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4Strokes.com
Articles: Howard's
Colorado
Adventure - Part 1 | Part 2
By Howard McKim of San Diego, California |
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| Left work at 3:30. Truck full of gas.
Straight out of
town and on my way. Truck was overheating through the mountains. Not a good
start. Stopped in Yuma for gas, and when I got back in the truck it was way
overheated. I had added more fluid to the overflow reservoir earlier, which must
be part of the problem. I figure it can't breathe like its supposed to since its
too full. I pull up into Denny's parking lot to investigate. I can't go on as it
is. Bright idea (NOT!) -- I'll open the bottom drain plug and let a little fluid
out, then close it and be on my way. When I opened the valve, which I thought
was a 2-way steel valve was really a cheap plastic valve, the pressure broke the
plug and fluid sprayed everywhere, burning my hand and leaving me stranded.
The
threads of the stem were still in the radiator, and all the fluid was on the
ground. Obviously I'm spending the night in Yuma. Luckily there's hotels all
around but that was about it. Now how in the hell am I going to find a drain
plug for an old Chevy on a Friday night in Yuma?
I head into a hotel and ask
for the Yellow Pages, and start calling parts stores. Out of business, number's
been disconnected, no we don't carry those, etc.. No luck! I don't even know
where I am in relation to these places. Finally I call Apples Garage... "We
closed an hour ago, and we're not open on weekends". But ma'am, I'm totally
stuck and need some help. 'Let me get my husband'....'Yea I have one of those
right here, but I'm about to leave and you'd have to get here in 20 minutes'.
Well I know he's on the same street as me, but how far? I figure I can't chance
it. I unload the bike, and take off on my first ride of the trip, down the
streets of Yuma! Shorts and tennis shoes and all, I find the garage only blocks
away. They're just closing the doors, and I slip in and buy the plug for $5.
He
even gives me a used spare and tells me how to change it out, including the
busted-off threaded part. I told him he saved my vacation, and headed back to
the truck. I'll have to take the radiator out to do it, so I spent the night
there. Only 3 hours into the trip, the adventure has clearly begun.
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| 5:30 AM -- I take the radiator out
and change the plug, no problems. Couldn't have gone
smoother. I take my bike out of the hotel room and load it
up, got lots of Gatorade in case I get stuck on the highway, and
head out on the road. Much better. Seems to be running
good. I drive about 14 hours this day, making it to
Silverton, CO. Main St. seems closed. I found 1
payphone and call the wife. Then I made it in a restaurant
as they were closing the door for a chicken fried steak and a cold
Avalanche brew, couldn't have been better. I then pulled the
truck onto a side street, pulled out the bag, and slept in the
front of my truck. Not bad. |
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 Woke up early and started getting my stuff ready for
riding. With the bike unloaded, the Sheriff stops to talk to this boy from
California. 'You know you can't ride that bike out of town. You'll have to drive
up to such and such mine and park there.' But I.., Can't I just... But would you
let me... 'No, you'll have to at least drive out of town to unload.'
We look at
the map and he tells me I'll get stuck around Lake City since I'm not street
legal. So I drive 3 blocks to the fire road and park and unload, again.
With all
the bags loaded, I head out. The bike is running funny, the suspension is too
stiff, and I don't feel all together, so I head back to the truck for some fine
tuning. I adjust the suspension easily, but the idle adjustment is a different
story. With the big tank, its darn near impossible. I stay stubborn and finally
get it close. A bit too high, but better that than too low. I'm off again, and I
head to the hills. Within the hour I'm over Hurricane Pass. That just seemed too
easy. Lots of jeeps out too. I stop by a turquoise lake and take some photos of
the bike in the snow. I load up again, checking to be sure I have everything.
I
head up the road about 100 yards, hesitate going uphill since I don't know which
way to turn, and laid the bike over. Its just too top heavy to hold up in an
uphill rut. I break the clutch lever and bust my elbow on a rock, going zero
mph! Flustered, I pull over and bandage my elbow, and replace my clutch lever.
As I'm re-packing the bike, I realize I don't have my GPS. But I just had it at
the lake. So, I head back to the lake, and its nowhere to be found. I mean
nowhere -- Its gone! One hour into the trip, and I've used my spare lever, have
a numb elbow, and no GPS. The adventure must go on!
I follow the Alpine loop for
40 miles over to Lake City, passing over Cinnamon Pass. Awesome scenery, but way
too many jeeps and quads. Most are courteous, some are not. Took some work to
pass some of those folks. This is clearly a different crowd than the Gunnison
area gets. Nobody was wearing helmets, and there were many infants on the fronts
of quads. Most of the jeeps were rentals. Before Lake City I hit the signs --
'No OHV's... Prosecuted to the fullest extent... don't even try it...' I stop
and weigh the odds. I don't even have a map from Lake City to Gunnison, and its
Sunday evening. I definitely don't want to ride on the major highway to get to
Gunnison.  I figure the only way to meet my friend Ted (from Denver), my brother
(from TX), and Alan (friend from work on the CO 300 ride) is to get to Crested
Butte, ASAP. Back to the truck I say. I went in reverse for the 40 miles back in
race mode. Full steam ahead, no stops. I load up back at the truck, and start
driving to Crested Butte. What an awesome drive! Ouray must be the nicest town
I've ever been through. I'm glad I drove up through there.
I got to Crested
Butte and unloaded again, immediately heading out to the remote spot I found
last year. I rode through the campground and hit the single track trail.
I
parked in the woods, grabbed my bags, and went down the embankment and into the
stream. Crossing the stream a few times, wearing MX boots, I hike to my spot a
few hundred yards down. Perfect. I set up camp and go fishing real quick.
I
pumped water and made dinner, and packed everything up and hung it from a tree.
All before dark. What a long day. Looks like a perfect spot for bears, but I'm
too beat to care. The rain started as soon as I got in the tent, and continued
all night. |
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| I got up early, cooked breakfast (2 packets of oatmeal
a day), went fishing, and started to pack up. Everything is wet, and I'm in the
woods where the sun can't reach. Its sunny across the stream on a rocky shore,
so I wade across a few times with the wet gear, laying it out to dry. On my last
trip across, the wind blew my almost dry tent right into the stream. Now its
full of water. Oh well, the sun dried it out without much delay. I hiked on back
up to my bike, and changed back to riding gear. The mosquitoes were relentless.
Dozens all around me.
 I rode back to Crested Butte for gas, then headed straight
for Pearl Pass. This is the good stuff! Just what I'd been hankering for.
The
first half is smooth, fast, and fun. I'm getting used to the weight and feel of
the bike. That's a good thing, because then the rough stuff hit. Those that have
done the pass know, those who haven't beware! This is the roughest, rockiest
route I've been on up there. My goal was to make it to the top without touching
down or laying the bike over. I laid the bike over once last year right near the
top. I did great all the way to the last stretch, where you can see the elusive
pass. That last hill climb is completely covered in helmet size loose rocks.
Darn near impossible to ride on top of. I laid the bike over not 10 feet from
where I did last year! I got up, lifted the bike, and made it to the top without
further incident. Woo-Hoo! I parked the bike in the snow and took a picture.
I
had made it to the top without injury. The Moose guys were on top doing a photo
shoot. They were all decked out in their shiny new logo-laden gear. (The
Colorado 300 was this same week in the same area) I felt proud to be on a
work-horse, sticker-free bike wearing camo pants and a North Face jacket. They
sure looked out of place to me, but just by being up there they had to be good
riders.
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Howard's
Colorado Adventure - Part 1 | Part 2 |
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