Recap: Steve and some buddies are coming from New Zealand in 2009 for some motorcycle touring in Colorado and Utah. This series of posts lays out their proposed routes, with my comments. Your comments are welcome as well.

Day 10

Oh no! This 10-day motorcycle ride around the Rockies is coming to an end. Today is the final day. Dang. Oh well, Steve and the gang are in Golden and need to end up back in pretty much the same place in order to turn in the bikes and head home. Today they’re going to cruise the Peak-to-Peak Highway and check out the canyons leading up and down between this road and the flatlands. They don’t have a detailed route in mind so this can be taken as a possible route. Here’s the map, and the enlarged view.

At day’s end yesterday, our group came down US 6 through Clear Creek Canyon, so we don’t really need to backtrack today. Going north out of Golden on CO 93 it is just a couple miles to the turn-off to CO 46 up Golden Gate Canyon. This is a favorite ride and a great way to start the day. Winding up the canyon, you reach CO 119, which is the southern portion of the Peak-to-Peak. From here we’ll turn north, to the right.

Now, there are any number of ways you could do this ride. I’m going to suggest that they just go all the way to Estes Park in the beginning and then work the canyons on the way back. That means CO 119 as far as Nederland, then CO 72 to where it terminates into CO 7, and then CO 7 to Estes Park. Don’t be surprised coming into Estes Park if you come upon a traffic back-up, there are herds of elk around here that are not shy and everyone stops to look.

From Estes Park we now turn east on US 36. This road goes down the North St. Vrain toward Lyons. At Lyons you just cruise through town and out the other side and you’re back on CO 7, which goes back up the South St. Vrain to where you met it before. At that point it’s time to head south on CO 72, the road you came north on.

Heading south on CO 72 you come (again) to Ward, and the intersection with Lefthand Canyon Drive, or Boulder County Road 94. Go ahead and take this turn. It runs down (surprise!) Lefthand Canyon and comes out to US 36 north of Boulder. Head south toward Boulder but when US 36 jogs to the left, stay straight on CO 7, Broadway. This will be a nicer ride through town.

Broadway leads you right into the middle of Boulder, where you take a right on either Walnut or Canyon and on out of town directly into Boulder Canyon on CO 119. There are a number of places to stop on your way up this canyon, and one of the best is Boulder Falls.

CO 119 reconnects you with the Peak-to-Peak at Nederland. Nederland, by the way, is where the Caribou recording studios were located, where a lot of great music was recorded in the 1970s.

At Nederland we stay on CO 119, which heads south, but very soon turn off onto CO 72, which goes down Coal Creek Canyon. Of course, before it goes down too far it first has to go up and over the crest at Wondervu. Nice switchbacks along here and Wondervu is a good place to stop for a break. Coal Creek Canyon comes out CO 93 at the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. This plant used to build the plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons, but has been decommissioned and is now undergoing environmental clean-up.

We head south on CO 93 and another short jaunt brings us back to Golden and the end of the last day of this terrific trip. Now — darn! — they’re going to be stuck riding the terrific roads in New Zealand again. Until the next time! See you then.

Recap: Steve and some buddies are coming from New Zealand in 2009 for some motorcycle touring in Colorado and Utah. This series of posts lays out their proposed routes, with my comments. Your comments are welcome as well.

Day 9

Today is a bit of a contradiction for our riders. It will be one of the shortest days in terms of miles but it will be one of the biggest days in terms of where they’re going. Today’s ride will go over Trail Ridge Road and to the top of Mount Evans, along with some other pretty good stretches. Here’s the map and here’s the enlarged view.

Right off the bat, Steve and the group head out on US 34 up the Big Thompson Canyon. What a nice way to start the day. This beautiful canyon goes up to Estes Park, which, despite the name, is a town, not a park. The park people sometimes get it confused with is Rocky Mountain National Park. We’ll get to that later.

Because this will be the first time for these folks going up the Big Thompson, they’re proably going to want to just ride the whole canyon. If you’ve done it before, however, and are interested in an alternate route, you can take CO 43 between Drake and Estes Park. There are some hairpin turns on this that might make you think you’re in over your head.

At the head of the canyon is Estes Park. This is a very nice town but it has gotten very crowded. Count on slow going through here as you make your way to the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Oh, and that big old lodge you see on the hillside? That’s the Stanley Hotel, where they filmed “The Shining” with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duval. Red rum anyone?

US 34 continues through Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park and then winds its way up over Trail Ridge Road, the highest through road in the U.S. This road closes for the winter but should be open by the time Steve and crew get there. Trail Ridge Road is one of the must-do rides in all of Colorado. Plan to take your time. You really won’t have any choice, but you won’t want to rush anyway.

The highway comes down from Trail Ridge Road into the town of Grand Lake. This is a very nice town and well worth a stop. From there, US 34 goes on down to where it hits US 40 just outside of Granby. Here Steve and the others will need to make a decision. He’s considering taking a quick run west on US 40 to Kremmling and then back. He just doesn’t want to miss anything. What there is on that stretch is Hot Sulphur Springs and a nice bit of canyon. Is it worth the extra time and miles? I don’t know. They probably ought to check the time and see how much of the day has already elapsed. This may be a short ride in mileage today but it’s far from done at this point.

Whatever they do, eventually they’ll head south on US 40 to Winter Park and then up and over Berthoud Pass. Berthoud is another very nice pass, and the road is in very good condition thanks to a lot of money spent on upgrades in the last few years. From the pass, US 40 runs down to Empire, where it meets I-70.

A short jaunt east on I-70 brings the group to Idaho Springs, where they will get off the interstate onto CO 103 over Squaw Pass. Squaw Pass is a nice ride on its own but the real draw here is that this is the route to CO 5 that takes you to the top of Mount Evans. If you thought Trail Ridge Road was a slow ride, be prepared to go even slower. I don’t recall for sure but I believe the speed limit on this entire stretch is 10 mph. There is also a toll, by the way. That’s OK. It’s worth it, and you pay less for motorcycles. And no matter what time of year it is, don’t be surprised if you get snowed on a little.

After Mount Evans the route continues on CO 103 toward Bergen Park. A left onto CO 74 a few miles brings you to another left onto Jefferson County Road 65, which meets up with I-70 a little east of Idaho Springs. More importantly, it meets up with US 40 at the same spot and it’s really US 40 that we want. US 40 parallels I-70 on the north as it goes down the west side of Floyd Hill. At the bottom of Floyd Hill both roads intersect US 6, which is our ultimate goal.

US 6 winds down through Clear Creek Canyon, coming out at Golden. One of the first things you’re sure to notice is the Coors Brewery. You may even smell the malt before you see the plant. Golden is tonight’s stopping point, so this day’s ride is done.