Earthship Community
Earthship colony was out of this world. Earthship homes are houses that are self sustained and are completely off the grid. They're partially made out of recycled items and you can live off the indoor hydroponics. Someone should expand this technology on a grand scale to 3rd world countries. Most of the people living in these homes were eccentric to say the least.
Carson National Forest
I accidentally kept going straight at a crossroad and wound up going through this forest instead. I was riding for like 10 minutes before I realized I was going the wrong way but I just kept going, I still had plenty of daylight. This is by far the best mistake I made on this trip. Little to almost non-existent traffic, freshly paved roads, the scenery, long sweeping curves made this forest fun to go through. Those who always talk about riding through the Black Hills/Sturgis in South Dakota being the top places to check out need to get out more. They're probably trailoring their bikes all the time. They ain't about that life.
Alamosa Sand Dunes National Park
I made it there pretty late in the day and I almost turned around because it looked like it was going to be raining in that direction. I found out later that it rarely rains there because of how the proximity of the mountains and the wind currents interact. The waitress at that restaurant they have near the park entrance was cute. She laughed when I told her I wanted extra extra mayo on my burger. Tallest sand dunes in the North American continent. Took me 3hrs to get to the tallest dune and back on the bike. I recommend leaving the beer gut at home for this ride!
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Twin Peaks
Alamosa Sand Dunes to Manitou Springs, CO
I made to Manitou Springs and the weather looked kinda iffy so I scrambled to find a campsite and setup the tent. It seems like anything you would want to do outdoors you need to do so before 4pm in the day. After that, you may have small thunderstorms moving around raining down on you. I checked out the Garden of the Gods.
Pikes Peak, CO
Pikes Peak was an incredible experience, I didn't cross it off my bucket list because I'm going back! I held off on going through the gate into Pikes Peak highway when I first got there because it looked like it was going to rain. I went back into town and had an early dinner and walked around. I recommend the ice cream there. The doppler radar showed that it was clearing up so I made my way back before the gate closed. Made it through the gate and as soon as I was out of sight from the park ranger's truck I hauled ass. Seemed like every time I would slow down for a turn I would pass by a park ranger sitting on the side of the road. I think the fastest I went was like 60 on the straightaways accidentally bouncing the rev limiter a couple of times but that changed once I got past the tree line. It's just way too nerve wrecking once you're taking 180 degree turns on the switchbacks and see that you're like riding a foot or two away from a ledge :fthat:. It's pretty interesting how you lose horsepower once you're at the top. I remember romping on the throttle and not feeling the motor flex anymore, it would just accelerate like it was running on 3/4 throttle. I should have worn my leather jacket, it was cold up there! :fuuu:
Last time I went skydiving, we jumped off at 14,000 feet!
Brake checkpoint at Pikes Peak Highway
Denver, CO
The day after I rode up to Pikes Peak I took the bike for an oil change at this bike shop. Didn't need to at 2500 miles but I was feeling paranoid about the motor since I was beating the crap out of it and being so far from home didn't help any. I passed through Denver, Loveland, and Estes Park.
This Vmax looked like something Batman would ride!
Rocky Mountain National Park
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After leaving Rocky Mountain NP I went through Granby, Hot Suphur Springs, Kremmling, and then on some dirt road that was not on my paper map. The dirt road was brutal because these road maintenance workers had just passed through spraying water all over the road so that they could level the road better or something. I almost turned around when I passed by these adventure bikers that were riding while standing up on their dual sport bikes. Next trip I'm getting a GPS unit instead of relying on my iPhone for the map. You just get too far up into the mountains for a while and ATT's reception sucks to begin with. It still did a pretty good job so I'm not going to knock it too much but sometimes I felt like I was taking the wrong way and had to keep riding for a while until I came across some reception to confirm my location. I finally made it to a major interstate and went west until I got to Glenwood Springs. That portion of the highway as you ride between the canyons is awesome. You can see rapids running next to the highway and rafts floating down the river. I noticed the fan never turned off while I was pumping gas so I checked out the radiator and lo and behold it was caked solid with mud from that dirt road. The fan usually turns off like after 30 seconds of just sitting there so I made a quick stop at a car wash. Went south from Glenwood Springs through Carbondale and crashed at this RV campground in Delta, just outside of Gunnison NP. Passed through a couple of mining towns on the way there and you can see how they strip layers off the surface of the mountains to extract whatever it is they're after. You know you meet some of the nicest people out there on the road. Makes you proud and privileged to be living in a country where strangers are only friends you haven't met yet.
