Exploring Beyond The Blacktop
I was not up for the mud on this day–later!
Once again I took off with no idea where I was going to go. Somehow I figure it out. Today I was on the V-Strom.
Here’s an idea. I know on the way south on the Kiowa-Bennett Road there is a point where the road jogs west and if you wanted to you could continue west on whatever road that is. I know I’ve always expected that some day I would take that road and see where it comes out. Maybe today is the day. I headed out Parker Road and then turned east on Hampden.
Now, here’s how my thinking goes. I got to wondering, how far east does Hampden go? Have I ever taken it out as far as I could? Maybe I had but I couldn’t remember. So let’s do that.
Well that didn’t last long. Hampden ends out on Gun Club Road where it runs into a huge landfill operation, Trash Mountain in my parlance. Back to plan A. I turned south on Gun Club to Quincy and then turned east again.
I knew I’d been out this way before and a couple names I was familiar with came along: Tom Bay Road and Brick Center Road. I had checked them both out before and they both quickly go to gravel. Now I went past them until I reached Kiowa-Bennett and turned south.
The jog came at County Line Road. I didn’t know this at the time because there were no signs to that effect but I continued west. Right away there was a sign saying the pavement was ending. That jogged a memory that perhaps I had tried this once before and–not being on the V-Strom–turned around. Well I was on the V-Strom now so no turning around today.
It was a good gravel road, although the surface varied, with some loose sand, some washboard. I don’t know how far I went–at least five miles–and it was a pretty area.
And then there were the construction zone signs. No problem, I can deal with that. But although I never saw any construction equipment, I came up on the area where they had been working and it was all mud. Oh yuck.
Now, I had the bike and the tires to do mud. What I did not have was the riding skills and experience. But there’s no better way to get the experience . . .
On another day I might have done it, but this day I turned around. It was Tuesday and the forecast was for warm and dry so maybe by Saturday, which was also forecast to be in the 60s, maybe it will be dry and I can ride it then.
As I headed back I saw a sign for Brick Center Road. Really? Does that come all the way through? That would save me having to go all the way east to Kiowa-Bennett. But what kind of condition is it in? I guess I’ll find out on Saturday.
So Saturday came and I headed back. Turning south on Brick Center Road I found it to be about the best gravel surface you could hope for. Smooth, solid, and not a lot of loose gravel. As if perhaps it got graded recently.
Brick Center ended at the road I was headed for and I turned west again. I reached the construction zone and although I was totally psyched up to do the mud today if necessary, everything was completely dry. I cruised on and was surprised to find that in less than a mile I reached pavement. What do you know.
Cruising further and further west the road signs kept reading County Road 194. Finally, when I reached Delbert Road the sign said County Line Road. So that was my answer. Not that it ran into County Line Road over by I-25. Just past Powhaton Road it became Sampson Gulch Way and wound its way through a housing development. It hit a T intersection at Aurora Parkway, I went north, and soon came to Arapahoe. I headed west on Arapahoe and on home.
Biker Quote for Today
Why motorcycles are better than men: If your motorcycle is misaligned, you don’t have to discuss politics to correct it.
