Sooner State Valkyrie Riders

This is part 2 of the story, and part 1 can be found here

After a weekend of working by day, and fixing my Valk by night it was finally time to depart for the mountains. Raymond and Rhonda had spent the weekend at my place, so on Monday morning we headed out on our journey. The first stop would be Seiling, Ok to top off the fuel tanks and meet up with Buzz from Edmond. The route out of Oklahoma would be the Northwest Passage that took us west through the length of the Oklahoma Panhandle. As usual in the Oklahoma panhandle, the wind was rather brisk and combined with our pace nocked the fuel mileage down somewhat. By the time we stopped for lunch in Clayton, NM Raymond was complaining about the low fuel mileage and cost of fuel. Rhonda agreed to work overtime when they got back to pay for the extra fuel cost. Since she works on a fixed salary with no overtime pay, Raymond didn’t seem to be too convinced. Buzz was riding his 2 cylinder BMW, and while getting 40+mpg didn’t seem to understand what all the fuss was about….

Riding across NM to Raton was more of the same wind and poor fuel mileage, but as we began to see a hint of the Rocky Mountains in the distance our spirits were lifted and the throttles seem to roll on. As we started to accend our first moutain pass, Raton Pass, it started to rain. The clouds looked ugly and we could see worse rain in the distance so we pulled over to put on our raingear. As usual, by the time we had our gear on and back on the road….the rain had moved on.

We skirted the front range on I-25 north to Walsenburg where we headed west into the mountains. We rode over our second pass, La Veta, in route to Alamosa, Co. which was our destination for the night. Our good friend Gary lives in Alamosa, and agreed to put us up for the night before joining us on the rest of our tour of Colorado. Part of that agreement though was we had to help Gary with a little maintenance on his bike. After a fantastic mexican dinner in town, we spent the evening doing final drive service to Gary’s Valk. Haste makes waste they always say and we proved it as we ended up disassembling the rear end 3 times before we got it right. Luckily Buzz was there to drink beer supervise.

Tuesday morning we headed west out of Alamosa on Hwy 160 to Southfork, then headed towards Crede on Hwy 149 with a stop for breakfast along the way. We continued on Hwy 149 over Spring Creek and Slumgullian Passes to Lake City and then on to Gunnison for a late lunch. The roads and scenery were fantastic with a mix of beautiful timber up on the passes to desert like conditions down in the valleys. The diversity of terrain in Colorado is amazing. After lunch we headed east out of Gunnison on Hwy 50 and over Monarch Pass. The roadway on the west side up Monarch pass was brand new and provided some awesome spirited riding up the mountain. After our decent of Monarch Pass we turned north on Hwy 285 near Poncha springs. We made a quick stop in Buena Vista for gas and then continued north passing just to the east of some of the highest mountain peaks in Colorado all of which are over 14,000ft. We departed Hwy 185 onto Hwy 82 where we headed west by Twin Lakes and on to Independance Pass. Independance Pass at 12,095 ft is well above the treeline and was our 4th major mountain pass of the day. We continued on over the pass into Aspen and then north to Basalt where we stopped for the night.

Wednesday’s plan was to head back south and check out the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Of course we were in that same area on Tuesday, but the route would be different this time. We went north out of Basalt a short distance to catch Hwy 133 south. Hwy 133 didn’t look like anything exciting on the map, but it turned out to be a great choice of routes! It took us south through some really pretty red bluffs, over McClure Pass and winding past Paonia Lake. We also passed by a large Coal mine near Sommerset before exiting Hwy 133 at Hotchkiss. Next up was Hwy 92 through Crawford and on to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The Canyon was certainly worth checking out but Hwy 92, which snakes along the edge, is an awesome motorcycle road! The roadway was in excellent shape, and the amount of curves seemed to be endless. It finally ended though as Hwy 92 mets Hwy 50 at the Blue Mesa Lake damn. At this point we headed west on Hwy 50 to Montrose for a late lunch and finally south on Hwy 550 to Ouray where we secured a room. It was still early so Gary, Raymond and I rode up to Box Canyon falls to take a few pics overlooking the town. A short little ride of a few miles that was well worth the effort….unlike the hike I took to the very top.

