[jrt]

I spent a little more than a week in Colorado earlier this year (late June) and rode from the Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park down to Salida and attended the CO MGNOC rally. Splendid weather the entire way. I took ol' grandad (the '74 Eldorado) instead of the V11 just for different. It was easier to pack all my camping junk. During the day was nice and warm for riding. I camped the entire time (never below 10K feet) in parks or forest areas, and ended up boiling water for camp baths. I'll tell you what- it gets cold up in them thar' mountains at night.

It was a lovely trip, highly recommended and I put up a bunch of random, non-captioned pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/Colorado

I have to disagree with Mike- I didn't like Aspen at all. My first introduction was seeing a Volvo police car pull over a Volvo car. Too much money in that town for me. I picked up a book and some beer and drove back to my campsite. Just personal preference... No argument that it is a beautiful area.

Oh- the Eldo ran mostly well, though a bit rich. Handled GREAT. I actually passed a Ducati on one of the passes (going downhill, of course).

[VR6Dave]

I have posted pics here:

 

Colorado Pics!

 

Not all of them are up yet, I've been very busy lately. My friend is of the same opinion as you jrt, he used to fly helicopters in the military and he commented on the number of private jets at the airport. Get rid of all the rich socialites and it would probably be a nice, quaint town. There is quite a bit of beauty in that area. I would like to go back and hit some of the roads and scenery we didn't have time for. Maybe get into Utah a little.

 

Dave

[Martin Barrett]

Thanks for posting the pictures up always nice to see other parts of the world and vicariously take motorcycle tours. One day I hope to make it to some of these places myself

[jrt]

I hope one day to get to ride England...

 

We're all alike