Sooner State Valkyrie Riders

Destination: Pueblo Bike Rally & Pikes Peak
By: Gary Milburn

Took a nice overnighter trip to Pueblo, CO to attend a weekend rally billed as the Southern Colorado Bikefest.

Pueblo temp was running near 100 according to the windshield thermo. Slightly clouded sky with t-shirt and sunscreen in place. Made my way out toward La Veta Pass sometime after 9:00 am on Saturday with a quick stop for breakfast in Blanca. Continuing on 160E I connect with I-25 just long enough to hit Colorado City and on to Scenic Byway 165. This is a slightly longer trip to hit Pueblo but makes for the nicer run.

A nice road passing Lake San Isabel and Bishop Castle. At least one of the Poker runs had the Castle as a pit stop along with some grill dogs and burgers. I stopped for a quick pic and moved on my way.

165N connects with Scenic Byway 96 which for the most part is also nice. The closer you get to Pueblo, the drier it gets, as does the scenery.

I found a cheap place to stay, unloaded the few things I brought (traveled pretty light this trip) and went out in search of some chow. I rolled into the Fairgrounds about 2:30 and hung out long enough to hear the group doing a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Didn’t seem like a big turnout on Saturday but they did say they had over 2,000 that day. Some of the events included; biker rodeo, slow race, keg roll, weenie bite (no match for Rhonda), arm wrestling, wet t-shirt and tattoo contests. After a root beer float, several $2.50 bottles of water and an afternoon of 100 deg temp, I was outa there by around 10:00 for a late meal to include a nice slice of coconut cream pie.

Sunday morning I decided to head toward Pikes Peak. I took back out west on scenic routes 96 and on to 67N. Made the mistake of staying on 67 N of hwy50 which turned into a dirt road (gotta watch those maps). I turned back to connect with 50E and stopped in Penrose for a breakfast buffet at the Gooseberry Café. Highway 115 takes you in to Colorado Springs for a bit and on to Cimarron blvd or Hwy 24. This takes you passed Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs before the cut off on 67S to get to Pikes Peak. I found out Pikes Peak is only 14,110 vs my local Blanca Peak at 14,345. I’ve yet to find a route up Blanca. As you climb Pikes Peak you come to the Crystal Reservoir and the local gift shop. Although it seemed fairly hot, it was only in the 80’s as compared to Pueblo. Someone mentioned that Pueblo and Grand Junction were the hottest cities in CO.

The clouds were thickening and getting darker in spots in my planned return route so I didn’t hang too long. I made a call to my dad, who got to spend his weekend in a hospital out in So Cal, and then began my trip back down. I make for a counterclockwise loop back to Alamosa via 24W thru Wilkerson Pass to Buena Vista. I did hit some light rain that broke thru from about Divide and off and on to Buena Vista. I ended up topping off in Buena Vista and stopping for a late lunch at the Coyote Café and Cantina. Sat out on the patio with a bowl of tortilla soup, some chips & salsa and a cold one while listening to a live guitar duo.

Buena Vista, just as the name says, offers a great view of Mounts Yale and Princeton not only from the patio of the Cantina but as you make your way south, back down Hwy 285. The trip down through Poncha Springs via Poncha Pass is another nice trip with some nice sweeping turns.

After Poncha Pass down 285 and 17S, there’s not much more than the Sangre de Cristos that trail you all along to your left on an hour plus, straight stretch trip back home.

I finally hit my driveway about 4:30 pm chalking up another great trip. Just over 500 miles round trip, average mpg - 28.6.

Thanks for letting me share another one of my outings.