Anyone run this one in Colorado???

[Putt]

Mapping a route for a late spring run in Colorado (4 Corners)

Putt..

[georgeorge]

I converted it for ya.

[Fred D]

My two cents...from Montrose, go back up to Delta, and take 92 to Gunnison

[crazykz]

I've run parts of it but hell if I remember any of it.

Curt

[TexTom]

Try the road thru Crawford and stop at Joe Cocker's place[bike friendly] and continue south to highway 50. The road across the north side of the Black Canyon should not be missed. Then down to Lake City on 149{I think} is really pretty.Alfred Packer was accused of cannablism there in the early 1800's. Down thru Creede and to 160? and west to Durango.
It's all pretty and all worth it.:06biker:
TexTom

[sttourer]

141 is a beautiful stretch. 550 from Ridgeway to Ouray to Durango is a nice ride too. I've attached a photo from 141.

[TexTom]

Yes ,135 from Crested Butte is gravel to Paonia State Park .It was a somewhat smooth gravel when I did it 5 years ago ,but I think that depends on how wet the thaw is and when the road crews get around to cleaning it up.I consider 135 to be a round trip from Gunnison. The cut-off to Taylor Park is a nice ride, pretty lake.

[NewsMag]

Try the road thru Crawford and stop at Joe Cocker's place[bike friendly]
TexTom

The Cocker (Mad Dog Ranch Soda Fountain) place is permanently closed. Has been for about 2 years.

Roads are still awesome, though. And the posted route does skip the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Going thru Crawford will put you on this great road, which is a "must ride" for me when I am in that area.

[Putt]

Have not hit the north side of the black canyon.... Problem is, there are a lot
of good roads in that section of Colorado... A guy could spend a month..
Then there is Utah.......


Putt...

[JReviere]

STeve K, remembers an incident at Mad Dog Ranch... wasn't funny then, but is now... I almost played "topple the dominos" with a whole row of Bmmers. Parking was AWFUL, side stand up hill...... let Steve tell the story... He saw it and can do the tale justice in a humorous way. I was "too involved" in the almost bad scene.

JR
394

[NewsMag]

Without permission, that is. Since JR has given me leave, I shall proceed with the STory...:duck:

Our recollections differ on the event of the occasion. :confused: JR remembers a WiserSTOC event in 1997, hosted by the inimitable Dr. STeve Lambert, the much more taciturn (and less lovely) half of the STriders user team that occasionally posts here. I remember the particular event in conjunction with WeSTOC 98 prior to our arrival in Taos, New Mexico, also hosted by Dr. Lambert, with the scene taking place after the famous "cake incident" involving Mike Martin . Both are other STories for other times. ;)

Since I get to tell the tale, we'll go with my fading memories. The year was 1997 and the weather was beyond perfection. The event was a pre-WeSTOC ride organized by the infamous Tom Vervaeke (a whole set of other STories there :eek:), who ordained that many of us on the way to New Mexico would need to pass through Colorado, and took it upon himself to see that the Colorado passage would be memorable.:)

On that day most of us had crossed Independence Pass and through Aspen (where the people are beautiful and their dogs even more so). Feeling unwelcome in these moneyed surroundings, some of us had lunch in a great creekside cafe discovered by Tom Vervaeke in Redstone, Colorado - where the Mike Martin "cake incident" took place. A loose collection of riders proceeded from there south on Colorado 133 to Hotchkiss and turned towards Crawford on Colorado 92. In the interest of fairness - if JR's recollection is correct, we would have approached the scene (a year earlier) from the south on Colorado 92, AFTER riding the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

But these details are not germane to the STory at hand. Riding as ST riders often do, arrival times at designated areas are not synchronized like GoldWing or Harley groups, but are more random and spaced out, as each STRider is riding his or her own ride. It has been said that motorcycling of the sport touring genre is like riding alone together. And so it was on that day. Many of us had visited Joe Cocker's Mad Dog Ranch Cafe & Soda Fountain before, and all of us had heard of it, so we wanted to stop by for a libation. :eat2: Joe Cocker, in his semi-retirement, had married well, settled down in a grand estate in the country in the middle of nowhere (check your maps for Crawford, Colorado), and opened a nice place which was advertised widely as biker-friendly. With Pam Cocker in charge :mrgreen: all bikers of every stripe were indeed made to feel welcome and part of the family at the place, and a great variety of non-alcoholic treats and libations were made available to promote safety. :chat1:

