Great Day To Ride, Not For Fall Color
There was a little more color on the south side of Guanella Pass but not a lot.
The RMMRC planned a fall color ride last week so of course I went along. Gathering at the Phillips 66 in Morrison the group was huge. There were at least 14 bikes plus two cars. Wow. Big group, I mentioned to Dave. Yeah, he said, too big.
We headed up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, through town and out the west side on Upper Bear Creek Road to the Witter Gulch Road, which is a really steep climb with super-tight switchbacks near the top. A fun motorcycle road, in other words. At the top you come to CO 103, the Squaw Pass road, which we took left, over the pass, past Echo Lake, and down to Idaho Springs.
It was a really nice day to be riding in the hills, a little cool but I had on full cold weather gear and could not have been more comfortable. But there was not much color to be seen on the way up. That was no surprise to me because Judy and I had just been up to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road, and down to Grand Lake the week before and we didn’t see much color then either, and now another week had passed. Mostly the green was just turning brown.
From Idaho Springs we took old US 6 up to Georgetown, where we had a lunch stop planned. Arriving, we found the restaurant closed. Someone had checked with the visitor center and they had pointed us to a brewpub on the east edge of town by the lake. Presumably that was where we were going to go.
Roy asked me to help him push back off this gravel parking area we were on and I did, so I was the very last to leave this first restaurant. I knew where this brew pub was, though, because I had seen it coming into town. As I headed back that way I soon started seeing members of our group coming back toward town, apparently having gone not far enough and thinking they had missed the place. I waved at them to go the way I was headed. Then at the roundabout off I-70 I saw others pulling into a restaurant right there. I waved to them as well but nobody seemed to be following me.
I rode on out to the brew pub and pulled out my phone. Meanwhile, a couple from the group did show up but did not stick around. The only phone number I had was Dave so I called him and told him where I was and that the place was open and there were people inside eating. He told me the place by the roundabout didn’t even open for another 15 minutes and he would tell some of the others but meanwhile he was coming out to join me. A few minutes later he did, no one else did, and we went in to eat. It turned out later that Dave is diabetic and he was nearing a blood sugar crisis so he just needed food, NOW!
So it was kind of pleasant just the two of us. It gave us a chance to talk and get a little better acquainted. I’ve known Dave for about five years now but in a group setting you often don’t have a chance to really get to know people. One on one you do.
After lunch Dave asked if I intended to rejoin the group. I had planned to but he noted that what with finding a place to eat and then getting such a big group served they were not likely to be ready to ride for maybe another hour. He was just going to go on over Guanella Pass without them. Besides, Dave is a go-fast guy and he had not enjoyed the sedate pace you have to take with such a large group.
I went with Dave. At first there was a lot of traffic going up Guanella but apparently a lot of people were planning to hike and every time we passed a trailhead the numbers thinned so soon we were cruising along comfortably. And what a beautiful day! But not much color. Oh well, I’ve seen yellow leaves before.
Over the top and then we pulled out at a view area to get a few photos, such as the one above. Just then in pulled John, another RMMRC member, in his car with his wife, out to see the leaves. Fun. Oh, and there was a bit more color over on the south side of the pass.
So we cruised on down to Grant, picked up US 40 back to town and split up when the time came. It really was a much more pleasant ride just the two of us. I hope the rest of those folks found a good place to eat.
Biker Quote for Today
You are not alone when your bike is with you.
Tags: Guanella Pass, RMMRC, Squaw Pass, Witter Gulch Road
