Rocky Mountain National Park - there and back again

FINALLY!!!! YAY!!!!!

Headed out the door at 10:30 am. Destination - Estes Park. I grabbed my laptop thinking I'd stop and sit somewhere with a warm beverage and maybe get some work done. I took my usual route up to Boulder and stayed on Broadway through town to get to Lyons. There is lots of construction still going on on Broadway but it wasn't any worse than sitting in traffic and stoplights on 28th through town. I made one pit stop in Lyons and then headed up towards Estes Park.

Estes Park is one of my most favorite places to be in Colorado. I know it fairly well, having spent several weeks working on various archives projects with my library school. I took an archives class as a student and then spent the next few years assisting current students with the projects. The history of the area fascinates me. And having spent so much time there, I can usually avoid the tourists and the crowds. But, yesterday, it was very quiet. I guess the cold weather and snow might be keeping them away.

I stopped and had a bowl of chili, sitting outside to enjoy the moment.
















I stopped in the Beaver Meadows visitor center to check on the road conditions. On the board they were officially listed as icy but the ranger said they were actually mostly clear. So, off I went. I bought a year pass. I hope to spend a lot of time riding through here this season. :-)

Once in the park, I headed up Trail Ridge Road. I like to look at the road past the road closed sign to see how high the snow is. Here is some video of me leaving the parking area at Many Curves Park, where the road is closed. (Hopefully the video works.)



The roads were very clear, even clear of gravel or sand. Some of the shaded curves had some gravel so I just took those very slowly. No traffic, no people wandering the roads, I didn't even see any wildlife. I road up Trail Ridge Road to the road closed sign and back down. Then took the road out of the park at the Fall River entrance. There was a gaggle of cars pulled over at the fork in the road to go into downtown or up to the Stanley, so I went through town instead. They were probably taking photos of elk so I thought I'd just avoid the situation.

I headed back home the way I came. When it was all over, I'd traveled 152 miles in 6 hours. It was a good day. It could have only been better if my hubby had been with me. Maybe next time. This time it was nice to have some solitude. And, I didn't get any work done, so that was ok too.

So depressing...

Snow every three days has been the norm around here. Sigh. Very cold morning temperatures, slick roads in the morning, 40's in the afternoons. Those 40s are nice, and we even had some sun this week, but those cold slick mornings are not conducive to my riding. Today, I have a workshop in the morning until about 2:00. Maybe I can make it home in time to get a quick ride in. Saturday it is supposed to be nice too. We'll see. Sigh.

so much snow....

I got a short ride in yesterday. We had a plumbing issue that took up most of the morning so I didn't get out until about 2:30 or so. And, once the sun goes down, it gets cold quickly. So, I just made it a quick jaunt to Golden and back. I wanted to keep going but, laundry was calling. Sigh. And now there's snow on the ground and colder temperatures in the air. Sigh. It has to warm up some time, right?

Sigh.

Not motorcycle related....

Right now, the New Orleans Saints are the only thing that can distract me from riding. :-) WHO DAT! GO SAINTS!!

Quick trip to Boulder

I did this loop this afternoon. Points D through J are on dirt roads. Not really offroad roads, just unmaintained roads. An easy fun way to get used to being on something slipperier than pavement. Most of it was dry but some places, especially in the corners, were wet and a bit muddy. Mostly just slick. But, it was a nice ride. And for once, I followed my outlined route. :-) The weather was nice and cool, mostly cloudy. I even got sprinkled on a bit coming back through Boulder. My goal was to get some video from the bike. We took the bags off to put the crash bars on, so, while the tank bag was off, I loaded up the camera mount on the handle bars. The mount doesn't work with the bag there. After the loop, I decided to try mounting the camera on the crash bars to see what kind of action shots would come out. I was quite happy with how it turned out. It took me a long time to get the mount situated but eventually I did. Take a look at the results below.



I'll have to figure out how to manipulate the camera and video settings to help with the focus. I can actually see the screen, sort of, as I'm sitting in the saddle. And I can also reach the power button and start button too. Not a good thing to do as I'm moving but once I'm stopped safely or at a stop light I'll be able to turn the camera on or off. The camera eats batteries when the video is recording. That's the main issue. I'll have to figure out if I can plug it in some how to the bike. A task for another day.

Tomorrow is a holiday for me so I may get out again and shoot more video. Even though the clouds were quite ominous looking over the foothills, the forecast says tomorrow is supposed to be similar to today. Maybe I'll head south tomorrow. Or east. I'll have to check the statewide forecast to get a better idea of what weather to expect where.

1st International Journal of Motorcycles Studies Conference

This looks like it could be interesting and it's very close to home.

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=781940

1st International Journal of Motorcycles Studies Conference

Thursday, June 03, 2010 - Sunday, June 06, 2010

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
(719) 255-4037
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80809
USA

Farkles!

Just got these! Givi luggage mounts and fairing crash bars. Sweeeeeet!