Denver to Wyoming
The next morning I was excited to continue my journey, my wallet now much lighter, and I couldn't wait to finally hit the mountains with what felt like a brand new motorcycle. After starting the bike to warm up, I noticed a whine from the gas tank and realized the internal fuel pump was beginning to complain. That was not a good sign, however my new shocks were on and I was chomping at the bit to get going.
Speaking of chomping, I grabbed a quick breakfast at Johnny's Diner and swung by the BMW dealer again for something I'd forgotten to pick up before heading out of Denver towards the mountains. My goal for the day was Rocky Mountain National Park, a place I'd driven through many years before in a minivan filled with my family and I'd fantasized of riding it on a motorcycle at the time. Now, I was going to make that a reality.
The weather was absolutely beautiful and I took Hwy 6 out through Golden Gate Canyon heading towards Estes Park on the Peak To Peak highway. It felt great to get into the mountains and the canyons were beautiful and fun to ride. The Red Pig was handling so much better with the new shocks and the weight of the extra gear had far less effect on the handling.
At a highway intersection, I pulled off to check my map to make sure I was still on the Peak to Peak route and there was a rider on a Suzuki Bandit with Vermont plates checking his map as well. He told me a rider had just left in the direction I was heading and I eventually caught up to him in Gilpin, a little town loaded with casinos. I tracked behind him for a while.
Had to stop at the first glimpse of the snow capped peaks and get a shot.
The road was good with a fair amount of traffic. In Nederland, I stopped to top off the gas tank and chatted with a rider who was touring around the entire U.S. I took a butt break and watched other motorcycles pull in. It was an obvious stopping point for motorcyclists doing a loop out of Denver.
While sitting, a local resident came over to admire the bike. We chatted a bit and he said "There's a guy just like you who has one of these funky bikes and rides by himself up to Montana and other places. His name is Udo and he has a car repair shop up the road. He always has old bikes he's redoing. You should go meet him and look at his bikes." Sounded good to me so I found Udo's shop "Peak to Peak Imports" and pulled up. In front was a BMW R1200GS adventure bike and a few dirt bikes here and there. I liked it already.
I met Udo and got the tour - his name seemed familiar and sure enough I'd seen his name on the adventure motorcycle forum on ADVRider.com. I met his crew and we talked bikes of course. I really enjoyed the visit and it was nice to just randomly be guided by a stranger to an interesting encounter. It was to be the first of many, I would discover, an attribute of traveling solo by motorcycle.
Udo and the Motley Crew
Udo the adventure man
I continued on to Estes Park and cruised through the heaving masses of sweaty tourists wandering about before heading for the Rocky Mountain National Park entrance. I needed coffee and a stretch, so I grabbed a BBQ sandwich at TapHouse. It was excellent and a good place to eat away from the downtown tourist herds.
Across the street there was an old Honda XR for sale: Somebody NEEDS this!!!
Park entry was $10 for the motorcycle and I asked about taking Falling River Road. I was told it wasn't open until July 1, so missed it by 2 days. Udo had suggested it as a good dirt road alternative up to the top of the park rather than the park road blacktop.
Riding the park was stunning of course. Breathtaking views around each turn and of course, the best photo opportunities were in areas with no place to pull off the take them. There was the usual caravan of minivans and SUV's, however it wasn't too bad.
Near the top I saw a few elk and once over the west side and back down into the tree line they were much more prevalent.
The ride across the range was fantastic and I really enjoyed the time I took crossing it.
From the west exit of the park I gassed up in Granby and from there caught Hwy 125 north for Walden, the last decent sized community before the Wyoming border. The westerly winds were strong and steady as I rode. The mountain terrain was more arid than the eastern side of the mountain range I'd just crossed.
Granby for gas
Hwy 125 was a nice 2 lane blacktop that passed through the Arapaho Forest with almost no traffic. After the caravans of vehicles in Rocky Mountain National Park, the solitude of scenery was a welcome washing. The beautiful, open stretches were a good contrast as well.
After crossing the Continental Divide on Hwy 125, you drop down into valleys with huge vistas and not a soul around.
To me, this was almost the best part of the day, like having the world to yourself after leaving the tourist packed town of Estes Park and the people-packed overlooks in the park.
The day was waning when I rolled into Walden, Colorado, the "Moose Viewing Capitol" according to the sign. Looking at the vast fertile fields around the town and distant mountains, it was hard to imagine moose anywhere near this little place, but then again, I know little about moose. However, I can vouch there was not a moose in sight.
I gassed up and pondered how the little town looked like a good place to spend a night someday.
Walden, Colorado
Continuing on, the sun was sinking low, the light was beautiful and the empty landscape was addicting.
It was with an emotional rush that I broke the Wyoming line, now able to claim I'd made it all the way to Wyoming on a motorcycle. The twin little communities of Riverside and Encampment were the first settlements one encounters after the border, which were interesting little places and I looped through them a bit before heading on to the larger town of Saratoga, making it right at sundown and snagging the last room in a little downtown motel.
I have to say that this day ranked as one of the best of my life. The weather was fantastic, I met great folks and the scenery was astounding. The contrasts of landscape and solitude were perfect. The bike ran like a top (granted, a big, heavy top). But it was a great day. I was enjoying the experience so much, I wanted to keep going until I reached Alaska!
My route had been Hwy 6 then Hwy 119 to Estes Park, across RMNP to Granby, Hwy 125 to Walden then into Wyoming on Hwy 230 to Saratoga.
