[ST] Ride and Gear Report Part 2

[Shawn Mouser <srmouser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Part 2
===================================================

- -Day 3
The next morning my buddies and I (six total) headed out to go across 
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. The morning fog on 
the way to RMNP was terrible and we could hardly see the road. I was 
leading and I pulled in behind a slowish moving SUV and just stayed 
behind its tail lights until we drove out of the fog (several miles). 
We had breakfast at "The Egg and I" in Estes Park, CO. A great little 
breakfast place. Then we headed out across Trail Ridge Road. The park 
website says the following about Trail Ridge Rd.

"Trail Ridge Road provides spectacular views of the majestic scenery of 
Rocky Mountain National Park. It is the highest continuous motorway in 
the United States, with more than eight miles lying above 11,000' and a 
maximum elevation of 12,183'. The name "Trail Ridge Road" derives from 
it's  proximity to historic pathways used by native peoples to cross 
the Rocky Mountains."

I'll just say it's spectacular. There was a large group of bicyclists 
pedaling the road that day and so traffic was extremely slow. But the 
road is one of the most spectacular in the US. At the visitor's center 
at the halfway point it started to snow so we moved on - heading down 
through the town of Granby (recently made famous by a certain resident 
who used a bulldozer to do a few architectural improvements) and on to 
our destination of Golden, CO.

- -Day 4
In the morning we headed out to ride up the Mt Evans Scenic Byway. The 
byway is the highest paved automobile road in North America. The summit 
is 14,265 ft and the road stops just short of the top. You have to hike 
a little way to get to the very top. We chose not to do that but 
instead to explore around the visitor's center. The center was 
surrounded by mountain goats which were wild but quite docile. The road 
is one of those mountain roads with steep cliffs just inches from the 
edge of the road and no guard rails. If you're scared of heights just 
focus on staying between the lines. Again, another beautiful road with 
stunning views, snow packs, and marmots all along the way. It was 38 F 
at the top.

We continued to our final stay-over of Crested Butte, CO where we spent 
three nights. We travelled out I-70 through the Eisenhower tunnel, down 
scenic Hwy 24 to Leadville, CO which at over 10,000ft is the hightest 
incorporated town in the US. We stopped here for lunch. Continuing on, 
we passed the Collegiate Range (Mts Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc) all 
over 14,000 high and on to Crested Butte. It rained hard most of the 
way and it was cold because most of the trip was at high elevation. The 
gear continued to hold up great even as my body ached. The bike seemed 
to be a little more sluggish at higher elevation but the effect was 
minimal. A couple of the guys who had older (1500cc carbureted) 
GoldWings found it difficult to get over 55mph at wide open throttle on 
some of the higher, steeper grades. The thinner air has a more 
deleterious effect on carbureted bikes.

There is only one paved road in and out of Crested Butte, CO and it is 
currently not all paved (construction). The Sprint certainly is not a 
dual sport! However, I was able to maneuver the 8 mile section of 
gravelly muddy road several times to get in and out of town. To be 
honest, we all did... the Sprint was no exception. Slipping around in 
the mud is not a pleasant experience on an ST but it's all part of 
motorcycle touring.


______________________
Shawn
Los Angeles
'02 BRG ST
'92 HD XL 1200
- ---------------------------------------

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Part 2

===================================================


- -Day 3

The next morning my buddies and I (six total) headed out to go across
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. The morning fog on
the way to RMNP was terrible and we could hardly see the road. I was
leading and I pulled in behind a slowish moving SUV and just stayed
behind its tail lights until we drove out of the fog (several miles).
We had breakfast at "The Egg and I" in Estes Park, CO. A great little
breakfast place. Then we headed out across Trail Ridge Road. The park
website says the following about Trail Ridge Rd.


"Trail Ridge Road provides spectacular views of the majestic scenery
of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is the highest continuous motorway
in the United States, with more than eight miles lying above 11,000'
and a maximum elevation of 12,183'. The name "Trail Ridge Road"
derives from it's  proximity to historic pathways used by native
peoples to cross the Rocky Mountains."


I'll just say it's spectacular. There was a large group of bicyclists
pedaling the road that day and so traffic was extremely slow. But the
road is one of the most spectacular in the US. At the visitor's center
at the halfway point it started to snow so we moved on - heading down
through the town of Granby (recently made famous by a certain resident
who used a bulldozer to do a few architectural improvements) and on to
our destination of Golden, CO.


- -Day 4

In the morning we headed out to ride up the Mt Evans Scenic Byway. The
byway is the highest paved automobile road in North America. The
summit is 14,265 ft and the road stops just short of the top. You have
to hike a little way to get to the very top. We chose not to do that
but instead to explore around the visitor's center. The center was
surrounded by mountain goats which were wild but quite docile. The
road is one of those mountain roads with steep cliffs just inches from
the edge of the road and no guard rails. If you're scared of heights
just focus on staying between the lines. Again, another beautiful road
with stunning views, snow packs, and marmots all along the way. It was
38 F at the top.


We continued to our final stay-over of Crested Butte, CO where we
spent three nights. We travelled out I-70 through the Eisenhower
tunnel, down scenic Hwy 24 to Leadville, CO which at over 10,000ft is
the hightest incorporated town in the US. We stopped here for lunch.
Continuing on, we passed the Collegiate Range (Mts Harvard, Yale,
Princeton, etc) all over 14,000 high and on to Crested Butte. It
rained hard most of the way and it was cold because most of the trip
was at high elevation. The gear continued to hold up great even as my
body ached. The bike seemed to be a little more sluggish at higher
elevation but the effect was minimal. A couple of the guys who had
older (1500cc carbureted) GoldWings found it difficult to get over
55mph at wide open throttle on some of the higher, steeper grades. The
thinner air has a more deleterious effect on carbureted bikes.


There is only one paved road in and out of Crested Butte, CO and it is
currently not all paved (construction). The Sprint certainly is not a
dual sport! However, I was able to maneuver the 8 mile section of
gravelly muddy road several times to get in and out of town. To be
honest, we all did... the Sprint was no exception. Slipping around in
the mud is not a pleasant experience on an ST but it's all part of
motorcycle touring.

<smaller>


______________________

Shawn

Los Angeles

'02 BRG ST

'92 HD XL 1200

- ---------------------------------------</smaller>


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