Packing up and getting ready for our annual migration in the opposite direction. Most full-time RV peeps head south for the winter. We’re going north again this year
The Husqie Adventure-450 wrapped up and ready to go
Got my new toy strapped to the back of the RV with time for kitty to practice a little bit of yoga before we go. The bike-on-back thing seems to be working except it covers the turn signals. Look for a repairs and mods post addressing that issue shortly
Sunrise on I-70
The drive over was unusually quiet. Not much traffic, no snow or other weather hazards, and we made the trip in just over 5 hours. We had an uninterrupted run at Vail Pass (and the tunnel) and Truck 2.0 pulled them at 55 mph no problem
Kitty does not want riding season to end
Well it looks like riding season on the east side of the mountains is wrapped up
A few inches of white to accent the chili peppersSnow falls up here
It seems the snow has forgotten how to fall down and is now practicing some new upward-falling moves
The last Motorcycle ride of the year was a great time. Rode from Gateway Co to (almost) Moab. I’ve been working out a couple of routes this fall. One for dirt bikes and one for big twin adventure bikes. Now I have most of the routes ironed out for each type
Mandy, Mike, and Dan on the road to Rattlesnake Arch
I started this when it was hot out and now it’s just barely warm enough to ride and there is only 4 hours of ridable daylight. The sun sets early in the canyon bottoms
Dewey BridgeThe all-new Husqie Adventure-450 on the Kokopelli Trail near Dewey BridgeSnow in the shade nowIn the sun south of Fisher TowerSnow bike tracks
Winter in the desert is just around the corner now. Mountains are getting snow and the passes are all yucky. I took a quick trip to Ft Collins and got some snow and mud on me. I spent the weekend in retreat with friends and became fully illuminated one morning (it wore off by lunch).
I’m a fully illuminated being. Big thanks to Robert for catching the moment
I’ve also been playing with my Mini-ADV bike. The all-new Husqie Adventure-450 is turning out to be a lot of fun and is keeping me from paying attention to my mountain bike. Friends and I are planning to ride in Idaho next summer, we’ve named it rIdaho. That’ll be a hoot!
Fall day at the Monument
In other news Truck 2.0 turned 300,000 miles this month. I spent a few hours and dollars chasing down a coolant leak, and a fuel leak but we seem to have that all sorted now.
Truck 2.0 turns 300,000Glamor-shot of the Husqie Adventure-450 in the Colorado Nat’l MonumentDelightful fall day on the Monument North of Baxter pass near cow-lake (named for all the cows nearby)About 1/2-way up Baxter pass road. Looks like an old southwestern school house
As you recall I spent some time riding adventure bikes this summer and I decided to go ahead and buy one for next summer (plus this fall, winter, and next spring!) I got a mini-adventure bike instead of the big Africa Twin I rented for that summer ride
The Husqie Adventure-450 on trails in the Book Cliffs
The Husqie Adventure-450 is about 280 pounds lighter than the Africa Twin (250 vs 530). I can pick this bike up if it falls and it is a lot more maneuverable for the UTV and jeep trails that criss-cross the desert. I’ve spent a few weeks looking for a route to Moab that I can ride. The Kokopelli goes that way, but parts of it are above my ability. I have a dream trip of riding over to Moab one day and coming back the next. I also want to ride the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands NP. Maybe this year. Could be next year
Kitty is taking riding lessons. Vroom! Vroom!
I have been skunked a few times on my attempts to make loops out of 4×4 roads. The Husqie Adventure-450 is street legal and can go highway speeds so I can always hit the pave to get around, but I prefer dirt roads
This would make a great trials section, but it’s a no-go for the Husqie and me. This is a 4×4 connector trail I tried to make a loop with
Outside it’s 95º and the wind is blowing 30 mph. Whenever I step out it feels like someone is hitting me with a pizza oven.
I’ve been riding early in the mornings and it’s fun to see the long shadows I create as I ride around
Have a new project in the shop. A 22-year old mule that no one has ever done any maintenance onThe old red mule is back together and runs great! Seriously Mark, check the oil now
After having spent almost a year at the foot of the Monument I finally bought a park-pass and took a ride through the park. I went in the west entrance and gawked at some of the overlooks before I peeled off on one of the roads to Glade Park
I was surprised to discover that the Monument is just the north-facing cliff of a huge mesa that runs all the way south to highway 141. There isn’t a continuous road over to 141 that I could find, but the trees and creeks go all the way over
I ran out of road at the edge of the Grand Mesa National Forest mostly because the City of Fruita had dug a hole in the road to repair a water line
The mesa tops out around 9500 feet so it was nice and cool up there. The grass was still green and the wild flowers still had blooms on
After months of planning we’re on adventure! My friends Mike and John launched out of Cuba NM about the same time I left out of Fruita and we met in Del Norte, CO.
