Last day of the ride. A nice cruise up I70. A ride up to Mt. Evans and home. Should be a fun and easy ride.
There was a bit of construction going on past Grand Junction so there was some slow riding with single lanes of traffic but nothing horrible. The ride to Glenwood Springs was again fairly uneventful. General cruising and a nice day to be out. Clear skies and nice weather. When we got to Glenwood Springs, we did stop at the rest area to get some pics.
There was construction so not much in the way of being able to stop and get more pics. The views were very good though. We did stop at the Hanging Lake pull out but didn’t actually stop since it required a hike to get to the lake. So we looped back around. There wasn’t an entrance to east bound I70 so we headed back to the rest area and turned back around. The rest of that ride was still pretty cool.
As we continued on, we went through the various towns until getting to Vail. We headed on up to get over Vail Pass, a pretty high (and chilly) ride. On the other side we stopped for a quick rest.
After Vail Pass we continued on through Frisco and Silverthorne to get to the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel. Going through the Johnson Tunnel was pretty interesting and on the other side we continued to Idaho Springs. This was the turn off to get to Echo Lake and Mt. Evans. Heading up to the lake wasn’t too big a deal. At the lake itself I went to pass the SUV and Pickup in front of me (passing zone of course) only to discover oncoming bikes! He slipped to his right and I stayed on my right and passed without a problem. I gave him the Two Fingers salute but I was amazed I didn’t see him before the pass. At the lake I got a pic and then we headed up to Mt. Evans.
The ride up to Summit Lake was fairly nice if a bit chilly. The lake had a lot of ice on it but it was the sponge type of ice. Melting and dangerous to walk on should you be so crazy.
From there we continued on up to Mt. Evans itself. The road up was pretty tight in the corners. With Jeanne on the back and having to feather the clutch, we got up but it was pretty hair raising at times. One wrong wiggle and we would have gone over. As it was, when we got to the Mt Evans parking area, Jeanne got off the bike, I shut it off, and leaned it over. And over. And over. Until it was on its side. Yep. I neglected to put the kick stand down 🙁 I removed my gear and pulled off the tank bag. Another rider was nearby and helped me get it back upright. Kickstand down and checked out the bike. The clutch lever broke again 🙁 Ah well. We’re stopping at the bike place anyway to pick up a couple of parts. I’ll just have to order a new clutch lever.
Once that was straightened out, we headed around to check out the sights. Over by the bathrooms was a herd of goats.
You could actually get pretty close although I’d be cautious of course. More looking around and I got a couple of Panoramic shots of the east and west sides of Mt Evans.
Once done there we headed back down. I intended to head out to Evergreen Parkway and on to I70 vs going back the way we came. There are some nice roads down.
As we were heading down, we got behind a white SUV. Generally not a big problem. In a passing zone I’d just zip by. But this guy was pretty erratic. Crossing the double yellow and potentially in a spot where a bicyclist could be hit if in the wrong place when this idiot went by. At one point, the passenger threw a bunch of small yellow somethings out the window. I want to say Pistachio nuts or shells from the look. They did bounce off my leg so they might have been full size, or even small stones. When we found a spot to pass where this guy wasn’t being too crazy, I zipped by and of course gave him the universal head shake and finger. The rest of the ride down was pretty cool with one stop for construction.
We got back onto I70 and headed down into the front range. We caught 6 north to 93 concerned the entire time due to the coolant and the bike over heating. I think (I have to test it) that the sensor has failed. I didn’t recall hearing the fan come on so there might be a problem (reason it was over heating). In Boulder we stopped at the Colorado PowerSports place to pick up my order. It was just a few minutes to 6pm when they closed so we were cutting it pretty close. I also ordered a new clutch lever. From there we headed to the Atomic Goblin game store. Jamie was watching Slash and the house for me so I wanted to snag the house key and let him know we were home. Unfortunately we just missed him and headed on home. He was there just getting settled in to watch a movie.
In general it was a pretty nice ride. There was some heavy winds in Wyoming and Utah and even snow. Little rain though so we were pretty good in general. The bike did quite well. It does look a bit overloaded however the heavy gear was in the saddle bags where I generally pack it. And Slash has been pretty clingy for the past few days. I suspect he did miss me a touch 🙂
I do want to note that the Panoramic feature on the iPhone 5 did a stupendous job. The pics a huge and look great.