Riding In The Morning
Thursday, December 2nd, 2021
This wasn’t super early but the sun was still coming up as we went over McClure Pass.
In the early days of the OFMC we were notorious for the lateness of our starts. We’d sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and maybe get on the road by 10. Or 11.
Not any more. First of all, none of us sleep that late these days. My normal time to get up is in the 7 to 7:30 range. Dennis and Bill are both early risers who are up long before me. Now about the latest we get going is 9. But that’s still not really what you could call morning riding–that’s already mid-day riding.
When I went with the RMMRC on the Colorado Cruise we had to get an actual early start one day because the road south out of Ouray was going to be closed for construction at 7:30 up near the top of Red Mountain Pass, and would not reopen until lunch time. To play it safe we were rolling out of Ouray about 6:45. That’s early morning riding.
And it’s so nice! Now, in this case it was cold, and I could have done without that. But it was so beautiful! We all see the sunset most days but many people–including me–rarely see the sunrise.
The world at sunrise can be an enchanted place. The colors, perhaps the sparkling of dew, the smells, and more.
I’ve ridden all over Colorado many times and I don’t have many specific memories of particular stretches of road–except a few morning rides.
I was heading to Arizona Bike Week one year and I camped for the night somewhere east of Mesa Verde along US 160. I woke up with the sun and got going and enchanting really is the right word. Cool, fresh, delicious, and a wide open road with almost no traffic.
Another time we spent the night in Monticello, Utah, and it rained early in the morning. We got an early start very soon after the rain stopped and again, enchantment. And this time the color was really brought out by the wet, as were the smells. Have you really smelled sagebrush? You generally won’t on a hot, dusty afternoon but on a cool, wet morning it’s overwhelming.
Then there was another time, also on US 160, between Fort Garland and La Veta, going over La Veta Pass. You don’t want to hurry; you just want to cruise and savor it all. And with almost no traffic you can.
I’m just not that much of a morning person to do this sort of thing all the time, but when circumstances put me into that situation I’m never sorry. Try it. You might find that you love it.
Biker Quote for Today
In the motorcycle safety course they tell you that target fixation is bad, where your eyes are looking is where you usually end up. Must be why I keep running over female joggers.
