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Just did a Colorado trip

1K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  92merc 
#1 ·
Just got back from a 2,000 mile ride from ND down to Colorado. Left on Saturday. Stopped in Sturgis for 2 hours and wandered the rally. From there, went down to Ft Collins. Got hit by a storm just north of Cheyenne WY. Had to pull off the interstate. In the middle of nowhere so no over pass for protection. Stood with back to the hail and rain along the roadside. Pea to just short of marble sized hail for 5 minutes.

Road to the top of a Federal park, 12,197 feet. Didn't know I was going that high. Did I mention I'm not a fan of heights? Otherwise a nice ride in the twisties. Stopped at Estes Park. Nice little tourist town.

Down to Canon City. That was a great ride. Opened up to more valleys below the mountains. Did a loop around Canon City area that was fun.

Then back North past Colorado Springs. Straight up to the NE corner of Colorado. Small highway 71 straight north. A lot of nothing up there. And off the Interstate, no traffic! Loved that ride back. But we got stalled in Scottsbluff NE. Saw a storm coming. Had to park the bikes under a Sonic, thanks to a nice lady at the gas station giving us the idea. Ducked out in a WalMart. Golf ball sized hail rolled through there. It was bad. Luckily Sonic awning did its job, bikes were fine. Then all the way back up to SD.

Had to stop off at the dealer in Sturgis. Wife's bike through a battery warning. It's still under warranty so might as well have it checked out. Of course they said it was a fluke. Probably from the "excessive accessories" we have installed. Really? Darla Spot lights, small LED brake light, and a BMW trunk. What ever. Made it home late last night.

It was a fun trip. But in all honesty, I actually love riding the Black Hills just as much. Probably won't go back to Colorado anytime soon. It wasn't bad. Other than I hated passing by the Denver area. Too much traffic for my liking.

On the good side, while at the BMW Dealer, they had both the BMW new 1800 and the Custom made 1800 on display. So I got to see those in person.
 
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#3 ·
But in all honesty, I actually love riding the Black Hills just as much. Probably won't go back to Colorado anytime soon. It wasn't bad.
1200 miles of that 2000m was getting to the northern border of CO and back to Bismarck, so really you only sampled a fraction of what can be had in the Colorado Rockies. The Black Hills are lovely as well. If you haven't ridden up into the Canadian Rockies some real wonderment up there as well.
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
Lot more less traveled roads in the interior of Colorado in the center,southwest etc areas of the state that are better than tooling around Denver area. Hey I like the wide open areas of eastern Colorado.....just wouldn’t want to live there. Some great roads in northwestern Nebraska too.
 
#7 ·
Had a similar experience headed west into Colorado Springs a couple of years ago. Then, in the midst of the hail and downpour, it looked like a tornado was going to drop from the sky. It was pretty unnerving not having any place to get cover. Stupid me should have stopped in Limon. Glad you were able to avoid that larger hail. There are vast stretches of NE where you would've been screwed.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I lived in Denver during most of the 1980's, actually Thornton, at East 128th Ave. It was the far north east end of the suburbs then. I had a GS1000 and we rode all the time up into the western foothills and further, and it was just awesome in those days. The front range weather was crazy. Often got caught in afternoon thunderstorms, followed tornadoes near the plains a couple times, and had a few experiences with huge hail. No more beautiful place than Colorado. Was saddened to see so much beetle kill in the high elev forests on the last couple trips. In the 80's those mountain forests were pristine.

Anyway, I had a VW Golf for my regular commute car and one year a hail storm came up while driving and I couldn't get under an overpass in time - the Golf was dimpled and had to be repaired and repainted. Two years later same thing happened again, at home. I ran out to try and throw some cardboard over it and the hail whacked me good. Repaired *again*, lol. That same year the entire Lakewood police dept had their windshields broken.

Anyway, six months later I got a transfer and my GF and I moved back to Northern Calif. While driving the car back, going up through one of the canyons on I-70 in January, a wind surge came down the canyon carrying all that road sand like a wall and when we came out the other side the whole front of the car was sandblasted, lol. I think I gave up on it after that.

What a great place, but that weather can do serious damage.. never a dull moment!
 
#12 ·
Continental Divide
Cool tree in Estes Park
Shot of the peaks on our way down to Canon City from Estes
A stream near Canon City
A couple of the 1800 BMW's
Backroads of a Loop outside of Canon City
Hail in the ditch north of Scottsbluff NE
The high pass above the tree line. About 12k feet up.
Radar shot of what hit Scottsbluff
 

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#14 ·
Hey THANKS! Great shots! Those storms out west can be nasty for sure !!

Wife and I are flying to Denver next month .... driving to Estes Park, through Rocky Mtn. National Park and then on to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons for 7 days. I love that part of the country!
 
#15 ·
We rode to Colorado the last week of July, did about 3,000 miles in 8 days. We were lucky, almost perfect weather except for the 103 heat is Texas! We mostly rode around Durango, Ouray, Telluride, Ridgeway, etc.
 
#16 ·
I just did a 1300 mile tour of Colorado myself. I did a fly and ride tour that was pre-planned by Eagle Riders. I loved the state. I started in Denver, went NW through Rocky Mountain National Park then to Glenwood Springs. The next day went down to Montrose. Day 3 went to Cortez and the 4 Corners. Day 4 to Alamosa, day 5 up to Vail and the final day over the Loveland Pass and to RedRock on the way back to Denver. I booked this when I still had a Harley, so the bike I had was a RoadGlide Custom. I am now riding a 2009 R1200RT and boy did I miss it while riding in Colorado. The Harley is ok, but I really felt the difference in handling and comfort. The Harley just doesn't handle the bumps like the RT and it's a little slow on turn ins on the twisties, and boy it is heavy in the parking lot!

I have to say, the state of Colorado is so much more spectacular than the Black Hills of SD, I've now done them both and think that Colorado has more to offer than SD in nice mountain roads carving, but SD has more to offer in carved mountains!

John
 
#17 ·
You passed through Colorado Springs and didn't even wave...?

That means you missed Garden of the Gods and.... just sayn'
 
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