Adventioneering

True to what I decided on last night, I rode to Fairplay and then figured it out. I went north first to Golden, up US 6 towards Black Hawk and Idaho Springs, then sat in traffic on I70 (5 miles on 70 were the slowest miles of the entire day. Seriously people learn to drive).

Unlike last time I was up this way, I didn’t take the tunnel. Instead I took the exit and rode up Loveland Pass. Unless someone else drove me up here when I was younger, this was my first time over the pass. It was gorgeous, though like so many wonderful things there were too many people at the lookout stuff. One of the things I love best about riding is when I’m alone, no traffic in front of or behind me, no other humans in sight. Crowded roads and busy stopping places don’t really agree with me.

After Loveland Pass I rode through Keystone and past the Dillon Reservoir. Took a good road in terms of route, but the pavement surface was a bit rough.

From there I came down through Breckenridge on highway 9, over Hoosier Pass again, and through Fairplay and South Park. 285 was as beautiful as I remembered (more so with additional green) but damn it people what do I have to do to get you to at least go the speed limit?

To escape traffic for a while I took a side road. Unfortunately it only went for a few miles through the valley before turning to gravel. I wasn’t feeling very dirty so I turned around. Now the whole time I had a bottle of water and a sandwich, and it was nearing 2 PM. Seemed like a good time for lunch, so I turned off the side road onto a narrow two track and had a picnic. I have no idea if I was trespassing or not, but I didn’t see any signs. I was far enough away from the highway and road to feel truly alone, and it was very relaxing.

Couldn’t stay forever though, and I got back on 285, followed a couple on touring bikes for 20 miles or so, then hopped off on the road to Evergreen. Through Evergreen and up Bear Creek Canyon. It was going so well, until an idiot pulled out right in front of me and proceeded to go about 30 the rest of the way, with me and a half dozen guys on sport bikes who pulled up behind us. Never pulled over, and Bear Creek Canyon is way too twisty to try to pass across the double yellow (every turn is blind). Pro tip people, when you are not even going the speed limit and have a bunch of motorcycles behind you, and you’re on a road with ample turn offs, just turn off and let us by.

After that it was city riding back to home, and nothing to talk about. The best part of the day was definitely my little picnic all alone in an open valley surrounded by mountains.