COBDR run down, from the 1st week of August.
ColoradoKLR & 14er met up in Morrison and headed out, it was nice ride on Saturday to Dolores. This is the first time I’ve been on a loaded bike. I actually didn’t notice the added weight at all except a little loss in power when going up steep grades at high speed. I also noted the weight when putting the bike on the center stand but that’s about it. We got a motel room and ran into a father & son team from New Jersey that were going to ride on smaller duel sport bikes.
Sunday it rained off and on all day, it made some of the trails impassable. 14er got sick and sat out the ride on Sunday, clearly this would make it more difficult for him later in the trip. Once we got off the main Forest Service road we got turned around by that high altitude clay that was slick and sticky due to rain. We could not make it up a slope, getting the bike out was a chore. The clay stuck to our boots etc. We made it back to the main Forest Service Rd and headed north to Ground Hog Res and Telluride. Still raining we took a break at Ground Hog Res, then pressed on to find the trail over to Lone Cone. We made a couple of attempts up some steep wet clay trails only to get turned around again. I sunk into a puddle that was big enough for the entire bike to fit in, the water was up to the foot pegs and the mud was like slurry. I actually plowed some mud with my skid plate to get out of that puddle on the 611 trail past Ground Hog Res. From there we worked our way down the mountain to highway 145 to take pavement over to Telluride. Despite the rain and heading off the trail the views were fantastic. The rain broke for a bit right at mid day, we took advantage of it to stop and eat as well as dry off some gear and maps. Due to rain we decided to get a motel room for Sunday night. Telluride was hosting a jazz festival, no rooms anywhere. We went to Ridgeway, well out of the way.
Monday was great, we skipped Opher pass given it’s a gravel road. Getting up the passes was fantastic. Corkscrew, Hurricane, Cinnamon etc. The trail was still wet and slick but not too bad. I was surprised by how steep some of the grades were. The tight switchbacks did not disappoint either. The Super Tenere did a good job of tractor-ing around the switchbacks. The scenery where was unbelievable! I’ve never seen so many off road vehicles of all kinds in and around the Animus Forks area. The day was nice and clear but we could see some rain clouds in the distance that we kept pressing on to stay ahead of. We ended up making it to Lake City by about 1:00. We decided to make a big day of it by blowing by Lake City and pressing the Pitkin just north of US highway 50. The area between Lake City and US 50 was by far the most remote. We ran into lots of traffic everywhere else but here. We stopped at the General Store in Pitkin these folks were very friendly and helpful. The rain clouds were pressing us so we went just north of Pitkin following the advice of the folks at the store. We got there and it just started to sprinkle. We set up tents quick like and got a break from the rain. We got a thunder storm that night as well. The lighting was very bright and then there was the thunder…. First I got woke up from the bright strobe of the lighting. Then you’d get the initial clap of thunder like normal, then it would echo around in the canyon. It sounded like those big kettle drums beating for 5 – 10 seconds after the initial clap.
Tuesday we did a side ride up to an old railroad tunnel, that was cool. It was a pretty easy day. I lost a pannier box coming down. It turns out I bent my mounting bracket when I bumped one of those polls at a gas station. I heard stuff rattling but thought it was some of the items in the boxes not a loose mount. From there we came back down to the camp site that was now dry from the previous night’s rain. We went into Pitkin again for some water and lunch and see if I could get my bracket squared away. The guys at the store were very helpful with a crowbar. I w as able to get it bent back into shape and off we went. We got packed up and rode north with a stop in Tin Cup for pie. Getting over the 2 passes was an easy ride. We stayed at the Cottonwood Hot springs that night. I slept OK there. Not getting a solid night’s sleep made it difficult even with getting a good night near Buena Vista. This caught up with me.
Wednesday, we had a great breakfast in town and then off to the trail with sand. I was surprised to see the sand was on an uphill section. I could not get through the sand, I got the bike buried. 14er made it up OK, he had the only knobbies of our group and is a good rider. After digging me out while catching our breath a group of 3 BMWs came by. The lead guy was a very good rider. He came up the hill, noticed the sand, shifted to 2nd gear and gave it some throttle while keeping his weight well back. He saw the huge hole I left from being buried, we heard him say ‘Uh-OH!’ and he maneuvered around it like a champ. The other 2 guys did not fair as well but all had knobbies and made it up after a bit of work. I made one more attempt at the sand and got stuck again. Guess I need to come back there and practice! 2 of us decided to bail here and made it to the trail on the other side of the foot hill on highway US 285. We made it to Gypsum OK, Hagerman pass was great. There was LOTS of traffic on the trails. Some of them were very rough, marked ‘impassable when wet’. When they were dry they were rutted and a mess. You had to really pay attention. I think that took its toll when combined with not getting some good sleep.
