Durango or Bust...and Back Home Again

[NancysToy]

Day 1: Battle Creek, MI to Anamosa, IA
We left Michigan on a cool (48 degrees) sunny morning. It stayed bright and sunny throough the entire day. Rode the Interstate most tof the way to Iowa. I thank Dwight Eisenhower every time I ride it. Fairly sparse traffic on a Thursday...even the Chicago area was quite sane. We rode to Anamosa, Iowa, specifically to visit the National Motorcycle Museum. I had help arrange for EJ Potter's Bloody Mary to be exhibited there in their new drag racing exhibit. It was nice to pay homage to the old girl. Looks nice in the Museum...it was so sad to roll her down the driveway a few weeks ago and bid her farewell. Neat stuff in the drag racing exhibit. I raced fuel bikes in the late sixties/early seventies. It was very neat to see some of the old parts, pictures, videos, posters and such. I had forgotten how much I loved that when I was doing it. I could almost smell the nitro in the air as we walked around. Lots of other neat stuff in the Museum. I'll have to wait until I am home on the laptop to download my pictures, though...sorry.

Postscript:

 

[SteveMac]

See you there Scotty!

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Sounds like a fun day. Someday they will have to put you in the museum too. :roflblack:

 

[Hobstopper]

Scotty,
Smells are linked to memory more than any other sensory. I remember going back to Great Lakes (Navy) for my sons graduation and the one thing that brought back memories of my time there was the smell of the steam coming out of the grates around the base. It is amazing how the memories coming rushing back. Have a safe trip and keep the rubber to the road!!

 

[NancysToy]

Day 2: Anamosa, IA to Kearney, NE
Today was pretty much all about getting there. We did 470 miles...mostly Interstate. Beautiful rolling hills leaving Anamosa. US-151 is about the nicest non-Interstate highway I ever rode. Real wide, nice pavement, sweeping curves and rolling hills. Not necessarily the prettiest ride ever, but a great highway...as highways go. We amazingly did not get rained upon. We stopped to put on our rainsuits once, and while we did the shower passed us by. Had one Spyder pass us near Des Moines. That was the only one we saw. From Omaha, NE onward, I-80 was not much fun. It seems about 60% or more of it was under construction. What's the sense in having flat, straight roads with a 75 mph speed limit if speed is reduced to 55-65 throughout most of it? I never saw so much single-lane freeway in my life! Had one worry, when traffic suddenly became stopped, and all we saw were "gumballs". A semi went into the muddy median, and had to be towed out. There was no warning, but the poilce kept things to one lane, and got us moving again pretty quickly. I was worried about running out of gas, but we dodged the bullet. The unexpected...another reason not to push your fuel supply too low. We passed under the Archway Monument coming into Kearney. Pretty startling to see something like that built across an Interstate. Didn't visit...we were tired and hungry and it looked crowded.

 

[TicketBait]

great write up, look forward to more. B safe!opcorn::thumbup:

 

[RodO]

Hi Scotty,
It's great to read about these rides!
I leave tomorrow at sunrise from Saskatoon SK for Miles City MT -- just about 500 miles away!
Durango ho!

Rod.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dancogan]

Hiya Scotty!

Good to hear you guys are having such a good trip! And no rain - that's nice, too. We got to leave earlier than we expected - Geri got out of school at noon Friday - so we're in Grand Island tonight, probably go to Colorado Springs area tomorrow. Anyway, looking forward to meeting up with you at registration in Durango on Wednesday.

 

[NancysToy]

Day 3: Kearney, NE to Ft. Collins, CO
Netbook failed. Gotta cut this short. Good day. Saw smoke from fires but no problems. Rode the trolley...too cool! Hate typing on the phone...bye.

Postscript:
Today the farms started turning into ranches, and finally the mountains appeared. Saw the smoke from the fires, but it was blowing away from town. The Ft. Collins Municipal Railway is a marvelously restored trolly. We loved the short ride. Ft. Collins is a great town...very busy and very diverse. We really liked it there.

 

[Lamonster]

We will be in Durango today. See you there. :doorag:

 

[NancysToy]

Day 4: Ft. Collins, CO to Leadville, CO
Left Ft. Collins for Estes Park. Rode the Peak-to-Peak to Gilpin. Incredible ride...wore me out. In Georgetown we rode another train. This time the Georgetown Loop. With the Netbook dead, I can't download my pictures...sorry. Hit limp mode on the way to Leadville. Not sure of the cause...no code. Possibly the wind. Reset after a couple of tries and short rides. Tomorrow we head for Durango.

Postscript:
Hit the mountains for real today. Estes Park is the door to an incredible ride and view if you take CO-7 south. The train ride was a perfect thing after the strenuous mountain riding. Stayed in Leadvill for the night. The limp mode incident seems to be a combination of contantlt steering into a stiff cross wind and a long, long sweeing curve in that same direction. The steering sensor mismatch finally timed out and alarmed. Found you have to have the bars straight for a proper reset.

