Colorado Rally Report

[dcmcmunn]

Guess I'll start a new thread about the Colorado rally. Diane and I arrived in Vegas about noon local time on Saturday. We picked up the rental Gold Wing soon after with really no hassle at all and were on our way toward Utah by 2PM. Only problem was it was 108 degrees when we started out. Saw it as high as 115 on the Wing's thermometer near the AZ border. That was not only brutal, but dangerous as well. We re-hydrated several times before we got to Hurricane UT, near Zion NP. It had cooled to the 90s by then (higher elevation). Our plan was to get through Zion then on to Kanab for the night. A thunderstorm changed our plans however. We didn't get wet, but the storm arrived a bit ahead of us in Zion and made a muddy mess of about 3 miles of the road that was under construction. Not good on a loaded Wing. So we had to turn back to Hurricane and detour south and back up to Kanab. Arrived there about 9PM.

Today was fantastic. Got up early and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Crystal clear and 70 degrees there. Spent about 3 hours there and headed for Kayenta for the night. Stopped and saw the Glen Canyon dam on the way. Pretty hot in places today as well. Heading for Salida tomorrow - should be cooler in the mountains.

We have put about 600 miles on the Wing so far and it runs perfectly in the hot weather. Our stock early CBXs (or Pro-Links for that matter) should handle as well. A couple on a bright yellow Wing from British Columbia duked it out with us for a few miles heading to the North Rim this morning. It's amazing how quickly these things will get down the road and handle the curves.

Anyway, we should see you folks late tomorrow PM in Salida.

Dave

[Rick Pope]

Update:

We're in Montrose. Weather has been great, with the exception of the occasional afternnon/evening shower. The locals are saying this is their "monsoon season" but keep in mind that the average rainfall in this town is about 10". One local CBXer said last night was the first time he's seen puddles in quite some time.

We've ridden some of the best roads I've ever experienced. Clean, smooth, and twisty. Spectacular scenery adds to the danger though, as you just want to rubber-neck, and that, combined with a 2000' drop just a few feet off the pavement can be a bad thing. Colorado Route 92 around the north rim of the Black Canyon is just fantastic.

We're loading the trailers now, getting ready for the move to Durango tomorrow. Only rode about 100 miles w/ Jack Gutshall today. We had a ball, and didn't even get to the "good" stuff. Rode down East Portal Road in Black Canyon NP. Five miles of near 16% grade. Incredible.

[dcmcmunn]

I've been negligent in posting updates even though we've had excellent internet service at all the motels. We've been too busy enjoying all the great places we've visited, I guess. We did catch up with the Popes and company for 3 different nights, 2 in Salida and 1 in Montrose. In between we've visited Rocky Mountain Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Hell's Angels rally in Gunnison, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and about a dozen mountain passes higher than 10,000 ft. This AM we are in Torrey, UT getting ready to leave for Bryce and Zion parks. The weather looks perfect today - sunny and 70s. It will be in the 90s at least when we leave Zion to stay in Springdale tonight. Then it's back to Vegas, return the bike, and enjoy an evening there before flying home Wednesdaqy.

As of this AM we have put over 2300 miles on the Wing. It's been a great traveling companion. We'll get the links to the photos we've taken up here soon. Good luck to those completing the Colorado portion of the rally and hope to hear from you soon.

Dave

[daves79x]

Just a few thoughts and reflections on the Colorado rally:

We made it home Wednesday eve. The ride back to Vegas was near 100 degrees again, but it seemed much shorter and not nearly as hot. We must have gotten used to it a bit. We pulled in with a total of 2716 miles on the rental Wing. Not bad for 10 days of 2-up touring. We saw Bryce and Zion that last day before staying in Springdale, UT. Zion is kind of a mess - 3 or 4 miles of 2-line dirt that they don't seem to be in any hurry to get repaved. I'd not recommend doing it on a street bike. You can still stay in Springdale (big bucks and a bit 'greener' than we're used to) and take the shuttle in and out of the park, but I'd detour around to leave the area rather than go through the park.

