Glenwood Springs to Boulder

The days are starting to blur - there are so many events in such a short time. The goal was to get up early so we could run more miles, but even though Josh set his alarm for 6 am, the rest of the gang took a lot longer to wake up and get active. The Mexican food from last night, while plentiful and tasty, provided lots of humorous man entertainment for the morning and in fact, was the primary contributor to a late departure. Good thing we were riding on bikes and not in an enclosed vehicle (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

First stop is Aspen. The road in is different from other mountain towns - someone spent a lot of money to widen the highway to 4 lanes and built elevated road sections to smooth out the sharp turns. The road is in excellent shape from the airport to town. 

The town itself shows lots of money. Downtown is filled with expensive cars and all the Vegas, New York, London, Paris etc. designer stores. We grab a coffee in Peaches, a swanky coffee/tea bodega where one patron orders her beverage to be brewed at exactly 140 degrees (that sounds low - must be a tea). Dave meets two guys (nudge, nudge) when one of them blurts out that he is waiting to start riding his new Ducati Monster. The conversation deteriorates into, "She's Italian so she's high maintenance" and "She makes strange noises when you stroke the throttle". His partner breaks out laughing and we get a few stares because we disturbed the pristine "sophisticated atmosphere" of the superb meet and be seen establishment.

Outside, on the sidewalk tables, one woman seductively removes her top to reveal a designer yoga thingy that leaves no doubt about her femininity. Jeff's eyes almost pop out, but we ask ourselves - why do that in such a public place? We later find out this same lady gets mad at Tom as he installs his GoPro on his helmet in preparation for Independence pass. Not sure if "me thinks she protests too much" and her garb is all a ruse to gather attention to her yoga hardened body. Her behaviour becomes too much for Dave and he has words with her before we depart. What a start to the day. 

Aspen is definitely home to the beautiful people and we feel out of place - a bunch of weary (married) men clothed in ripening motorcycle garb. Josh points out a Paris Hilton clone but one can't look anywhere without viewing a marvellously dressed, fit person of both genders and gender preferences. Interestingly, Spanish is heard very frequently. 

We snake our way through heavy traffic to the other side of town where the road leads to Independance  Pass. This is more like it, unlike the grand facade of the town entrance, the back yard looks just like any other mountain down with a twisty two lane road in need of some repair. I suspect that few of the beautiful people want to travel into the wilderness because the mountains don't care about the model of car, or designer of cloth. But we like it. The road is very narrow and is carved from cliff, so the edge is close and drop off steep. Her we find rock climbers and hikers who gladly venture out to enjoy the true beauty of the Aspen area. 

Snowball fight

Deep Snow at the top

Soaking in the view

King of the Hill

Spectacular vistas

Independence Pass climbs above the tree line and offers significant quantities of snow. We pull over at the top and enjoy a snowball fight, make snow angels and photograph the vistas. On one rocky outcropping, covered in lichens, one couple enjoys a scenic lunch - he is wearing sandals, no socks. Along the path rolls a tattooed individual with a leg in cast, pushing a  four wheeled scooter with a raised platform that he kneels upon to support his broken leg and it's cast. He is being chased by a tea cup (tiny) pomeranian dog that is scooped up by his equally tattooed girlfriend, silently hiding behind mirrored aviator glasses, when the dog starts hyperventilating from the altitude. He offers the advice that someone in Aspen has an antique 250cc Triumph trail bike for sale if we are interested (Umm, how would we transport that???).  This is an interesting location that attracts interesting people. 

The Boys on Independence Pass

Independence Pass Panorama

Dave does the now familiar angel manoeuvre on the ride down, triggered by the spectacular views. We find our way to Leadville, the highest (altitude, not pot) city in the USA at 10,152 ft. This is just under the snow line and it's cold, even at this time of year. The Golden Burro restaurant, is one of the oldest in the USA, operating continuously since 1938. Food is great and we recover from the altitude at the pass.