At this point I was feeling the fatigue. I got REALLY tired of slinging my leg over that darn duffle bag! This was my first trip on a motorcycle and I’ll change my luggage next time to a larger lateral duffle that will hold a larger sleeping mat. The larger mat will help with the sleep and lateral bag will help me with getting my leg over the bike.
Thursday, there were some more rutted roads from Gypsum to Steamboat. There was also some very nice scenery. ColoradoKLR went home on Wed night, he had to bail to get going on an apartment hunt. We cut out some of the trails as we got close to Steamboat since they were county roads. We were pretty tired. We missed the really cool water crossing and the one coming off Hagerman was very small. I did get to hit a short but deep one. The bike really lugged, I had to gas it got get it out, the water was deep enough to cover the front wheel. Water splashed over the wind screen. We got to Steamboat early and I rode some of the roads then camped. All the stuff north of Steamboat are county roads so I didn’t hit them.
I have to say the route was great! I learned a lot. I was a bit surprised by how tiring it would be, yes I’m back to getting good solid sleep. In the future I’ll bias my planning to getting solid sleep and not pack light/try to save space. The old adage ‘travel light freeze at night’ leads to being fatigued. Needless to say you need to be on you’re A game when riding rough trails. The other obvious thing is hydration. I have a small water bladder built into my jacket. I needed to fill that more often and down some water from a bottle when we stopped. What ticks me off is I know better on both counts! I had a solid camp stove (MSR Draggonfly) that worked like a champ. A hot beverage is a treat in the chilly morning air. I plan to edit my ‘gear list’ while all this is fresh in my mind.
I hit that ‘last 10%’ of riding conditions with 80/20 or 70/30 tires, that mud and sand. I still plan on running a similar tire in the future. If I do the COBDR again I may put a knobbie rear on, but time will tell.
I’ll try to post some pics later.
ColoradoKLR & 14er met up in Morrison and headed out, it was nice ride on Saturday to Dolores. This is the first time I’ve been on a loaded bike. I actually didn’t notice the added weight at all except a little loss in power when going up steep grades at high speed. I also noted the weight when putting the bike on the center stand but that’s about it. We got a motel room and ran into a father & son team from New Jersey that were going to ride on smaller duel sport bikes.
Sunday it rained off and on all day, it made some of the trails impassable. 14er got sick and sat out the ride on Sunday, clearly this would make it more difficult for him later in the trip. Once we got off the main Forest Service road we got turned around by that high altitude clay that was slick and sticky due to rain. We could not make it up a slope, getting the bike out was a chore. The clay stuck to our boots etc. We made it back to the main Forest Service Rd and headed north to Ground Hog Res and Telluride. Still raining we took a break at Ground Hog Res, then pressed on to find the trail over to Lone Cone. We made a couple of attempts up some steep wet clay trails only to get turned around again. I sunk into a puddle that was big enough for the entire bike to fit in, the water was up to the foot pegs and the mud was like slurry. I actually plowed some mud with my skid plate to get out of that puddle on the 611 trail past Ground Hog Res. From there we worked our way down the mountain to highway 145 to take pavement over to Telluride. Despite the rain and heading off the trail the views were fantastic. The rain broke for a bit right at mid day, we took advantage of it to stop and eat as well as dry off some gear and maps. Due to rain we decided to get a motel room for Sunday night. Telluride was hosting a jazz festival, no rooms anywhere. We went to Ridgeway, well out of the way.
