The Colorado Clinic!
This one was a long time coming. I first met my Colorado compatriot, Jim, in Baja nearly four years ago. The next few years would see various adventures on both of our parts, and eventually Jim purchased a new KTM 950. I've owned a 950 since 2005 and put it through it's paces over the past few years. Jim was looking to get some insight into his new ride, and get a good moto-trip in at the same time ... frequent flier miles to the rescue - I was on a plane just a few weeks later...
My KTM would stay home for this trip - instead I would be on a borrowed BMW f650 Dakar:
The terrain was for the most part, very mellow and incredibly scenic. Tin Cup pass however ... was a different story.
I was down in Mexico's Copper Canyon region a couple times earlier this year. Amazing how much Colorado reminded me of that place. Dirt roads are in many cases the main thoroughfares between towns, though they are almost invariably of much better quality...
The other Jim's BMW-esque high fender - lo fender setup:
An excited KLR rider passed opposite us, jumping up & down on the pegs. Either had some real special coffee that morning, or was very excited to see other dualsporters out & about...
Watch oncoming traffic!!
Things got a little interesting here. As we neared this town, there was a "T" intersection. The first instinct is to stop & wait at the T, but it was decided that the last rider in the group clearly knew the way, living here. I was the only out-of-stater, so had really no say in the matter :)
We rolled into the gas station & waited for the rider.
And waited....
Uh oh.
After FAR too long, we decided to backtrack to the intersection, looking carefully the whole time. Nobody in town, no one at the intersection.
We started asking drivers at gas stations if they had seen a disabled motorcyclist further back down the road. Nothing.
Finally, just before deciding to call CHP & check if there had been any accidents reported, in rolls the rider...
Turns out, they had turned the wrong way at the T & just gone a slight distance down the road. Just enough that we couldn't spot them in our backtracking.
Now we were already very late rolling into town. This running around just pushed us that much further back in our planned schedule of making Crested Butte for the evening. We decided to look for a nearby hotel ...
everything sold out.
Beyond that, it was getting to the point that our chances of finding food were pretty slim. We managed to sneak into a Subway just before it closed & make a plan.
Really, there wasn't much choice.
Sleep on the ground here, or soldier on to Crested Butte.
We elected to keep moving. Around midnight, we finished up our fortunate Subway feast, fired up the bikes, and prepared to leave the pavement for the midnight & early AM run over the pass:
This was one of two times on this trip we got this high (altitude ... c'mon man...), but this was by far the ... darkest.
Finally, we rolled into Crested Butte ... as one Jim banged on the door of the office to retrieve our key (mind you it was around 3am at this point ... the other Jim decided his 950 in the parking lot was as good as any hotel room at this point...
Next morning, we make a quick jaunt around Crested Butte before hitting the trail:
Jim & I did a little exploring ... it got gnarly in spots, but not half as gnarly as the next day's ride would be.
Rolling into Tincup started with views like this:
Then turned into this...
Spots along this trail were taking out more than bikes...
However, pain & perseverance was rewarded in full...
This spot in the trail was interesting ... middle of July and this section of trail had just been cut through this same week! We were among the first to cross this pass (without riding over the snow) this year!
Some of the rocky descents kept you on your toes ... literally!
Riding through the largest living organism in the world:
Bedraggled riders checking maps & such...
Crossing the alpine tundra:
posted by jonbeck at
6:14 PM