The metropolis of Crawford consists of a short city block of multiple-use buildings on Colorado Hwy 92, and the block runs downhill from North to South on that route. The buildings face a sort of town triangle with a small business and post office across the street and at the top of the hill. The Cockers had done a great job of restoring the building, installing a huge soda fountain, banquet area, and outdoor patio. Lots of onstreet parking out front, on a pretty mean slope. Far from ideal bike parking, but there were always a number of Harleys, BMWs, and other assorted bikes out front to prove it was possible. :???: While the Cockers had done a great job with the place, it was beyond their powers to level the street, and the slope increased precipitously on both ends of the block. :shock:

Having visited in the past, I had learned that more prudent parking was to be found by proceeding up the hill across from the place about 75 feet where there was some flat concrete - on the perpendicular side of the town triangle. I arrived early and parked there, quite inconspicuously, and took up residence on the patio of the cafe. :eat1: During the course of conversation with the other STers inside, it became necessary to have a map. I left the patio from the side gate, located on the North (uphill) side of the building, and came out to find our very own JR backing his ST into the space left on the most uphill side of all the bikes - on the very steepest spot. :eek:

Now JR has mentioned that his current state of health is much improved, and at this time such was not the case. And we all know that, while the ST is many things, one thing that it is NOT is lightweight. And let the record show that such was also the case for the 1997 version of J Reviere! ;) Not seeing a way to help out, I paused to watch in admiration - expecting to see JR execute a difficult move that I had chosen to pass on.

It should also be noted that the other residents of the cafe comprised a vintage BMW club, all of whom had parked on the North side of the grade, and a few miscellaneous Harley guys filling in the downhill spaces. And said cafe had large windows all facing the street scene. And JR is parking a very heavy bike on the uphill side of all their bikes. You may have guessed by now that something went wrong. Picture the scene, backing a bike into a space that would be uphill on the left side of the bike. The BMWs had all used center stands, and the Harleys all had enough lean to overcome the somewhat milder slope below. JR shifted from looking over his left shoulder and standing on his left foot to looking over his right shoulder and placing his right foot solidly on - thin air! :eek: The laws of physics took over and the combined weight of the ST and rider slowly collapsed JR's leg and toppled over to the right - which was right on top of a vintage BMW and a line of bikes poised ready to domino downhill with the slightest input. :oops::22yikes:

At this point the few onlookers outside broke out of our collective trances - and one fellow literally threw himself into the path of the first BMW - preventing it's contact with the second and the resulting domino effect. JR and I somehow managed to wrestle his ST off the top of the pile with the adrenaline of the moment. :superman:

As often happens in such cases, all the bystanders materialized on the scene instantly. JR surrounded by ST riders and the BMW owner surrounded by his fellows. JR apologizing profusely to anyone who would listen and the BMW guy primed to hurt somebody - with the guy who saved everything apologizing to HIM for touching his bike and preventing disaster! :confused: Anyway, the presence of two large groups who clearly did NOT want things to escalate was enough to calm the injured owner, who was hard pressed to find any damage at all. And JR offering to pay for any real or imagined damage and put the guy's kids through the college of his choice!

Names and phone numbers were exchanged, hands were shaken, and brotherhood was restored. Neither bike suffered more than a tiny nick, and nothing ever came of the incident financially. But we all learned later in the season that JR was selling his bike and retiring from motorcycling. And we were all sad to see it happen, dreading the day when we would be making the same choice. :(

But this STory has a happy ending, as we see JR in a new state of health and a new state of mind on a new (to him) ST1300, all happily restored to the brotherhood of motorcycling and setting an example for us all! :mcrider: :clap2:

[uptoblackwood]

Without permission, that is. Since JR has given me leave, I shall proceed with the STory...:duck:

