We got up after a night without rain, and a lot of stars. The stars at 9000ft are much brighter and more exhilarating than they are at sea level with a bunch of light pollution. It was chilly enough that a campfire felt good as we packed up.
As we tried to leave Bud told me that he was having trouble getting the ignition switch to turn on...... I took that to mean that the key was resisting turning and more or less blew the problem off.....but I thought we could hear more of this as time went on.
In fact,....now I remember Bud complaining about this last year on our Bonneville ride. Hummmm.....
We got the bikes running and left our Mtn paradise. We rode to Ridgeway and had Subway for lunch. Some local boys assured me that the route north thru Gunnison was much shorter to Westcliffe than the southern rt thru Durango.
We only had 150 miles to do.....3 hrs at the most, Right? Well, not if you are in beautiful Co. There are just too many reasons to stop and look at things. Such as the hr and a half we spent along the Arkansas River for a Bud nap.
Tom and LD rode out to meet us without success. They had a nice ride, but we were at least 2 hours behind schedule. Duh Sorry guys.
We arrived at LD's around 5pm. How's that for making a long ride out of a short one?
So we planned an over night dirt ride for the next day. LD has been searching for the perfect dualsport bike so he has 3 that ran. Two Kawi 250s and a Suzi 650. He generously offered the 250s to Nip and Bud while leaving one for himself. Tom had brought his 250 Kawi with him from Florida.
LD built his place there out of prefab built, house parts. Getting to his place require going up a 50 yard hill that has a sweeper in it. LD said they they had a hell of a time getting a crane in there to set the house sections. That hill is why he has such a beautiful view of the Sangre De Christo Mtns.
Later that evening LD got some steaks out of the freezer that Tom grilled on the outside BBQ. I had said earlier that it didn't get any better than that.....well that was true until then.
In the morning we got up. It turned out that LD was just too busy with a gravel shipment for his driveway to go riding with us so the 4 of us, Tom, Nip, Bud and I went for a ride up Hermits Trail in the Sangre de Christo range nearby.
Well, that didn't go too well, as something got in the float bowl needle that starved Bud's bike of gas when we started to climb. We nursed that along for a while, but eventually decided to nurse ourselves back to LD's for a carb cleaning.
By the time we got back the carb had fixed itself somehow. I love a self-fixing bike.....and to Boot LD was finished and his friend Dave was there on his DR650, so we loaded up and went for our overnight camp ride.
Tom and Nip were newish dirt riders. Tom has heard my Bullshit before and was careful to warn me, "Now remember, Pete, nothing too tough". I don't know why I get blamed for everything. Hell, I'm a recovering cancer patient, weak as a dishrag. I'm not likely to try anything tough. :(
Anyway, about 4pm we locate a free camp in the Natl forest about 20 miles from LD's house.
The road to get there was just the slightest bit challenging per Tom request. Just right for two 70 year olds, one 73, a 90, and the 64 year old kid, Nip.
Tom for his size is in good shape, he hikes the Appalachian Trail and goes to the gym. 73 year old Dave is a horse of a guy. It's amazing how much physical difference 6 geezers can have.
I wondered just how much this guy could eat. I thought it best to not give him a chance.
I'm really weak from past shoulder probs and recent Chemo, Bud is weak from old age, LD is weak from childhood polio, Nips in pretty good shape. Anyway none of that matters if you enjoy getting out into nature like we do....and we keep to the easy dirt roads.....mostly.
At camp, we had a nice fire, and compared camp stove. Tom, LD and I have our homade beer can Alcohol stoves. I'm experimenting with adding gasoline to my alcohol to make it burn hotter at altitude with some success. LD's stove is very good, but too complicated for my taste....Tom is moving toward a whisperLite stove.
Of course we didn't have anything to cook except coffee in the morning. :) But we all enjoy playing with our stoves. Ha
Forest scene at camp
As the evening approached we had several Deer wander near to our camp. They always look at us with that incredulous look as if to say, "What the F$ck are you doing here?".
Eventually, the sun went down and we went to sleep. There was only the slightest rain during the night. In the morning we decided to take a ride that would take us to Co's Great Sand Dune Park on a dirt road that LD had taken his Suburban on. The idea was Tom approved.
The weather was nice as we lit out for the day. We were on the road to the GSD when low and behold we came to a closed gate. The sign said closed due to fire further on. Oh Shit, what will we do now? We have the council together here.
Contemplating what to do about the fire closure
Hear's the sneaky part, as everyone had let their guard down because of the closure we were desperate for a new plan. Well, the Rainbow trail was nearby. The Rainbow trail is a 100 mile long trail that travels north and south along the east side of the Sangre de Cristo range. It's generally used by hikers or quads or OHV motos, but where we found it the trail was a very reasonable dirt trail. That helped with the seduction.
See that trail isn't bad.
We agreed to ride that a ways even though LD warned us that in other areas the trail was pretty challenging. Tom was iffy. I told him to go first with Nip. If it got too tough he could stop us all and we'd turn around and go back. Heh he.
A sign said that it was only 3 miles to another road intersection, cool, how hard could that be? I'm guessing the nice part lasted a mile before Tom came to a down hill that he went down, but would not be able to get back up, so that eliminated the possible turn around and go back idea.
You see even the very caution can get sucked into the vortexes of a seemingly casual dirt road. We were committed. Somehow Tom and Nip got out front when Bud fell down the first time, and LD and I had to help pick the bike up. It went downhill from there. LD fell a couple time. I fell a couple times, once trapping my foot under the bike, and I couldn't get the bike off me till LD helped me. Bud fell 3 or 4 more time in rocky downhills and uphills.
Here's where Bud launched his bike into a tree. :clap
This was all taking a toll on our energy reserves. Once, LD attempted to get his kickstand down. He had to lean the bike away from the stand....oh, oh, shit there went the bike over the other way almost into a small creek. A downed tree stopped the bike from going completely into the creek but it was upside down off the trail. Sorry, no picture...
Nothing stopped LD from going into the creek though. Heh, he. Well, he was wet and his ass was bruised, but nothing broken. However it did take all our strength and the rest of our reserves of energy to get that bike up and back on the trail. :(
I'm not shitting you. We were tired. Bud was scared to try the tougher parts now so I would ride his bike down or up the tough spots and then walk back to get mine. LD's DR650 was tiring his 135 lb body to a frazzle. We took to riding a half mile and laying down for 15 minutes. Where the hell was the end of this trail?
By the time we got out of there, I can't remember a time that I've ever been so tired. Did I mention hungry? That coffee this morning wasn't doing it. That 3 miles trail must have taken 2 hrs.
We all limped back to Westcliffe and had the most welcome Subway sandwich and cold drink that I'd ever had in all my life.
Finally back at the house we were telling the lies about how we conquered the Rainbow trail to LD's wife Anne.
Nothing more interesting happened for the rest of the day.....except this deer photo near LD's house from his balcony.
The boys hanging out together
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