Monday was great, we skipped Opher pass given it’s a gravel road. Getting up the passes was fantastic. Corkscrew, Hurricane, Cinnamon etc. The trail was still wet and slick but not too bad. I was surprised by how steep some of the grades were. The tight switchbacks did not disappoint either. The Super Tenere did a good job of tractor-ing around the switchbacks. The scenery where was unbelievable! I’ve never seen so many off road vehicles of all kinds in and around the Animus Forks area. The day was nice and clear but we could see some rain clouds in the distance that we kept pressing on to stay ahead of. We ended up making it to Lake City by about 1:00. We decided to make a big day of it by blowing by Lake City and pressing the Pitkin just north of US highway 50. The area between Lake City and US 50 was by far the most remote. We ran into lots of traffic everywhere else but here. We stopped at the General Store in Pitkin these folks were very friendly and helpful. The rain clouds were pressing us so we went just north of Pitkin following the advice of the folks at the store. We got there and it just started to sprinkle. We set up tents quick like and got a break from the rain. We got a thunder storm that night as well. The lighting was very bright and then there was the thunder…. First I got woke up from the bright strobe of the lighting. Then you’d get the initial clap of thunder like normal, then it would echo around in the canyon. It sounded like those big kettle drums beating for 5 – 10 seconds after the initial clap.
Tuesday we did a side ride up to an old railroad tunnel, that was cool. It was a pretty easy day. I lost a pannier box coming down. It turns out I bent my mounting bracket when I bumped one of those polls at a gas station. I heard stuff rattling but thought it was some of the items in the boxes not a loose mount. From there we came back down to the camp site that was now dry from the previous night’s rain. We went into Pitkin again for some water and lunch and see if I could get my bracket squared away. The guys at the store were very helpful with a crowbar. I w as able to get it bent back into shape and off we went. We got packed up and rode north with a stop in Tin Cup for pie. Getting over the 2 passes was an easy ride. We stayed at the Cottonwood Hot springs that night. I slept OK there. Not getting a solid night’s sleep made it difficult even with getting a good night near Buena Vista. This caught up with me.
Wednesday, we had a great breakfast in town and then off to the trail with sand. I was surprised to see the sand was on an uphill section. I could not get through the sand, I got the bike buried. 14er made it up OK, he had the only knobbies of our group and is a good rider. After digging me out while catching our breath a group of 3 BMWs came by. The lead guy was a very good rider. He came up the hill, noticed the sand, shifted to 2nd gear and gave it some throttle while keeping his weight well back. He saw the huge hole I left from being buried, we heard him say ‘Uh-OH!’ and he maneuvered around it like a champ. The other 2 guys did not fair as well but all had knobbies and made it up after a bit of work. I made one more attempt at the sand and got stuck again. Guess I need to come back there and practice! 2 of us decided to bail here and made it to the trail on the other side of the foot hill on highway US 285. We made it to Gypsum OK, Hagerman pass was great. There was LOTS of traffic on the trails. Some of them were very rough, marked ‘impassable when wet’. When they were dry they were rutted and a mess. You had to really pay attention. I think that took its toll when combined with not getting some good sleep.
At this point I was feeling the fatigue. I got REALLY tired of slinging my leg over that darn duffle bag! This was my first trip on a motorcycle and I’ll change my luggage next time to a larger lateral duffle that will hold a larger sleeping mat. The larger mat will help with the sleep and lateral bag will help me with getting my leg over the bike.
Thursday, there were some more rutted roads from Gypsum to Steamboat. There was also some very nice scenery. ColoradoKLR went home on Wed night, he had to bail to get going on an apartment hunt. We cut out some of the trails as we got close to Steamboat since they were county roads. We were pretty tired. We missed the really cool water crossing and the one coming off Hagerman was very small. I did get to hit a short but deep one. The bike really lugged, I had to gas it got get it out, the water was deep enough to cover the front wheel. Water splashed over the wind screen. We got to Steamboat early and I rode some of the roads then camped. All the stuff north of Steamboat are county roads so I didn’t hit them.
I have to say the route was great! I learned a lot. I was a bit surprised by how tiring it would be, yes I’m back to getting good solid sleep. In the future I’ll bias my planning to getting solid sleep and not pack light/try to save space. The old adage ‘travel light freeze at night’ leads to being fatigued. Needless to say you need to be on you’re A game when riding rough trails. The other obvious thing is hydration. I have a small water bladder built into my jacket. I needed to fill that more often and down some water from a bottle when we stopped. What ticks me off is I know better on both counts! I had a solid camp stove (MSR Draggonfly) that worked like a champ. A hot beverage is a treat in the chilly morning air. I plan to edit my ‘gear list’ while all this is fresh in my mind.
I hit that ‘last 10%’ of riding conditions with 80/20 or 70/30 tires, that mud and sand. I still plan on running a similar tire in the future. If I do the COBDR again I may put a knobbie rear on, but time will tell.
I’ll try to post some pics later.