Mike riding upright in New Mexico
Day one for me was a hair-raising experience. I’ve likely never ridden more than 25 miles of pavement at one time in my whole life and my first day on the road lasted for 250 miles of pavement and more than half of that at 70 MPH. The Honda Africa Twin is a heavy bike (I’m guessing about 600 pounds plus me, so 760-ish on the road?) and it handles well on the highway.
The rocks defeated John on their first day crossing New Mexico
I left on a tuesday and traffic was very light. I mostly had the road to myself and less than a handful of people caught me from behind. I managed to figure out how to handle the bike while it was going 7 MPH or more. Under 7 MPH it gets very heavy and if it starts to tip over it’s going to finish the job.
John, Mike, and Darren custom-bending the new copper clutch lever
On day one Mike and John rode a rough dirt section of trail in New Mexico and both of them had a date with the dirt. I got to see the battle scars when we met up. Mike broke a side case and John picked up some new scratches
Custom clutch level. Steam-punk edition
We all met up at the Windsor Hotel in Del Norte. It’s a nice place. Fully remodeled: A/C, hot & cold water, nice bed, nice people. The only down-side was the sloth-like pace of the people running the restaurant. I should have eaten before I went down to dinner. Breakfast was even slower. It took an hour to get two scrambled eggs and some potatoes out of the kitchen
This place rocks! Darren had the fix for a broken clutch
We stopped for gas at the corner station in Del Norte and John was attacked by a gravity storm and went down. Broke the clutch lever on his VFRX 1200. We called a few places looking for a replacement with no luck. Then John had the bright idea to stop at Kens’ Tire and Automotive where Darren had the solution. We hammered a section of copper pipe on the broken lever stub and Darren bent it into a curve. Brilliant! I’m guessing it will last about a hundred years like that
Mike and Mike repairing a flat
After repairs were complete we rode from Del Norte north-bound past Natural Arch then zig-zagged our way through the mountains on dirt roads to Sargents, CO. Mike ran over a nail and got a flat tire just past the arch. While we were fixing the flat some people stopped by to chat and offer extra tools. Adventure bike people are nice and it was fun to meet and chat with the folks who stopped
Mike and Mike posing for the camera. We’ve been doing crazy stuff together since 1984
It took all day to go ~100 miles and we ended the day at the Monarch Mountain Lodge on the east side of Monarch Pass. The hotel’s hey-day was likely in the 1970’s. The building has that Swiss-chalet look that was popular oh-so-very-long-ago and now it has a sort of Tammy Fey Baker make-up sagging off the facade look to it
Break time on the side of the road
They served dinner, but only the stuff that could be cooked in the fryer. There was only one person both cooking and serving and she was 10x faster than the Windsor restaurant. Next day we got up hoping the restaurant would serve breakfast like the desk-guy said they did, but no such luck. Apparently pillow-cases and breakfast were in short supply. We powered up to the top of Monarch Pass and ate at the gift shop. Very tasty breakfast sandwiches were had by all
Break time in Ridgway CO
Day three took us down the Gunnison River playing tourist at all the beautiful spots. Blue Mesa, Cinnamon river, and then over to Black Canyon where we rode down to the bottom and had lunch at the rivers edge. My upright motorcycle luck ran out at the entrance gate to Black Canyon N.P. I fell over at the gate house and LOTS of people were in line behind me. SO embarrassing!
The Handle Bar logo cut into the top of their chicken pot pie
After our canyon adventure we rode pavement west then south through Ridgway, Ouray, and over the Million-Dollar highway to Silverton. There were SO many avalanches in the mountains this past winter and the amount of broken trees is staggering! The area has that fresh pine scent that only comes with millions of snapped-off pine trees oozing sap in the spring
Mike, Mike, and John at Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P.