 

[NancysToy]

Day 5: Leadville, CO to Durango, CO
Today was all about getting there. Rode down to catch US-160 to Durango through Pagosa Springs. This was our first exposure to the high desert. It is very different for a couple of Yankees from the forests of the north. Not sure I could live there. Ran into Fred Rau and his wife outside Pagosa Springs. They were stopped with a limp mode incident. We followed them into Durango. The room at the Ramada is very nice...good value, clean and comfortable. Great bunch of SpyderLovers at the Ramada!

 

[NancysToy]

Day 6: Durango, CO
Today was our day to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. We had purchased tickets for their new narrative coach tour. A woman dressed in a period costume narrates her story of an early area settler, and points out the sights and history along the route. It was a great way to experience the train! It is incredible that men carved the railroad out of the rock, following the river. Our layover in Silverton was fun, too. Very old time town. This journey just whet our appetites for riding the Million Dollar Highway along the same route later.

 

[MarkLawson]

Scotty, when I was a kid, on one of my many trips to the area, I bought a token in Silverton that said 'Good for 50¢ trade in whiskey, tobacco or one screw'. Never tried to redeem it!

 

[SpydherLuv]

Hey Scotty, I'm bummed that we never got a chance to meet - perhaps at the next event. Good to hear your traveling went well. Ours was hot, hot, hot!
Enjoy the rest of your ryde!

-Anita

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Scotty spent a little time here while he was in Silverton

 

[flamingobabe]

It was great meeting y'all...thanks for the write ups

 

[spyder3]

Thanks for the picts scotty....awesome..

 

[NancysToy]

Day 7: Durango, CO & Mesa Verde Nat'l Park
Day one of the Owners' Event. We started the day with a visit to the fairgrounds to register. Great setup! No long lines at registration, a nice store, prototype displays, lots of tents for shade and water for our thirst, nice display area for the customs, and the parking lot was filling with Spyders fast. BRP had nice brochures and cards with the various rides, and a better downtown map than the visitor center provided. Bought an event t-shirt and hit the road for our first day of riding. Mesa Verde was one of the organized rides, but we went out on our own with Dan Cogan.

The relatively green river valley around Durango gave way to an arid landscape quickly. Very different for a boy raised surrounded by the Great Lakes. The ride to Mesa Verde was fun. Nice sweepers and a good highway. The construction zones weren't a big bother. Bought a senior pass at the park entrance for ten bucks! What a bargain...free entrance to any National Park for life. Visited several pueblos in the park, and did some serious hiking. We're used to walking, but the combination of the steep paths and the altitude made us huff and puff. Gotta shape up! Great photo ops abound here. It was well worth the trip. The ride in and out of the park was outstanding. We took it easy going in, but got a little exuberant coming out. I had a big grin on my face by the time we reached the entrance. One of the most fun 20 miles I ever rode!

 

[NancysToy]

Day 8: Durango, CO to Cortez, Dolores, Rico, Telluride, Ridgway, Ouray, Silverton, and Back to Durango
Today we rode what BRP called the Million Dollar Highway ride. The MDH was included, but this is better known as the San Juan Loop. It ranges from desert going toward Cortez to rich green mountain valleys at Rico, to mountains above the tree line at Telluride, then on to the heights and twists of the Million Dollar Highway back to Durango. Durango is amazing...20 miles in any direction brings a whole new landscape!

Alond the way we saw two of the Galloping Goose gas powered trains, and some incredible scenery. Not too many pics along the MDH...Nancy was holding on too tightly! When I talked to Lamont, the first thing he said about the MDH was "It's hairy!" Coming from a boy that lives in the mountains and rides the Dragon almost weekly, that's a strong statement. When we rode the train Tuesday, we saw a crashed bike some 800 feet below the highway. That didn't improve our confidence. I'm not sure I have gone that far before in first gear, but let's just say that when the sign says 10 mph, you do pay attention. It is not a fast ride, but it is demanding...and a bit unnerving at first. You soon get the hang of it, and cruise along nicely. No sightseeing for the busy rider, though...stop at the overlooks.

At Ouray we visited Cascade Falls. It takes a short hike from the parking area, but it is well worth it. My hiking boots would have been better than my riding boots, though. From Ouray, it was on to Silverton for lunch, then back to Durango. After a short stay at the fairgrounds, we were off to the BRP dinner.

Dinner was held at the Sleeping Beauty Ranch, a few miles north on US-550. Beautiful location, right between the narrow gauge railroad tracks and a lake with a mountain behind it. The pigs were turning on the spits, and the chicken was grilling as we arrived. About 500 Spyders were parked there eventually, and they said they fed well over 600 people. Many were absent...still riding or doing other things. BRP knocked themselves out for this meal, and it showed! Good food, good company, and some welcome words and a neat video from the BRP folks made the evening. It was nice!

Finally back to the motel for some serious bench racing (conversation) and a dip in the pool. We could see the smoke from a new wildfire coming over the mountains, and later the glow. The Weber fire had just started between Durango and Mesa Verde. In the morning the ash on the vehicles looked like light snow.