Wild weather on the high plains of Colorado

[pjessen]

Local beemer riders went east out of Denver for a day to a tourist trap east of Limon on I-70. The weather had been in the 70's but this day it cut loose.

I left the house with a tee and jeans under my 'stich. By the time I turned for home I sported my gerbing jacket turned up high, a heavy duty balaclava, and my gortex rain jacket over the stich. The seat and grips were on high and the windscreen was too. I was toasty but the wind blustered on...it always seems like a longer ride when you have a 20 degree lean!

Pics are at http://coloradobeemers.smugmug.com/gallery/1411937

[MaverickAR]

1. When was this trip?
2. Where is this tower?
3. Where is the missle silo? Those things fascinate me.

[pjessen]

This ride was just last weekend. The tower is located at Genoa, CO, on I-70 about 12 miles east of Limon, CO, about 119 miles east of Denver, about 7256 miles east of Siri Lanka...

The missile site is one of several still existing Atlas sites which were built and became operational in the late 50's. This one is in the vicinity of Deer Trail, CO. They were deactivated by 1963, but served a good purpose in preparing for the solid fueled Minuteman system which followed and is still (severely upgraded from the initial units) operational. The former sites were sold off to individuals or munincipalities, one which has used the site as a landfill.

My dual-sport friends visit one in the Pawnee Grasslands on occasion. There was a thread on Advrider.com recently about some in NY and there is a site regarding those which have been converted to homes. Many have suggested using them for secure data storage, but as you know the ground water levels are much higher than the bottom of the silo, so a very reliable dewatering system would be required...I wouldn't trust it, myself.

I'll be posting more pictures on the site when I retrieve them next week.
http://coloradobeemers.smugmug.com/gallery/1411937

[SilverBuffalo]

enjoyed your pictures and comments, we started up into Colorado a couple of weeks ago but wimped out