Memorial Day ride to Colorado

Well, not exactly, about the time I was back from Morro Bay my brother suggested that I head to Colorado for some family cabin fun over memorial day weekend. Airfare was ok, but flying didn't seem like any fun so I decided to ride out. I had a rough idea for the route and just needed to deal with a jury duty issue, so I didn't really plan to much.

I did prep the bike, which considering it'd just been to Morro Bay and back accounted for nothing more than cleaning the chain and dissolving bugs with honda polish.

I pre-packed Monday night and by Tuesday afternoon I was free. Due to various delays on my end I didn't get far and rolled into Topaz Lake around 11. It was 36 degrees going over 88 / 89 and I was chilled to the bone, so I called it a night and apparently took only a single meager picture that day...

Today I woke up feeling reasonably well rested considering I'd only managed about 5 hours of sleep. I had the ambitious goal of making it across Nevada, and ideally to Escalante Utah so I was on the road by 8am.

The weather was perfect and the scenery made up for the route across Nevada being mostly devoid of fun corners. I finally stopped to snap a few shots as i was getting hear Hawthorne...





I considered getting a pic in Hawthorne, but you all know what it looks like I suspect.

I did not get abducted, but I did coast into Rachel NV on fumes having done 30 miles with the fuel light on, note to self, always confirm gas stations at intersections if you've put your faith in that "next gas 80 miles" signage. As my phone showed 3pm I decided it was time to eat lunch and had a burger at the best / only restaurant in town (not pictured).



This one appears to have crashed while attempting an abduction.



The desert was having it's own bloom but it seemed every area that was blanketed with flowers also had no shoulder so I settled for taking pictures of individual flowers off a dirt road.







It had been in the low 70s for most of the day and I had been regretting packing my hoodie, but, as I got into Caliente, thing were in fact, kinda caliente as the temperature was reading 85.

Time for water and caffeine



And then, this happened, three times within 10 miles.



Damn Magneti Marelli. Why the bike needs to drop into limp mode and cut throttle response when the MAP sensor gets an out of range reading is beyond me, but it sure is annoying. I'd enjoyed a nice long break from these errors but they always seem to pop up after a long day at higher sustained speeds thought I am not sure what that means.

I turned it off and back on again and kept riding, pulling into Cedar City Utah at 7pm. I had an hour of daylight left, but I didn't want to ride the fun roads into Escalante in the dark so I decided to call it a day. 487 miles total, I should have done a quick look to hit 500.



With most food options closing soon, I found a wood fired pizza spot nearby, trendy vibe, but the food was good and just what I needed.

Eatin' my greens, mom would be pleased.



No togo box needed



Tomorrow I'll ride across Utah and try to get as far as Montrose Colorado.

N4teTheGreat said:

The weather was perfect and the scenery made up for the route across Nevada being mostly devoid of fun corners. I finally stopped to snap a few shots as i was getting hear Hawthorne...

Tomorrow I'll ride across Utah and try to get as far as Montrose Colorado.

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love this pic … took me a sec to figure out what the body of water is.

have a fun ride, today!

That Pizza makes me hungry even at 8:15am!!

Topaz... gave me the brrrr's. Cold man..!

The limping sucks... big hmmmmm.?

Carry on N4te!

Montrose to Gunnison US 50 closure

Has been open both ways on weekends. Didn't check link today.

Have monitored this for the past few years. Plan to ride thru on a C2C run in June.

In!

In 2008 I did a fairly similar ride from SF to Breckenridge and back this time of year. On the way home I got snowed on. I hope that doesn’t happen to you.

492 miles according to my route today, but, since I had to back track for gas, lets call it 500. Made it to Montrose, decided not to push on to Gunnison as I only had 30 minutes before 50 closed and I wasn't interested in getting turned around, Internets at this hear Days Inn are slower than my phone, so I'll save the report and pics for this weekend. Time for tv and some sleep. Only 300 miles to go tomorrow, easy peasy.

It was a good day...

500 is a hell of a day N4te

Today's route, lots of corners to make up for all the straights in Nevada

CO92 gets a thumbs up from me.
Been there, and it's a win.