We arrived at the Prospector Motel to find that the office had been converted into a room. We had to walk a block down the road to check in at the quicky-mart then walk back. The Prospect Motel peaked in about 1980 and while it was clean, had both kinds of water, and was quiet, I wouldn’t book my next vacation there
After getting cleaned up we set out in search of a meal and met some people who have been coming to Silverton for 40 years. They had some fine recommendations. We ate dinner at the Handle Bars food and saloon (look for the mustache) and the next day breakfast at the Brown Bear Cafe. Both good choices!
Day four we split up and went different ways. I headed back north over Red Mountain Pass and down valley to Grand Junction. Mike and John rode toward Durango and back into New Mexico where John had another go at falling down. Sand got him this time
All told it was a fun ride with great friends! I arrived home exhausted yet unscathed so I call that a win!
After months of thinking and list-making it’s finally time to start piling up the gear I will take on the trip
The stuff on the right is going in the cargo hold. The (heavy) hydration pack is a wearable
It feels like I’m wearing more than I’m carrying in the panniers. The riding pants, jacket, boots, hydration-pack, and helmet feel close to 30 pounds. There is about half that weight in the panniers
I tried all the things on while it was close to 90* outside and it feels hot too. The ride out to meet my friends will be in the 80’s and 90’s. Where we’re going is forecast to be lows in the mid-30’s and highs in the upper 70’s. I suspect I’m going to be both hot and cold on this trip. If the weather holds I might not be wet so that would be a plus
I forgot how wickedly twisty Pudre Canyon is. And rough, twisty and rough. It was a tedious drive for the first two hours then busy and trafficy for the last two hours. Whenever I come to Denver I really appreciate how calm the Western Slope is
Head west young man
I spent a few days going to doctors and sharing meals with friends then headed back to the desert for more volunteering. Google thinks it’s a 4-hour drive, but with pulling the trailer over a rough-ass I-70 it will be a lot closer to 6 hours
When I was planning my escape from Denver I thought about the high summer temperature for about a minute then dismissed it in favor of getting some extra stuff done before I left town. Not a grade A plan
With the outside temps around 90*F when I left I had to do battle with the engine heat going above 190*F as I climbed over the mountain passes. I saw a few people with trailers who had lost the battle with engine heat and were sitting beside the road with the hood up
There were more people with big new trucks pulling bigger trailers than mine racing up the hill without a worry than broken trucks, so that’s a plus
Four days out from a freezing MeadowFest and it’s over 90. Quite the change!
After 14 years I think I’ve worn out my cycling shoes. I’ve nursed them along with gorilla tape and new holes for the laces for the past few years and now they are heading into retirement. I bought the same brand and size (EU 43) to replace them, but the shoes are nowhere near the same size. I ended up going two sizes larger (EU 45) to find a pair that fit. Seems like the EU is shrinking*
I also semi-retired my old hydration pack which has lasted 15 years so far. The main compartment zipper had a work related injury about 5 years ago and never recovered. The other zippers are getting hard to zip so when I found a new pack on sale/ closeout I ordered it. Converting to the new pack was harder than I thought it should be. Finding a place for tools and other goo-gaws was tough. The pack needs more small pockets
Another grand day on the bike! This time the new Wrangler trail
There is a new trail in the Loma area. They completed work on the Wrangler trail from the upper trail head to the Kokopelli trail head and it’s nice. I rode up Mary’s and down Wrangler as a fellow rider suggested and it worked out. I don’t think I have the strength to climb it from the bottom up, but if you do then it would be fun that way too. They also added a half-mile to Steve’s and it’s a great addition to an already great trail!
Definitive proof that Space-Time is 4-dimensional and measures 24x16x6x1
I made a science discovery this week. I found proof that Space-Time is four-dimensional! 24x16x6x1 to be exact. Take that large hadron collider! Also in the news this week was the first picture of a black hole
I went riding with some people I met in the camp ground. I like riding with people I meet here. Anyway we had a great ride except for the part where Jen fell and broke a bone in her thumb and snapped the ligament. YIKES!
Even with a broken thumb she was way faster on a bike than me
A mocha colored stream on tan rocks is hard to photographDelightful stream in the Devil’s Canyon areaThe hills are turning green, the river is turning brownPulled into the trail head and there are 13 new porta potties – not a good omen
(*) It’s a Brexit joke. As I write this Britain is busy shooting itself in the economic foot just because they don’t want any more foreigners on their island. Stupid British government
Ask Mike Moore 