Colorado

Late

I got a later start than I intended. The old guy I ran into yesterday ended up at the same campground and he wanted to TALK. For a long time. He was nice, but my camping/packing system isn’t all dialed in. This led to my delayed start of 0820.

Having my morning coffee! 

I had up and hit the Interstate (Highway 50 and Interstate 70 are the same road here). The speed limit was 80 again and this time the wind was a headwind. It ate up the gas, but it was fun to legally go so far and way better than a crosswind.

Sign

The Welcome to Colorado sign is right on the Interstate, so I pulled onto the shoulder to take my photo. I thought I might get a ticket for it and was really nervous.

I was so scared taking this. 

Things that scare me

With the speed and the headwind, I needed gas again in Montrose, CO. At the station, a nice couple on a Harley took my helmet off my footpeg and washed the visor for me! That was so nice! We chatted a bit and they told me some local roads I could explore but warned me that the traffic would be horrendous but the views amazing. I decided to pass on the traffic, and stick with Highway 50.

Highway 50 has some major construction going on right now and is only open on nights and weekends. I would be able to squeak through. I wasn’t sure what to expect and all the signs saying, Motorcycles Use Extreme Caution had me worried. It turned out to be not too bad. A lot of the roads in California are worse when they aren’t working on them. I started to climb and saw a couple of pronghorn. There’s a good chance I got one on video too. I thought I wason the top of the world with the view and everything, but then I started to climb for REAL. The summit was 11,309 feet according to my GPS. And, it was cold! I thought about stopping at the top to put on a jacket, but it was a madhouse of cars, so I just kept on.

Rewards and rain

As a reward for not stopping at the top, I came across a red foxin the side of the road. It took its time crossing and gave me some really good views of it. Of course the camera wasn’t on, but he was beautiful. A bit further on, as I was coming into Gunnison, the weather followed through on its threat and the rain came pouring down. It was accompanied by fierce wind, thunder, and lightening. There was no shoulder through the canyon, so I had to just ride on and hope for the best. The weather stayed with me all the way to my destination of Canon City.

First BAB experience

I have mentioned that I might try the Bunk a Biker option for places to stay. This turned out to be my first opportunity to do so, and I went for it. I found Steve and Nancy on the website. Steve was out of town, but Nancy let me stay. She said she would be home by 1630. Unfortunately, I rolled into town an hour and a half early! Not wanting to be a pain, I filled up the bike and waited at the gas station for the time to pass. The rain did stop for about 10 minutes.

This was what it looked like during the break in the rain. 

At 1630, I left the gas station and drove the 4 blocks to Nancy’s place. He road was a dead end made of broken asphalt, but I got Lucille turned around and parked. Nancy turned out to be a really nice woman but she forgotten i was coming! She welcomed me, handed me a towel and washcloth, showed me the room I’d be staying in and left to take her grandkids to their youth group. I took a shower, did my laundry, wrote in my journal, got organized, and waited for her to return. She eventually did and we had a really nice visit. She is quite an interesting person so it was nice to talk to her. Before long though, it was off to bed.