The canyon country of Utah, however, is something everyone should see sometime in their lives. Just absolutely breathtaking scenery everywhere. I'd been there 30 years ago and had really forgotten just how great it is there.

I'd say the rally in Colorado was very near at least 20 club members and within decent riding distance for many others. Exactly 2 Colorado members made it to the rally (at least as of our leaving the group on Friday). Everyone else was from several day's ride away at least. Kind of a shame that more 'local' folks didn't at least check in. It's not like it wasn't advertised in advance. That was really the only disappointing part for me. The Pope's did a great job of scouting out the areas and selecting motels/campgrounds, at considerable expense to them.

Those that did make the rally, all or part, really had the experience of a lifetime. As usual, it wasn't as much about CBXs as it was the comraderie of a group of friends getting together to enjoy the whole experience.

Anyway, thanks Rick and Susan for making the rally just about the best it could be. I hope the many stories from the rally will be shared by others here as well. Once we get the hundreds of photos sorted through we'll post a link here for them.

Dave and Diane

[Will]

I've started sorting some of my pictures from out trip to Colorado.

This is not all of them. This is enough to be boring. You wouldn't want to see them all and it would take too long to upload. There will be another batch of just people.

They are in chorographical order.

But, other than that there is no rhyme or reason or theme to the pictures. Maybe when it snows, I'll add captions.

If you have a question or comments send me a message. Maybe I can answer.

Enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoctor/set ... 8069/show/

[cbx6ss]

Great pix!...I shoulda coulda woulda...I may never know what I missed.
/r
B

[Rick Pope]

This rally was a hoot. For me, it was about seeing great scenery, on great roads, with some of the best folks we've ever met. No squabbles, great roads and destinations, and of course plenty of chatting around the supper table or campfire.

We had about 20 folks while at Poncha Springs, a few went home from there, and some others joined us in Montrose. Some were ICOA members, some family, some just friends of other club members. All good folks though. Luckily for us, Keith and Janet Boughton joined us in Montrose and proved to be wonderful hosts. They even brought the fixin's for home made ice cream and fresh peaches one night. Not your standard rally fare.

While in Durango, about 10 of us took the Durango/Silverton Narrow Guage RR and saw more great scenery. A bit pricey, but worth every penny. And Durango has some of the best restaurants you could want. Reasonable and good. After everyone left on Weds/Thurs, Susan and I unloaded the dual sports and went exploring in the nearby mountains. It was Susan's first time on her SuperSherpa, and she really enjoyed it. Found great gravel roads into the mountains, and some nice paved secondary roads on the opposite side of the valley from 550. Beautiful ranches, broad valleys, and twisties.

On the return run, we dropped into Oklahoma to visit with Wes and Cindy Anderson. It was good to see them again, and see that Wes is making progress. We even got him to laugh. After all he's beent hrough, thats a pretty tall order.

Got home mid-afternoon Thursday, finished unloading today. Back to work................

BTW, I hope my pics are half as good as Bill's.

[EMS]

BTW, I hope my pics are half as good as Bill's.

..which are these here:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoctor/set ... 8069/show/

[EMS]

Bump!

I need a suggestion for a nice day ride (around 350 miles round trip) in the Salida area. Will be close to there with a group of Ducati riders the week before Vintage Days in July and would like to have an idea of what a nice ride would be.
We want to end the day in Monument, CO, northof Colorado Springs.

[Rick Pope]

If you go east out of Salida on US 50 to Canyon City, just west of CC is Rt. 9 turning north. Take that then start looking for a road turning east and marked Cripple Creek (2-3 miles). It's a fun, swoopy clean stretch of pavement with few passing oportunities, but little traffic. It ends in Cripple Creek, where there are ample places for a lunch stop.

You might go south-east out of Salida to Bishop's Castle too. A loop to Bishop's Castle with another loop including Cripple Creek would have you near Colorado Springs and also near your 350 mile goal.

[EMS]

Looked this up. This seems to be a great ride. Thanks, Rick!