Our recollections differ on the event of the occasion. :confused: JR remembers a WiserSTOC event, hosted by the inimitable Dr. STeve Lambert, the much more taciturn (and less lovely) half of the STRiders user team that occasionally posts here. I remember the particular event in conjunction with WeSTOC 97 prior to our arrival in Taos, New Mexico, also hosted by Dr. Lambert, with the scene taking place after the famous "cake incident" involving Mike Martin . Both are other STories for other times. ;)

Since I get to tell the tale, we'll go with my fading memories. The year was 1997 and the weather was beyond perfection. The event was a pre-WeSTOC ride organized by the infamous Tom Vervaeke (a whole set of other STories there :eek:), who ordained that many of us on the way to New Mexico would need to pass through Colorado, and took it upon himself to see that the Colorado passage would be memorable.:)

On that day most of us had crossed Independence Pass and through Aspen (where the people are beautiful and their dogs even more so). Feeling unwelcome in these moneyed surroundings, some of us had lunch in a great creekside cafe discovered by Tom Vervaeke in Redstone, Colorado - where the Mike Martin "cake incident" took place. A loose collection of riders proceeded from there south on Colorado 133 to Hotchkiss and turned towards Crawford on Colorado 92. In the interest of fairness - if JR's recollection is correct, we would have approached the scene from the south on Colorado 92, AFTER riding the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

But these details are not germane to the STory at hand. Riding as ST riders often do, arrival times at designated areas are not synchronized like GoldWing or Harley groups, but are more random and spaced out, as each STRider is riding his or her own ride. It has been said that motorcycling of the sport touring genre is like riding alone together. And so it was on that day. Many of us had visited Joe Cocker's Mad Dog Ranch Cafe & Soda Fountain before, and all of us had heard of it, so we wanted to stop by for a libation. :eat2: Joe Cocker, in his semi-retirement, had married well, settled down in a grand estate in the country in the middle of nowhere (check your maps for Crawford, Colorado), and opened a nice place which was advertised widely as biker-friendly. With Pam Cocker in charge :mrgreen: all bikers of every stripe were indeed made to feel welcome and part of the family at the place, and a great variety of non-alcoholic treats and libations were made available to promote safety. :chat1:

The metropolis of Crawford consists of a short city block of multiple-use buildings on Colorado Hwy 92, and the block runs downhill from North to South on that route. The buildings face a sort of town triangle with a small business and post office across the street and at the top of the hill. The Cockers had done a great job of restoring the building, installing a huge soda fountain, banquet area, and outdoor patio. Lots of onstreet parking out front, on a pretty mean slope. Far from ideal bike parking, but there were always a number of Harleys, BMWs, and other assorted bikes out front to prove it was possible. :???: While the Cockers had done a great job with the place, it was beyond their powers to level the street, and the slope increased precipitously on both ends of the block. :shock:

Having visited in the past, I had learned that more prudent parking was to be found by proceeding up the hill across from the place about 75 feet where there was some flat concrete - on the perpendicular side of the town triangle. I arrived early and parked there, quite inconspicuously, and took up residence on the patio of the cafe. :eat1: During the course of conversation with the other STers inside, it became necessary to have a map. I left the patio from the side gate, located on the North (uphill) side of the building, and came out to find our very own JR backing his ST into the space left on the most uphill side of all the bikes - on the very steepest spot. :eek:

Now JR has mentioned that his current state of health is much improved, and at this time such was not the case. And we all know that, while the ST is many things, one thing that it is NOT is lightweight. And let the record show that such was also the case for the 1997 version of J Reviere! ;) Not seeing a way to help out, I paused to watch in admiration - expecting to see JR execute a difficult move that I had chosen to pass on.