Living vicariously through you at the moment

kneedraggeroldy said:

Living vicariously through you at the moment

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^^^^^^^^^^
So, so much this.

In 2008 I did a fairly similar ride from SF to Breckenridge and back this time of year. On the way home I got snowed on. I hope that doesn’t happen to you.

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Makes me wonder if waiting until July is prudent.

I did a ride similar to this in July back in 2018, nice weather, but lots of my routes were blocked by fires so, pick your poison. I got a little snow coming over a recently opened pass, but nothing serious. I've been busy with the fam and fighting a sore throat so updates are still forth coming. I'm heading out to start the ride back home tomorrow, thinking out something roughly like this:



Aiming for roughly 4 days / 400ish miles per day with wiggle room depending on how each day settles out. I prefer to bias for less freeway / interstate and more back roads / twisties when possible.

N4teTheGreat said:

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Beautiful country!

Cedar City to Montrose Colorado

Alright, as I find myself in Naturita Colorado with everything closed and the local hang abouts at this here motel seeming less than interested in socializing with an outsider, it seems the time is right to post a few days of the trip before I brave the mosquitoes for a cigar (and a quick eye on the bike).

Post dinner in Cedar City there wasn't much to do, Utah being Utah and all, and me deciding that less booze = more miles, so I packed for the morning and plotted my route. It was gonna be a good day and having ridden half of route 12 in the dark last time I was out this way I was excited to see the sights.



It was brisk, and Thursday and I was very close to the road out of town so traffic was light, but so was my layering, so I quickly stopped to add a layer and got passed by all the cars I'd made time on... not a bad place to layer up though...



This road has a view point that overlooks Zion, and I saw it, but I didn't stop, because I had just passed a few cars who'd been very nice to let me by and I didn't want to do it again so soon... I overthink things a lot. But anyway..

At my next gas stop I head Willy Nelson's On the Road Again, seemed fitting, so I took a picture to remind myself. I had only done 50 miles, but after Nevada, if I saw gas, i was getting gas...



Before too long I was communing with the touristas on the road leading to Bryce, so I slowed down and enjoyed the scenery...



And then before much longer, I was past all those Bryce looky loos and had route 12 more or less to myself as I got over closer to Escalante, this time, with sunlight!



Didn't even know I was riding past this last time...



Along the way the bike hit 40,000 so I took a picture.



The view from 40,000 miles was ok.

I stopped in Escalante for a some coffee, the diner I was at last time appeared not to be there, so I pushed on. The best part of 12 was yet to come.

And there we are...



Pictures do not do this road justice, and I did not take enough as I was just enjoying cruising through the scenery.

I got a few though.





I stopped for gas, and decided my very high quality fix for the failing seams on my gloves needed a refresh..



And then it was off Capitol Reef National Park via route 24, which is ok as well I guess...







You could spend a week in any one national park, but I needed to be fairly deep in Colorado by the end of the day, so I pushed on, though a stop for lunch was in order. Outlaws Roost was right there, and the burrito was damn good.



Next up was a relatively straight shot on 24 all the way to I-70. It was a damn scenic shot though, so I was appeased...



As I got to Fruita and gassed up I though maybe a frontage road instead of I-70 would be fun, well, when they say end of county maintenance, they mean it. Wheels are still round though...

After some more slogging along the interstate and a quick back track for gas I was in Colorado and hustling the bike up a mountain pass along the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. Aren't byways the best?





Spring had only just sprung here and the road had a nice mix of gravel, pot holes and general goatiness which made for an engaged ride.



Views were decent.



I got down to 50 and made it into Montrose Colorado around 7:30, I considered pushing onward to Gunission but a sign noting that the road closed at 8pm and a sign for a Himalayan restaurant dissuaded me so I booked a motel and went right to dinner, which was excellent.







https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...yfO1-24LfzS0Dais1w=w793-h1053-s-no?authuser=0

I got to the Super 8, checked in and was asleep within an hour or so, 492 miles or so made for a solid day.

On deck for today, bit short by my recent standards, but there's no lodging near the north rim of the Grand Canyon and I don't want to have to rush that visit, so I'll just have to hit it early tomorrow.