4th of July Ride Report - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

[Munch]

Erik and I decided to get outta town and avoid the 97 degree heat that was decending upon the Metro area.

7am leaving the house, all packed for two days of riding.



Was to meet Erik in Cherry Creek, but the Cherry Creek Arts Festival was just getting underway.



We were on our way to Steamboat. Here's a quick shot up near Berthoud Pass outside Winterpark. Leaving early had it's benefits, no traffic!



After a quick gas stop in Granby, we hit one of my favorite roads in Colorado - Route 125. We pulled over for a quick stop at the Yacht Club and get some clarification on the speed limit from the local official in the car...



It was then onto Steamboat, probably the most boring stretch of roads we would be on over the next two days. But the lesser of two evils. We met some nice folks up top over looking the Lake as you get into Steamboat.



Slight bug problem...



The view from the inside wasn't much better...

[Munch]

We got into town, grabbed some lunch and decided to hit some local twisties as it was early, but not after a quick pit stop, and a shot with my new buddy "Sinclair".



Weather called for chances of rain - but this was about as bad as it got:



Route 134 and some "Road Porn" over Gore Pass. Amazing stuff!



Got the bike dialed in, and felt comfortable driving one handed, while taking shots of Erik behind me in the twisties.



More action...




It was like this the next hour or so, more "Road Porn"!



Decided to stretch the girls legs a bit, and open her up. One handed wasn't the best idea, and I wasn't confident dangling a $600 camera at 120+



Finger rock... gave me some ideas on day two...



Erik giving me the international finger rock "sign"



We took a side road that looked interesting, and it turned out to drop us into StageCoach Park, right around the lake...



Passed a hillside full of yellow and purple flowers, kinda cool.



Decided if I had to go, this is where I'd do it...



Day one of riding was winding down, it was time to start drinking. I think we passed a total of 4 cops on the trip (one being in the car at the Yacht Club). The others were in expected sections roadway where we were going maybe 5 mph over. All in all not  a bad day or riding!

We did see Officer Stay-Puff-Marshmallow-Man in Steamboat. Bad cop, no more donuts! 

[Munch]

We headed into town for a night of beers and fireworks. It felt alot like springbreak. Every college kid must have congragated upon the river, and been tubing and drinking all day. People ripped by 6pm. It was gonna be a good night 

Shuttling into town, I spotted - Skinner - well sorta!



We camped out our spot for dinner and fireworks. Cugino's in downtown.



The only issue was it was 5 pm. The show wouldn't start till 9:30. So we sat n drank n drank n drank, and watched this kinda stuff... 



Hottie mom...



Then our friends that took the picture over top of the lake showed up, Josh and "whats-her-name" were pretty cool.



He had the coolest dog too! Well, next to mine.



The fireworks went on for almost 25 ear-drum pounding minutes. Probably the best show I've seen in sometime. It's all on video, ottherwise I'd post some pics! The booms were setting off car alarms all around us. It was intense!

We kept drinking, 8 Red Bull Vodkas and 12 beers later, Erick and I stumbled into the next bar. We ain't in Kansas anymore Toto...



Fixing we were going to get into a brawl, we opted we better mosey on - too many 10-gallon hats, and pissed off guys because I was being "friendly" with their women 

Not really sure what time it was, or when the last shuttle bus was, we started walking...

And walking... 

Passing the Pink Bunny Motel...



And walking some more. 

In the end, we realized the last shuttle ran at 10pm. We "some-how" missed it, and ended up having to walk 3 miles home. No kidding, we measured it on the bike in the morning. I was an angry drunk at that point, but happy to be in a comfy bed.

End of Day 1.

[Munch]

Day two came with the plans on heading West to Dinosaur National Park.

I was concerned about the route, as it loooked long and flat. We hit the local Starbucks, and ran into a local riding a nice 1098. He convinced us West was a bad idea, and he enlightened us to a lil "secret" route to Oak Creek.

We hoped on the bikes and rolled outta town...




Turned out to be one of these best roads I've been on in some time, well, since yesterday   



Sections of cattle guards to deal with, and occasional gravel from the cows, but the roads were all like this and I don't think we passed a car in some 50 miles.



Cresting a hill, I came across these guys...



This one took his sweet ole time...



If a cow can give a stink eye, this is it, the white one in the middle...

[Munch]

The roads kept twisting and leading us to bluer skies...



And awesome rock formations...



and...



You just can't miss a corner!!



We took a break near the top for some of my artsy shots...




And...



I couldn't stop...



By this time, Erik had tossed on the tunes, and was jamming to Pat Benatar behind me (or whatever those Foreigners listen to!)

[Munch]

The scenary was breath taking..



And the roads kept getting better by the mile...



We finally finished the back loop into Oak Creek... big coal country, and here's a scooper in Oak Creek...



We passed Finger Rock again... here's my reply to Erik 



I decided to let Erik lead...



We came up upon a nice overlook on the backside of Eagle County



Vail is over younder...



Nice pass...

[Munch]

I dropped into the canyon to hit the mens room, and found my buddy: "Bones".



I liked the look!



We were going to head down to Leadville via route 24, but ran into a bit of traffic for the first time all weekend. So we opted to hit Idaho Springs for some grub.




From there, we hoped upto Echo Lake, then got dumped on through Bergen Pass. The rain let up, and we coasted down the last bit of twisties into Morrison.

The ride took us through some of my favorite roads in Northern Colorado. About 600 miles in total. No cops, no traffic, no incidents and endless hours of riding enjoyment!


Day 1:


Day 2 back road to Oak Creek:


Day 2 total:

[PanDuc]

Looks like good times 

[c_rex]

dang... nice ride.  I'd be looking into my air box after that one though.  bug problems run deep sometimes!

[Evil_Ductator]

Great Pics!  Makes me miss doing that, looking forward to my Laguna Seca trip up the coast

[OT_Ducati]

Nice. thanx for sharing.

[lauramonster]

Look like a fun time!!

Wish I was there......

[DoubleEagle]

I have been to Fort Collins , Greeley, Estes Park, Red Rocks and the old Denver Air Port. The Rockies are awesome. I would love to have been on that ride you took. It looked like you could run what ever speed you wanted most of the time. Thanks for the entertaining trip .

[NAKID]

Looks like you guys had a good time. Nice pics!

[Munch]

Planning "Epic Ride 2008 - the Best of Colorado"

Details fourthcoming...