Thursday it was finally time to ride the Million Dollar Highway south from Ouray through Silverton, and on to Durango. Of all the roads we would travel, I had really looked forward to this part of the trip and it did not dissapoint! The traffic will a little heavier than we had seen earlier in the week, but it wasn’t terrible. Our first stop was Silverton to see where the Durango Silverton train stops, and then on South to Durango to visit the train station. A beautiful ride from start to finish! Next up, we headed west on Hwy 160 past Mesa Verde National Park, to Cortez for lunch. After lunch, with clouds looming over us, we headed north again on Hwy 145. Cloudy skys soon turned to rain as we made our way to Telluride. Raymond led us to the City park on the end of town where we found some shelter to warm up and made a bathroom break. The rain and falling temperatures were not welcome at this point, but we pressed on in route to Montrose. I’m sure the ride from Telluride to Montrose had some nice scenery, but we were all too cold and wet to notice.

We awoke Friday morning to more rain in the forecast. Our plan was to head north to Frisco Colorado and spend a little time checking out the area. We decided to head northwest on Hwy 50 to Delta, then catch Hwy 92 and Hwy 133 up to I-70. It seemed like the shortest, quickest way considering the looming weather. We stayed dry until we arrived in Delta but as we filled our tanks it began to rain. At this point Raymond, Rhonda and Gary decided to take a different route to avoid the rain while Buzz and I decided to press on. Hwy 133, which we had ridden a few days earlier, was a fantastic motorcycle road and we just couldn’t pass up another chance to ride it. Besides, whats a little rain anyway? Well let me tell you, Buzz and I rode through the worst wind/rain storm I have ever been through in my life. I say through, because we did ride through the storm as we headed east to Hotchkiss, but as we headed north it caught up with us again and did not let up. When we arrived it Frisco around 2pm, I was so cold and wet I could barely sign the reciept for my hotel room! It was one leg of the trip that I was glad was over. A few hours later Raymond and Rhonda arrived dry as a bone. They had backtracked south and east before going north to Frisco and completely missed the rain. Raymond and I spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting out the area and then we all capped the evening off with dinner at the Back Country Brewery in downtown Frisco.

Saturday’s plan was to ride through the Rocky Mountain National Forest and then position ourselves for the trip home on Sunday. We headed east on I-70 to Hwy 40 where we headed north over Berthoud Pass, through Winterpark and on to Grandby. At Grandby we caught Hwy 34, or Trail Ridge Road into the park. As we paid our park entrance fee’s the Ranger informed us to be careful up on the tundra as the winds were extremely high, peaking at 70mph at times. We noted the warning but continued on anyway. The scenery in Colorado is fantastic, and the Rocky Mountain National Forest is no exception. Trail Ridge Road through the park is a must ride in Colorado as far as I’m concerned. Beautiful moutain scenery, a nice curvy road, and wildlife of all kinds. The views from the Alpine visitor center make you feel like you are truly on top of the world. While the wind was rather brisk up above the treeline it didn’t stop us from enjoying the ride up and over the mountain. We arrived in Estes Park for a late lunch, and a bit of shopping before heading on our way.

The original plan for Saturday was for us to stop somewhere around the Denver area so we could launch out for home on I-70 early Sunday morning. We had plenty of time to wind our way in that general direction taking in a few more sights along the way. Plans were meant to be changed though right? At this point we decided we would just make a direct shot to I-25 from Estes Park, then down to I-70 and head east. The new plan was to just ride towards home until we got tired and get a room for the night making Sunday a much shorter day home. As we headed east on I-70 Buzz and I split off from Raymond and Rhonda at Limon, Co. We headed south towards Oklahoma and they headed on towards Kansas.

As we continued on with the plan of riding until we got tired I discovered a flaw in the plan. Which one of us is going to admit to being tired so we could stop? It certainly wasn’t going to be me, and I quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be Buzz either. At each stop we both agreed we could ride a little further. The second problem was there just wasn’t anywhere to stop. The solution was simple tho, we just kept riding. We stopped for fuel every 150 miles or so and made sure we were both alert and safe to ride. Finally, around 4:30am I arrived at my home as Buzz continued on to Edmond arriving just before 6am. My total miles for the day were roughly 775 and I enjoyed every mile of it. Well…except for the nice policeman in Limon.

I have been to Colorado many times over the years. Most of that as a young person on family vacations. I always enjoyed those trips but I really wanted to do it on motorcycle. Now I have and I can honestly say I can’t wait to do it again!! And do it I will…in July of 2006. The VRCC’s National Rally, Inzane, is being held in Colorado and I hope to see you there!

Pictures you say? I took lots of pictures! The album starts slow, but there are 18 pages of pictures…so feel free to check them all out!