Back roads and Passes Colorado

[DanKearney]

Back roads and Passes Colorado
A Mild Adventure

Greetings All,

So, I've had my F650 since the middle of May. I've been experimenting since with this big beast on the dirt roads near my home in the
Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Mostly though I've been getting used to her on my daily commutes of 110 miles. Picked her up
with 950 miles on her and just got the 6,000 mile service done a couple of weeks ago. The miles are adding up, but the percentage
of dirt is probably no more than 10%. Given that I bought this bike for that express purpose, I set out to increase the dirt
percentage this weekend.

I scheduled Friday as an off day so that I could enjoy three days of riding. I spent Thursday evening getting things sorted and
packed, so I was all set when my head hit the pillow on Thursday night. The first hiccup came when my alarm failed to go off at 6am
as I had set it. Of course, the stupid on/off button had somehow mysteriously moved into the off position while I slumbered.
Luckily, my retarded Labrador retriever, "Monk" disturbed me at his normal time, so I woke up only about 30 minutes late.

A quick look out the window uncovered hiccup number 2. It was raining!. Now, as a general rule, I will always start a ride no
matter what the threat of rain might be. However, if it is raining before I start, I often bag it. This morning I was
disappointed, but decided to see what happens with the weather as I slowly showered, dressed, and perked the morning's pot of
coffee.

Things never cleared up, but the rain abated, so around 10am I decided that moisture be damned, it's time to go. A quick check of
the weather showed that Colorado was in for an unsettled mixture of wet and unseasonably cold weather for the next day or so. On
top of that, the weather radar seemed to show everything coming from the northwest corner of the state. That was pretty much the
direction I intended to go. Regardless, I stoically pushed ahead.

I often times come back from a trip with a dearth of good photos to give evidence that I actually removed butt from couch, so this
time I determined to take my time, forget about passing anything that comes up in front of me, and to take the time to actually
photograph the things that catch my attention as I ride. Now I get to use the wonder of the internet to force you all to look at
the results. Good or bad, I pretty much stopped and photographed any and everything that I could along the way.

So, before I started, my lovely wife, Yuan, took a moment to document my departure:



I'm only 5' 7" tall. Look! My feet are flat on the ground and my knees a little bent. I love this bike!. However, her svelte dry
weight of 387lbs is nothing but a memory as I crammed every bit of creature comfort I could carry into those bags. Off we go!

This photo is the view looking south along Peak-to-Peak Highway (CO 119) which runs from Estes Park , CO (Rocky Mountain National
Park) down though the gambling/historic mining towns of Black Hawk and Central City on to Golden, CO, home of the Coors Brewery and
the first territorial capitol of Colorado. As you can see, the day is a bit gloomy:



Continuing south, I first passed through Black Hawk and Central City. Most folks in Colorado only know then because they are two of
the three towns in Colorado where gambling is legal. When the entire state first voted to allow gambling in these three towns, the
first rule was that it would be allowed only if historic preservation were paramount. That turned out to be a very subjective term.
In Black Hawk, some very well preserved examples of Victorian architecture were picked up, lock, stock, and barrel and moved to a
"preservation" zone and put on display. (So much for historical context). In their stead now stand multi-story gambling halls
where the white noise of Vegas replaces any semblance of historical relevance. We even now have a 34 story tall Casino in the tight
canyon. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the gambling, or its effects on these two towns at all. My property taxes are very
low, and the county tax revenue goes to make life better for us Gilpin County residents.

Black Hawk does make an attempt to "class-ify" the place however. Some public art and a few parks are the fruit of their efforts.
Here's a small park on the main road:



There is an historical preservation Committee also, and they strive to keep the existing building in both towns in an
historical-correct condition. Here's a peek at the main street that heads up the hill into much more historically preserved Central
City:



Central City is less than a mile up the hill from Black Hawk, but has suffered from both its location and its decision to be more
true to historical preservation. As a result, the town is much more intact and representative of how it looked in the 1880's than
its northerly neighbor. On the flip-side, it stands a distant third in gambling revenue behind Black Hawk and Cripple Creek.
(Cripple Creek is located about 40 miles southwest of Colorado Springs in the shadow of Pike's Peak.)

