Echo Lake

Doing and afternoon ride tomorrow to Echo Lake with some guys from work.  I've never been there, but hear it's really pretty and popular for bicycles.  Here's the route:

Start in Morrison, well, after we get to the West side of town.  From there we follow Hwy 74 through Evergreen, then up toward Bergen Park, then West along Squaw Pass Rd. to Hwy 103 to Echo Lake.  From there we follow 103 down (North) to Idaho Springs then a little ways down I-70 we pick up US 6 (Clear Creek Canyon) to Golden for some refreshment at the Golden City Brewery.  Should be a really nice ride.

Ducati Brothers

Sunday, got an invite to go riding with a friend and friends of friends.  Two guys on Ducatis, Another BMW R-bike, and a Harley Lowrider.  The "Ducati Brothers" (not actually brothers, but their bikes were) lead the pack, followed by the two BMWs, with the Harley bringing up the rear.  Was a gorgeous ride, at a pretty quick pace.  Had a ton of fun, but don't prefer to ride like that all the time.  It was a little tough, at times, keeping up with the Ducati Bros.

Started in Golden with a full tank:

Headed up Clear Creek Canyon, to Blackhawk, to Peak-to-Peak Hwy, down through Golden Gate Canyon, up Hwy 93 to Hwy 72:

Up Coal Creek Canyon to Nederland where we stopped for some great pizza.  Don't know the name of the place but here's a view of Nederland from the balcony:

From Nederland, continued on to Lyons (Harley town).  Then I split toward home by way of Hwy 36 and Boulder.

Beautiful weather and views.  LOTS of twisty roads taken a little too fast.  Very fun ride, trying to keep up with the Ducati Bros.

Floodstage Ale Works, Brighton

Friday (8/19) decided to take a long lunch at the Floodstage Ale Works in Brighton, CO.  Met a couple other riders (from work) there for BBQ and a few beverages.  Unfortunately, their boiler (?) was broken, and they didn't have any of their own beers available.  Had Odell's 5 Barrel Pale Ale instead.  It was very very good. :-)

Gas

Shell Premium.
3.86 gal. 177 mi.
(35901)

Ride to Deckers was awesome

That's probably the third time I've been to Deckers.  Each time the route was a little different.  This Ride was awesome.  Light traffic, perfect weather, incredible views.  The only problem was sand/gravel on the road in a lot of spots - had to really take it easy on some of the curves I would have normally taken a lot faster.

Here's the route:

Basically,
 - C-470 to Wadsworth South.
 - Immediate right on W. Deer Creek Canyon Rd (Co Rd 124).
 - Left on S. Deer Creek Rd. which becomes High Grade Rd. (keep right) and then Pleasant Park Rd (again, keep right). For some reason I thought I needed to turn left and ended up on S. Kuehster Rd., and eventually dead-ended on someone's private property with unfriendly signs all over the place... Nice views, though!
- Go under 285 and around to the left to get on 285 going South.  About a mile (or less) down 285, there's a turn out on the left where you need to do a U-turn, then an immediate exit to the right onto S. Foxton Rd (Co Rd 97)
- Almost to Foxton, turn right onto SW Platte River Rd. (Co Rd 96)
- Left onto Deckers Rd. (Co. Rd 126)
- At Deckers (Co Rd 126/Hwy 67 intersection) stop and have a beverage or ice cream at the cafe.
- Head North on 67
- Take the second right turn after the sign that says "Sedalia 17 mi.".  That's W. Pine Creek Rd.  It's dirt, but well maintained and manageable, and really pretty.
- Left on 67 to Sedalia. (There's a nice biker bar here at Hwy 67 / US 85 intersection (Sedalia Grill?).
- Right on US 85
- Left on Meadows Pkwy (there's a sign indicating that's the way to get onto I-25).
- Cross I-25.  Keep straight (veering right), road becomes Founders Pkwy.
- Left onto N. Crowfoot Valley Rd.
- Right onto Stroh Rd. to Parker Rd. (Hwy 83).

(Yeah "basically", haha.)

Some views from the ride:

Just starting and Deer Creek Canyon Rd.

View from Kuehster Rd.

Foxton

SW Platte River Rd.

