sfarson
Registered user
Thought about placing this in the Ride Reports Forum for it was a bit of adventure with the temps, but it wasn't on an "adventure" bike, so here it is in this forum with us owners of the great RT.
So, for an armchair winter's day ride, and if a passing interest in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and if you ever find yourself near the middle of the state, oh, perhaps around meal time, there is a destination trifecta for you... a special diner (Rita's Place), in a one-of-a-kind town (Guffey), via enchanting roads (all of them in the area).
Last week I bundled up, packed the cams, rode three mountain passes, saw temps from 60f to 18f, and simply had one of those this-is-why-I-ride rides. Here is a map of the journey. The labels call out the locations of the pics below. The ride video is five minutes of highlights.
The Google link to the map above... http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=K...-Q&vpsrc=6&gl=us&mra=mi&mrsp=6&sz=13&t=m&z=10
If you hang in there to the end of the video, there is a short clip of me interacting with two horses tied up at Rita's Place. Yes, riders of a different kind of horse routinely ride here.
A winter high ride video, from Kenosha Pass to Red Hill Pass on U.S. 285, to curving Colorado 9 over Currant Creek Pass to the Guffey turnoff... http://youtu.be/iztT1lhVWaU
Paused on the driveway, keeping the bike on to get those heated grips heated!...
South Park (yes, that South Park) below Kenosha Pass. The poet Walt Whitman was inspired to write these words from the pass summit... I jot these lines literally at Kenosha summit, where we return, afternoon, and take a long rest, 10,000 feet above sea-level. At this immense height the South Park stretches fifty miles before me. Mountainous chains and peaks in every variety of perspective, every hue of vista, fringe the view...so the whole Western world is, in a sense, but an expansion of these mountains....
Prior to 1937, the only motorized means into the Park was via two rails...
Today, two wheels on two lanes provide escort to same place...
BTW, looking the other way, this is essentially the scope and scale of Jefferson. Ahhh, I love it! And that market you see there has a great grill in back of the store, with Jo Anne at the helm who used to ride during her younger years. She will treat you well. I once shared a lunch here with two couples from the UK riding through on hired Harleys. Last, if you have a weakness for fudge, famous Jefferson Market Fudge is shipped to many places... http://www.southparkfudge.com/...
On the approach to the Park County seat of Fairplay, the Mosquito Range looms over the incline to the Red Hill Pass summit. The granite bulk in the middle is 14,036ft. Mt. Sherman with her sister peaks. The aptly named peak to the left is Horseshoe Mountain...
A quick RT glamour shot...
OK, lest you think I'm hard core riding though these high altitude meadows in January, the reality this day is temps were in the high 40's! BUT, on the way to Guffey one must pass through the ice bowl that is Hartsel 18 miles south of Fairplay. The cold air routinely loves to settle there for head scratching reasons. The RT told me the temps in Fairplay were 49f. Egads, it was 18f (-8c) near Hartsel! Where is that heated seat switch! Looks 18f doesn't it...
Ahhhh, but ten miles south of Hartsel on Colorado 9 the temps are climbing and the road is entertaining. See that bending strip of road up on the horizon? That's Currant Creek Pass also ridden in the video...
Well, arrival in Guffey! The town is only a rectangular sized block. One can make an easy loop around it. Let's check out some of the common sights. We aren't the only ones touring the place this day...
BTW, those skeletons still have some fur and gristle on them bones. Five years ago they really had some fur and gristle on them bones...
That is an AMF Harley Davidson golf cart in the foreground...
Three horses waiting for their riders...
This is the place to look for. On a summer's day you will probably share the parking lot with other riders. The food is excellent, the atmosphere laid back, the town special, and the ride to it all just right...
So, for an armchair winter's day ride, and if a passing interest in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and if you ever find yourself near the middle of the state, oh, perhaps around meal time, there is a destination trifecta for you... a special diner (Rita's Place), in a one-of-a-kind town (Guffey), via enchanting roads (all of them in the area).
Last week I bundled up, packed the cams, rode three mountain passes, saw temps from 60f to 18f, and simply had one of those this-is-why-I-ride rides. Here is a map of the journey. The labels call out the locations of the pics below. The ride video is five minutes of highlights.
The Google link to the map above... http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=K...-Q&vpsrc=6&gl=us&mra=mi&mrsp=6&sz=13&t=m&z=10
If you hang in there to the end of the video, there is a short clip of me interacting with two horses tied up at Rita's Place. Yes, riders of a different kind of horse routinely ride here.
A winter high ride video, from Kenosha Pass to Red Hill Pass on U.S. 285, to curving Colorado 9 over Currant Creek Pass to the Guffey turnoff... http://youtu.be/iztT1lhVWaU
Paused on the driveway, keeping the bike on to get those heated grips heated!...
South Park (yes, that South Park) below Kenosha Pass. The poet Walt Whitman was inspired to write these words from the pass summit... I jot these lines literally at Kenosha summit, where we return, afternoon, and take a long rest, 10,000 feet above sea-level. At this immense height the South Park stretches fifty miles before me. Mountainous chains and peaks in every variety of perspective, every hue of vista, fringe the view...so the whole Western world is, in a sense, but an expansion of these mountains....
Prior to 1937, the only motorized means into the Park was via two rails...
Today, two wheels on two lanes provide escort to same place...
BTW, looking the other way, this is essentially the scope and scale of Jefferson. Ahhh, I love it! And that market you see there has a great grill in back of the store, with Jo Anne at the helm who used to ride during her younger years. She will treat you well. I once shared a lunch here with two couples from the UK riding through on hired Harleys. Last, if you have a weakness for fudge, famous Jefferson Market Fudge is shipped to many places... http://www.southparkfudge.com/...
On the approach to the Park County seat of Fairplay, the Mosquito Range looms over the incline to the Red Hill Pass summit. The granite bulk in the middle is 14,036ft. Mt. Sherman with her sister peaks. The aptly named peak to the left is Horseshoe Mountain...
A quick RT glamour shot...
OK, lest you think I'm hard core riding though these high altitude meadows in January, the reality this day is temps were in the high 40's! BUT, on the way to Guffey one must pass through the ice bowl that is Hartsel 18 miles south of Fairplay. The cold air routinely loves to settle there for head scratching reasons. The RT told me the temps in Fairplay were 49f. Egads, it was 18f (-8c) near Hartsel! Where is that heated seat switch! Looks 18f doesn't it...
Ahhhh, but ten miles south of Hartsel on Colorado 9 the temps are climbing and the road is entertaining. See that bending strip of road up on the horizon? That's Currant Creek Pass also ridden in the video...
Well, arrival in Guffey! The town is only a rectangular sized block. One can make an easy loop around it. Let's check out some of the common sights. We aren't the only ones touring the place this day...
BTW, those skeletons still have some fur and gristle on them bones. Five years ago they really had some fur and gristle on them bones...
That is an AMF Harley Davidson golf cart in the foreground...
Three horses waiting for their riders...
This is the place to look for. On a summer's day you will probably share the parking lot with other riders. The food is excellent, the atmosphere laid back, the town special, and the ride to it all just right...