Next stop is another pass (Tom, help me with the name), but as we approach the area, signs warning of rock problems, combined with general tiredness, changes the plans. We'll head over to Mount Evan instead - this mountain sports the highest paved road in the North America. 

Mount Evans has the usual danger warnings to motorcyclists, advising of steep roads, drops offs, sharp turns. This one adds water from melting snow, mixed with sand and rocks. We are getting tired but press on regardless, knowing that this is the highest paved road in North America and we aren't going to miss it. 

The first section of road provides very high quality curves and switchbacks on a good quality road - there are some dangerous curves. The section section is on a gated section - but it's early in the season, so the gate is not inhabited. This road is now narrower, steeper and when rounding the curves after mile 2, very steep drop offs. The asphalt heaves here with the frosty and there are numerous sections when the asphalt is broken at the edge, because the edge has collapsed. Want to make sure that oncoming drivers play nice, or someone is going to have a bad day. We wind along rock faces and look over several mountain lakes way down the slope. The sun and cloud combination emphasize the blue tone of the lake. It's starting to get colder now and the trees and shrubs struggle to survive in the low oxygen and high wind. The trees tilt to the lee with no branches facing the constant wind. In some cases, the bark is missing on the windward side. This is a photographer's dream since each survivor offers shapes, colours and textures that simply are not available in more commonly inhabited locals. 

The road in the distance

Storm coming in - time to go

At the end of this section is a high altitude plateau that includes a campground. It's probably only viable 2-3 months per year and today, it's flooded and has a foot of snow. Later, Dave would photograph the only herd of mountain goats that would reveal themselves on the entire trip. The water and frost have chewed the road to shreds and between potholes, big bumps and streams flowing over the road, the road bikes are challenged to find a suitable path. The Beemer loves these conditions and we are screaming through, splashing up a storm, but the road manages to throw a few surprises to us as well. 

Dave captures the only Mountain goats on the trip

The Boss mountain goat

Now we are over the tree line and in places, the remnants of drifts are over 15 feet tall. The temp sensor on the bikes starts flashing to warn us that the 1.5C can deliver freezing conditions. As long as the water is flowing, we don't need to worry but one slip could get interesting. As we snake up the final steep section, we see the observatory that keeps this road open, plus the abandoned resort that burned down decades ago. The mountain parking lot is at 14,410 feet - a bit higher than pikes peak.  This time we are better acclimatized so everyone is able to spend full time at the top. I take it easy, mindful of my Piles Peak experience but this time, Jeff and Dave are bothered by the altitude. Off in the distance, dark clouds, with bottoms well below our current altitude, remind us that our time up here may be limited. Sure enough, the storm starts dumping snow and sleet on us - it's time to go down. Dave has already departed and will be rewarded with mountain goat photos. We stop briefly to set up the theme photo for the trip, although the image is not complete without Dave. 

Just Touring - 2013

It's starting to get dark and we stop in the lodge to get a few souvenirs, a coffee and snack. The decision is made to head to Boulder, but we'll be riding in the dark so our route will follow the main highways. The Beemer has no headlights, other than high beam but I have the GPS, so this ride will be in the #2 spot. The team is tired and the intercom conversations have the edge of guys who want to get off the road. In Boulder, we find ourselves in the University part of town and it's a happening place - the bars and patios are a-hopping. We chuckle at the goodness of this choice when a gaggle of all dressed up U-girls give Josh a lot of attention in the parking lot, but first, we need to find a place to stay. Not so easy as we discover that there is a Shakespeare festival in town and some form of a mass blue bike ride. All of the local beds are full. Construction and poor condition roads have us wandering around until we finally take 2 rooms at the University Inn. 

Dinner was supposed to be a celebration of the end of the ride, but it's 10:30 before we eat. We are tired by the long day and barely finish dinner, never mind whooping it up with the local talent. The old guys, Jeff and I head back right after dinner and crash. Tom follows us close behind.  Even Josh and Dave, who insisted that they were going out (Dave to look out for Josh) crash before hitting a new bar. 

Another spectacular day.