It should also be noted that the other residents of the cafe comprised a vintage BMW club, all of whom had parked on the North side of the grade, and a few miscellaneous Harley guys filling in the downhill spaces. And said cafe had large windows all facing the street scene. And JR is parking a very heavy bike on the uphill side of all their bikes. You may have guessed by now that something went wrong. Picture the scene, backing a bike into a space that would be uphill on the left side of the bike. The BMWs had all used side stands, and the Harleys all had enough lean to overcome the somewhat milder slope below. JR shifted from looking over his left shoulder and standing on his left foot to looking over his right shoulder and placing his right foot solidly on - thin air! :eek: The laws of physics took over and the combined weight of the ST and rider slowly collapsed JR's leg and toppled over to the right - which was right on top of a vintage BMW and a line of bikes poised ready to domino downhill with the slightest input. :oops::22yikes:

At this point the few onlookers outside broke out of our collective trances - and one fellow literally threw himself into the path of the first BMW - preventing it's contact with the second and the resulting domino effect. JR and I somehow managed to wrestle his ST off the top of the pile with the adrenaline of the moment. :superman:

As often happens in such cases, all the bystanders materialized on the scene instantly. JR surrounded by ST riders and the BMW owner surrounded by his fellows. JR apologizing profusely to anyone who would listen and the BMW guy primed to hurt somebody - with the guy who saved everything apologizing to HIM for touching his bike and preventing disaster! :confused: Anyway, the presence of two large groups who clearly did NOT want things to escalate was enough to calm the injured owner, who was hard pressed to find any damage at all. And JR offering to pay for any real or imagined damage and put the guy's kids through the college of his choice!

Names and phone numbers were exchanged, hands were shaken, and brotherhood was restored. Neither bike suffered more than a tiny nick, and nothing ever came of the incident financially. But we all learned later in the season that JR was selling his bike and retiring from motorcycling. And we were all sad to see it happen, dreading the day when we would be making the same choice. :(

But this STory has a happy ending, as we see JR in a new state of health and a new state of mind on a new (to him) ST1300, all happily restored to the brotherhood of motorcycling and setting an example for us all! :mcrider: :clap2:
Some of you guys are great story tellers......
I've got a lot of great stories from my years of running SCUBA trips. I hope to build a long and storied history riding my ST. 8000 miles and riding every day now... It's all about the people around you in life. Thanks for this great story.

Forest

[Hayduke]

Have not hit the north side of the black canyon.... Problem is, there are a lot
of good roads in that section of Colorado... A guy could spend a month..
Then there is Utah.......


Putt...

Putt- yes, there are a lot of good roads in that section of Colorado, but not many as good as 92- This is a MUST RIDE! 141 ranks up there too (not as twisty, but gorgeous and deserted), and if you go east (or come from the east), instead of Monarch pass on HWY 50, take 114 over to Saguache- another little known classic moto-road.

[Hayduke]

NewsMag- Great story! Ignore the stupid face I'm making in this pic- that's Joe Cocker's place in the background. It gets steeper to the right-
http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/51890826-M.jpg

My wife's cousin married into a family with a ranch just outside of Crawford. We get to stay here sometimes-
http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/51890829-M.jpg

beautiful country around there.

[Austin city limits]

Putt~~~

I can tell you roads I have ridden and what I think of them...

Rt 92 From Delta - Rt 50 is a MUST...

Montrose from Canon City on RT 50 is a great ride,,, but,,, I am sure you know that... The pavement is in need of repair and they seem to be constantly working on it there...

Rt 65 off of I - 70 through to Rt 92 near Delta is a good ride...

Rt 133 From Rt 92 to Carbondale is a great road to ride...

Rt 114 over to Saguache...

Wait,,, let me send you my map... ANY road that has a little green dots along it,,, meaning it is Scenic,,, and there are a LOT,,, of roads out there with Green little dots I have rode in Colorado... I recommend them all...

There,,, that saved a LOT,,, of Typing... ;)

When are you going out Putt???

[Austin city limits]

NewsMag~~~

Great,,, FUNNY story!!! I have a feeling we would get along really well telling stories setting around sharing a Beverage of our choice... Hope too Someday!!!

[Austin city limits]

Oh,,, and Putt,,, you KNOW I will be ticked off if you get all the way out there that close to Utah and don't go up my favorite road... Rt 261 from Mexican Hat North... Stop by and eat a "Swinging Steak" in Mexican hat too...

