1 Day, 2 Wheels, 400+ Miles, and 12,000+ ft.

Gregs epic one-day motorcycle ride...

I woke up at 6:30 AM on Saturday, hoped in the shower and started thinking about where and what route I was going to ride today. I tossed on some gear and a light jacket, filled the Camelback with food, lots of ice and water and headed out the door. I was on the bike before 7:30 AM, topped off the tank and hit I-70 out of Fruita. After a short blast, I exited in Grand Junction and turned towards Delta/Montrose. It didn't take long to reach Ouray and the road above with it's steep switchbacks, then the dirt road turnoff for the Alpine Loop. It's obvious that there has been a massive amount of water coming down of the mountains, the road had seen lots of rock washed onto it from the melting winters snow.

































After stopping to check out some of the mining sites, I eventually turned the bike towards the summit of Engineer Pass, at 12,800 feet. The snow on the side of the road got deeper and the temp. dropped quickly... I started to slow down, I'm not sure who was getting more beaten by the altitude, me or the bike. I made the summit of Engineer Pass around 11 AM, hung out for a bit and made small-talk with some older folks who were up there on 4Wheelers and UTV's. This was one of the mining mills, with my ugly mug blocking the neat view.




There weren't a ton of people up in the mountains, so I was surprised to find the town so packed. The train must have arrived. I went to Handlebars for lunch... seemed like everyone in town decided to eat there too! I grabbed a seat at the bar, ordered some Potato Skins and a Bacon Western Burger. It was damn good... I must have been hungry! After lunch I cruised around town for a bit, then heard one of the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gage engines blow it's whistle, so I headed over there to check it out. Now I don't get all geeked-out over trains, but working for the Union Pacific has sparked an interest in me for old, historical train operations. I think it's amazing how tracks were layed in some of the most formidable places. The old-school steam engines are pretty neat too. I was wandering around their yard, found some of their track maintainance equipment; motor cars, track panels, cranes, etc.









While I was scoping out their rolling stock, another train whistled as it came into the valley. I took a short video of the train, the quality sucks, but it's still neat.




It was about 2 PM, so I decided I'd better hit the trail again... I went back the way I came, over the Alpine Loop an back down into Ouray. I didn't want to head back home yet, so I turned the bike towards Telluride. The pavement from Ridgeway to Telluride is one of the neatest pieces of pavement I've been on, 2nd only to the road from Telluride thru Gateway. I was following some high-dollar SUV on it's way to Telluride, so we cooked thru the canyon at around 70-75 MPH, until we caught a group of Harleys. After that, it was a slow ride into town. Once in Telluride there were lots of people busily running around, buying stuff they probably don't need. For some reason it seemed to me like they were all just trying to stay busy, not thinking about their mundane existence... I was the one living the quality life... on the seat of my DR650. After battling the crowded streets of Telluride, I made my way above town to the base of the Black Bear Pass trail. I had heard the trail was still snowed in, due to the unusually high amount of snow that fell this winter. I had to see for myself. I took a bunch of shots on the way up the trail, waterfalls, the insane switchbacks and some shots of the busy town below.






I came back thru Telluride at 5 PM, then opted to take the long, yet scenic way home, by way of Nucla/Naturita/Gateway. It's about an hour longer than going back thru Montrose, but sooooo worth it. The canyons are amazing... Gateway is a fun area... and the roads... they're the type of roads you dream about riding. Deep redrock canyons, a big river, large green trees... long, sweeping curves. As I headed home my shadow lead the way.




Eventually the ride ended... I pulled into the garage after sundown, about 9:20 PM and had over 400 miles on the bike from the day. Not bad for riding thru redrock canyons, gnarly roads, 12,000+ ft elevation, etc. I managed to avoid the 98* heat that Fruita was seeing all day long, the air was nice and crisp riding in the morning, then I spent most of the day in the San Juan mountains, temps ranging from the low 50's to low 70's. By the time I rolled back into Grand Junction it was already cooling down, just warm. Perfect riding weather.


Here's the link to the photo album, if you'd like to see all the pics, check them out, they are so much better than my words.- http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/ga...7_a89Hy#P-1-24