Central City's welcome sign explains its raison d'etre:


Indeed, Central City produced a sh*t load of gold and silver in its heyday. To this day, Central City sports an opera house which
is nationally acclaimed.
********************
http://www.coloradovacation.com/hist...ntralcity.html
********************

Heading further uphill from Central City is the Virginia Canyon Road. Looking down on Central City, one can see the level of
preservation that's taken place. A little difficult to see in the photo I guess. Take my word for it.



Here's an example of Central City's erstwhile industry. This mine enjoys a commanding view of the town from the hillside above and
is one of the mines that open up again every time the price of gold rises above a certain threshold:



The Virginia Canyon road runs some six dirt miles from Central City down to Idaho Springs. A few thousand feet lower in elevation,
Idaho Springs was both a gold mining town and regionally renowned for its hot springs. Unfortunately, it suffered the same fate as
not-too-distant Eldorado Springs (Which hosted presidents and international dignitaries) as the waters slowly began to cool in the
20th. Century.

The Virginia Canyon road is locally known as "Oh my God!" road. Although pretty tame by the standards of those who might be used to
shelf roads with no guard rails and steep drop offs, the canyon is a favorite for tourists and a good shortcut for the residents to
shuttle between Idaho Springs and Central City. It doesn't really get fun until it snows however. I drove my Subaru down that road
one morning after a three foot deep snow storm and it was quite a "puckerer" as the snow came up over the hood to obscure the road
ahead.

Here is a view down the canyon from near the top. That's Interstate 70 way down at the bottom:



Down in Idaho Springs, one can find examples of its heyday. Here’s one of the city’s old fire stations:





Along with more dubious achievements of American industry. Regardless, it’s a cool car:



Continuing west from Idaho Springs, there is a great, winding road which basically parallels Interstate 70. The road follows the path of Clear Creek down the valley that houses I-70. No traffic and much more interesting than the super slab running alongside. Of course, there are more examples of Colorado’s mining industry to view along the way:



(I should warn the reader now that if you’re already bored of the repeated images of mine buildings, you’d better switch to another story now)

Following the winding road and crossing over and under I-70 a few times, one comes to the a parking area where the Clear Creek county Sheriffs store their vehicles. I’m guessing that maintenance occurs in the building on the left:



Originally, I intended to head north and west up into northwestern Colorado, southwestern Wyoming and then over to Utah taking as many dirt roads as I could find. At this point I veered north on U.S. 40 to head up and over Berthoud Pass (11307 ft./3446 m) with the intention of continuing north. As I headed up the pass, the gloom and rain intensified. In the twenty or so miles before arriving at the fog shrouded, cold and wet summit, my plans changed. Semper Gumby! (Always Flexible!)

I remembered the weather radar view that I’d checked this morning which showed all the weather coming in out of the northwest and my new plan formulated as I pulled into the parking lot at the summit of Berthoud Pass. This area was once and many failing times a commercial ski area that catered to the more hearty skier types who enjoyed playing in the high winds and avalanche prone terrain that falls steeply off all side. I was lucky (unlucky?) enough to have skied the area one time before it closed for the final time back in the mid-1990’s. All I remember is a lot of flailing and falling down. . .



So, I headed back down the way I came until I met up with the road that parallels I-70 and I headed west into Georgetown. Guess what. Yet another mining town, but one that survived intact past its roots to become a thriving bedroom community to folks who brave the long commute down into Denver and those who manage to find a living within its boundaries. I mostly remember it for the stripper-then-Mayor who led the town into turmoil a number of years ago.

Georgetown is the gateway to the road that runs up to Guanella Pass. This might strike a chord with some in the ADVRider community as this is the road that hosts the Colorado “Elephant Ride” every February. It’s a ride for hearty souls who have nothing better to do on a cold February day than to try to get their bikes up the unplowed road to Guanella Pass summit at 11669 ft/3,566m. The Elephant Ride actually comes up the other side of the pass. I’ve done the run two times, once on my Ural hack rig with the driven sidecar wheel (Too easy) and once with my Yamaha XT225 (too hard). Made it to the top both times, but I still don’t know why I subjected myself to it.