Get a room in Mexican Hat,,, (((get the good motel,,, not the ElCrapo I stayed in on the gas station side))):eek:

Stop by and eat a "Swinging Steak" in Mexican hat too... Where you ask??? Well,,, the ONLY,,, frigg'n place to serve a Swing'n Steak of Course... :rolleyes:

And if it is the Weekend you might be Lucky enough to be setting Outside under a veranda,,, at the Bar in Mexican Hat,,, eating a Swinging Steak while listening to a local band play Stevie Ray Vaughan under the Moonless Utah Saturday night... :cool:

If you need more Stories,,, or more roads,,, you have my phone #... :D

[krishl]

Another pic of 141:
http://static.flickr.com/39/95893732_e0b029e458_o_d.jpg

[snowmoer]

If you want to go to the north side of the Black Canyon NP off of 92, make sure you put your dual sport tires on. The road is dirt and rough. I did it in my 4x4 and went slow. More of a Dual Sport road if you want to do it on a bike.

[st_rider]

FWIW, here's my own personal liST:

The Good:
1) Highway 145 along the Dolores River from Dolores up
to Naturita and then 141 up to Gateway.
2) US 50 along the Arkansas from Texas Creek over to
Salida. It continues to be a great road all the way
to Montrose.
3) Highway 149 from South Fork up through Lake City
and on up to Blue Mesa.
4) Highway 92 (Black Mesa) from Blue Mesa up to
Hotchkiss. From there, either continue on up 133
towards Carbondale or swing to the West and hit 65 and
up over Grand Mesa.
5) I-70 through Glenwood Canyon.
6) Either Highway 7 or 36 from Lyons to Estes Park.
7) Highway 14 West from Ted's Place over to Waldon.
8) US 550 from Durango to Ridgeway.
9) Hihgway 67 from Woodland Park up to Pine Junction.
10) US 34 from Estes Park to Loveland (if in Loveland,
call me).

The Bad/Ugly:
1) The entire I-25 STretch from the Wyoming line to
Trindad.
2) I-70 from Denver East to the Kansas line.
3) Virtually all roads East of I-25.

:06biker:

[John Ephlin]

I agree with all the posts about good roads in Utah and CO, but in my humble opinion they are all pale comapred to US 191 formally 666 in Ariz. :bow1: :biker:
John Ephlin
CB Handle Barb Wire

[jackpine savage]

Wow! This area looks beautiful. It is definitely on my wish list. My daughters old baby sitter here in WI went to CO to go to school in Gunnison. She never came back...
David

[Putt]

John,

I have been giving 191 a glance also... It looks as if it has more
curves than Pam Anderson and Carmen Electra combined...


Putt...

I agree with all the posts about good roads in Utah and CO, but in my humble opinion they are all pale comapred to US 191 formally 666 in Ariz. :bow1: :biker:
John Ephlin
CB Handle Barb Wire

[JReviere]

Try the road thru Crawford and stop at Joe Cocker's place[bike friendly] and continue south to highway 50. The road across the north side of the Black Canyon should not be missed. Then down to Lake City on 149{I think} is really pretty.Alfred Packer was accused of cannablism there in the early 1800's. Down thru Creede and to 160? and west to Durango.
It's all pretty and all worth it.:06biker:
TexTom


Recent read: Joe Crocker's joint in Crawford is no more.

Almost anywhere you go in the loop area you show is GREAT. I've ridden most of the loop you lay out. Lots of great riding out there.

JR

[st_rider]

Recent read: Joe Crocker's joint in Crawford is no more.

Almost anywhere you go in the loop area you show is GREAT. I've ridden most of the loop you lay out. Lots of great riding out there.

JR

Sorry for the thread-drift.....but....
JR, ae you coming to WeSTOC in Golden this year!?!

:06biker:

[krishl]

US 191 is excellent. Hard to believe so many miles of uninterrupted crooked asphalt. Couple of pics from August 2005:

http://static.flickr.com/27/98259761_ac292f07bc_d.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/35/98259766_d5994aa801_d.jpg

[Clair]

Always late to good topics am I ...

I'd recommend hwy 82 over Independence pass as well. It crests over 12,000 feet and is a great road. Riding through Aspen can be a PITA but it's worth it. Downside is the ride from Twin Lakes to Salida back to Gunnison can be somewhat boring but I enjoyed it all in all. Good scenery.

Hwy 550 is incredible and even unnerving for those of us with Vertigo ... LOL "um, how come there aren't any guardrails?????????"