Home from 4600 mile trip

[frankd]

Barb and I just got home from a 2 week long, 4600 mile trip. Boy was it great! The first part was down to Murfreesboro, TN to watch our 12 year old grandson quarterback a football game. Then we met up our friends (that ride a '12 Gold Wing) in southern Illinois and the 4 of us headed for Colorado Springs. There we visited the Garden of the Gods, and then Pike's Peak. For those that have never ridden up Pike's Peak on a motorcycle, I'll say that it should be on every touring rider's bucket list. Wow!! We've been up twice before, but it's been 20 years since the last time, and it was in our truck both times. As we were going up, I was watching my heat gauge climb into the red, but then we sped up a little and the grade wasn't as severe, and it cooled back down. A little later, we got stuck behind some real slow 4 wheelers and I had to go back to 1st gear quite a bit. Also there are some real tight corners with a steep grade that like 1st gear. Well, the Venture heated up again and the gauge was about in the middle of the red band (Mk II). On the CB, my friend Bill came on and said the his heat gauge was almost pegged. We pulled off on the side for a bit. As soon as we stopped climbing, my heat gauge came down quickly, but the GW took a bit longer. We started back up again and the Venture did pretty good, but the GW required another stop near the top. Up on top at 14,000 feet, the temp was 34 degrees, and it was very windy (30-40MPH). The ride down was even better than going up. Now I could relax more because I didn't have to worry about stalling on a tight, steep curve, or the bike heating up. There were quite a few bikes on the Peak the day we were there. Did I hear somebody in the back say "where are the pictures"? OK, I'll post some.

[frankd]

Here's a few more pictures from the Pike's Peak. I'll post more pictures a little later.

 

Frank

[Snaggletooth]

Sweet Ride!!

 

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the pics.

 

Mike

[BOO]

Great pictures and very nice trip.

BOO

[JohnT]

Garden of the Gods is incredible. Lived in Denver and the Springs for about a year . Have always wanted to go back for a.visit. Thanks for the pics.

[meach]

Nice pic, sounds like a great ride. I did one similar few years ago on my VTX, met my brother south of Nashville as he was coming from E. Tn. on his HD then we headed west made a big circle of a little over 5,000 across MO,KS,CO, WY,SD,NB,IA,IN,IL,KY trying to hit the highest point in each state along the way along with some other things we wanted to do.

 

 

 

But Let me tell you about Pikes Peak, it's at the bottom of my list of things we did, too crowded with traffic, at least weather was good, I got stuck maybe 1/4 mile from the top due to bouncing off a pot hole which pushed me to the right into a small snow melt stream which caused my back wheel to sink into the sand and there I sat going nowhere. Not a single motorcycle going by stopped and offered to help, some college kids in a jeep jumped out, picked up the bike and moved it over a foot and I was good to go. One lane of traffic was closed due to road construction right beneath the summit with backed up traffic on the hills, it was a pain to stop and go so we finally said the heck with it and turned and headed down. Then on the way down an ambulance was on the way up and traffic was stopped for that. I was so glad to get off that mountain.

 

The best single moment of our trip was heading west over Wilkerson Pass early in the morn. with the sun behind us, not realizing the Collegiate Range could be seen just over the rise ahead of us, up until then the view is blocked riding thru the mnts. All of a sudden as we came over the pass far as you can see were snow covered peaks under a clear blue sky lit up by the morning sun, it was breathtaking. Glad they had a visitor center to pull off into.

 

I'm ready to head west again, take the wife on the RSV this time!!!

Edited October 13, 2012 by meach

[uncledj]

Great thread. Gave me some things to add to the bucket list.

My 87 Venture spends it's life between 700 and 2000 above sea level. How did your bike react to the 14,000 ft elevation?

 

[frankd]

Meach,

 

Now the Pike's Peak road is paved all the way to the top, so no more soft spots. The only part not paved is the peak itself. I've heard that the Sierra Group sued the federal government for allowing the dust from the Pike's Peak auto race to pollute the atmosphere. So the road was paved to eliminate the dust. Also, the traffic wasn't that bad on a weekday in early October. June-August there's a lot more visitors

 

Uncle DJ,

 

It ran just like any carbureated gasoline engine @ 14,000 feet. Power was reduced, it cranked REAL fast when you hit the start button, and it idled a little lower. The clutch on my bike was flushed and bled in May, but I noticed that it was a bit spongy up there. The brakes felt pretty good though.

 

Here are some pictures from Mesa Verde National Park where some Native Americans made a shelter in the cliffs in about 1200AD

 

Frank

[Yammer Dan]

Garden of the Gods is Awlsome!! On my list to do again. There is a huge rock in the middle of it. Don't remember how high but huge. My buddy and I went to the top of it without ropes or anything Took about 3 hrs. Never forget it. Doubt if they would let you do that now.

[meach]

Now the Pike's Peak road is paved all the way to the top, so no more soft spots. The only part not paved is the peak itself.

 

Here are some pictures from Mesa Verde National Park where some Native Americans made a shelter in the cliffs in about 1200AD

Frank

 

That would explain all the construction equipment at the time. Seems we had a fairly good stretch of packed sand/rock we had to travel over.

 

How was the weather in general around Mesa Verde? I'd like to go down thru that part of the country some day but not sure the best time of year, summer heat gets harder to take, was thinking more like fall realizing the higher altitudes are getting colder. Last big trip I felt like a baked lobster riding across the plains in the heat. Over the ten days we rode we only hit rain one time, that was in Sturgis, SD. I had me a hotdog from a street vendor while my brother shopped in the HD shop while we waited for the rain to blow over.

[frankd]

When we were in Mesa Verde, I'd guess that it was in the high 70's or low 80's....beautiful weather.

 

Here's some pictures from the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. Our daughter lives in Albuquerque, so we were there for 5 days.

 

Frank