Deckers

W. Pine Creek Rd.

Back on 67.  Cool looking restaurant I'd like to check out sometime.

 

Need to get out of town

Headed for Deckers.
(35750/0)

Gas

Shell premium.
157 mi. 3.52 gal.

(35724)

Starter

It was the starter that was causing my bike not to start.  Apparently, if the starter is really dirty, it can draw too much current which leaves the bike with insufficient power to pulse the injectors.  Weird for the starter to be the problem when the starter cranks just fine...

Cleaned starter.
(35700)

Time to pack it up and head home

Sunday morning.  Had to head out early for a long ride/drive back home.  Here you can see the Black Bridge tasting room and gift shop (right) and the cabin where we stayed (center).

Took CO Hwy 92 South (past the North side of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison) to US 50.  Another amazingly beautiful drive that is best experienced on two wheels. Oh, and there were a lot of critters, too.

The drive along US 50 was the same route that we took on Thursday. Very pretty, as always.  Stopped for lunch at Mr. Ed's in Cañon City.  I could've sworn it was horse...

Interesting history, OK food, cheap - not so sure about the rest.
 

3rd Annual West Elks Wine Trail

Friday night we had dinner at the Black Bridge Winery, which is also where we stayed for the weekend.  Awesome, as always.  The owners, Kathy & Lee are really great people, as are all the others there, Rob, Ashley, and all the rest.  Oh, and the wines are great, too!

Saturday we visited most of the wineries on the "Wine Trail" Here's the map:

S. Rhodes (all good, especially Clarets & Cab Franc):

Terror Creek (fantastic views, Swiss/Burgundy style wines):

Stone Cottage (excellent food pairings, very good wines):

Delicious Orchards (great produce, cafe, hard cider):

Azura (Good wines, great art gallery, amazing views):

We also visited Liliputian, and Alfred Eames.  Both have great wines.  Eames is probably our favorite overall.  Eames is a very down-to-earth, friendly guy, and a fantastic wine maker.  His cellar is really cool, too.

Grand Mesa

Friday morning, after a fantastic breakfast at the Wine Country Inn, we headed for the Grand Mesa, CO Hwy 65.  This is always a beautiful and fun ride, even in a car... <snif> :-(

We stopped at the Grand Mesa Lodge to rent a couple of canoe's for a few hours.  That was a lot of fun.

Lunch at the usual spot (forget the name, something Bakery Cafe) in Cedaredge.  Pretty good food with a patio by a little creek.

Palisade

Arrived in Palisade close to 7 pm on Wed. We were about an hour too late for the wine reception at the Wine Country Inn, where we stayed. Met friends and family there, and walked to the Palisade Cafe for dinner, followed by The Peach Street Distillery for a couple local specialties. There were some interesting people and conversions to overhear at the distillery.

US 50

Drive along US 50 was beautiful, as usual.
Stopped at the Holy Cross Abbey for a taste and a bottle for later (Syrah).

Towed

Well, now I'm on 4 wheels.
Has spark, but no fuel from the injectors. On its way to the shop. I'm on my way to Palisade via cage on US 50.

What I shouldn't have forgotten or otherwise left at home

Bike jumper cables.
The most recent Anonymous Book.
My Platinum Cycle Club/BMW MOA card.

And, I really need to install a jump start post on my starter cover.

Yeah, still won't start. Fuses look ok. Has spark. plugs look good. I can hear the fuel pump come on, but I'm not positive it's getting fuel to the cylinders. Maybe I can pull an injector.

Water

I arrived in Pueblo, stopped and checked in at the Hotel, and when I went to ride around the building to park, the bike wouldn't start. I tried for a while, but no luck. So, I had to push it to the correct building and park it. Went to dinner, came back and tried again, almost 2 hours later, and still won't start. It's never done this before. Did I get water in the wrong place? Could be an interesting morning...

The ride here was wet, but not bad. It was actually a very pretty ride. And, riding through a thunderstorm is kindof cool, with lightning all around. The worst part was all the slow people who apparently have never seen rain before, and all the spray that made it hard to see... Oh, and the fact that my bike won't start, now.

Headed West

...but first, South, to Pueblo.
Looks like it's going to be a wet ride. Thunderstorms all the way to Pueblo.
(35596/0)