First Ride In The Hills For 2011
At the Pantry in Green Mountain Falls.
With temperatures getting into the 80s it was inevitable that the RMMRC would be taking a ride. Sure enough, I got the call from Roy. We’d be heading up toward Woodland Park.
Now, at first I thought he had said Winter Park and I was thinking that was pretty ambitious this early in the year. Then it hit me that, oh no, he must have said Woodland Park. Sure enough.
So there were six of us who gathered Monday morning, four BMWs, a Honda, and me on my V-Strom. We took off out Parker Road and down to Colorado Springs on CO 83, a short jaunt on I-25 before getting off and cruising through Garden of the Gods, and then west on U.S. 24. I hoped we would stop at least briefly at Garden of the Gods because I really would have liked to have gotten a picture there of the rocks with the bikes in the foreground. But we didn’t.
The destination this day was not Woodland Park, as might have been expected, but Green Mountain Falls. So where the heck is Green Mountain Falls? Who has ever even heard of Green Mountain Falls?
Turns out, it is right off U.S. 24, along a road that runs parallel to the highway. If you’re on 24 and you see the Rocky Top Motel & Campground you’re passing by Green Mountain Falls right now.
It’s worth a stop. We ate at The Pantry and it’s a really nice place. They have a lot of outdoor seating, which on this gorgeous warm day was just what we wanted, and the food was darn good. I have a suspicion we’ll be going back to this place in the future.
After lunch we continued on to Woodland Park and turned north on CO 67 up through Deckers to Pine and caught U.S. 285 at Pine Junction, then turned toward home. Along the way there were two things of note.
First, I was very interested to see that there are finally young trees popping up all over where that big Hayman Fire burned such a large area some years ago. I was starting to wonder if the area would ever turn green again but the young trees are now finally getting big enough that you can see them from the road. Nice.
And second, no surprise at this time of year but something to be aware of, there was a lot of gravel on the road, particularly north of Deckers. Ride carefully.
One thing we did not encounter was snow. Not just not on the road but almost none to be seen anywhere except a little bit in some deeper shadows. Winter is over.
Biker Quote for Today
You might be a Yuppie biker if your trailer has more miles on it than your bike.
Tags: Garden of the Gods, Green Mountain Falls, The Pantry restaurant
