A Ride In The Rockies

ON THE ADVICE OF FLASH, I SET THE ALARM FOR 0600; HE HAD EXPLAINED THAT THE EARLIER I GET INTO THE MOUNTAINS, THE BETTER – BECAUSE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT ARE BUILDING BY MID-AFTERNOON AND ALSO ALL THE RVs ON THE ROADS LATER IN THE DAY. BUT ON WAKING, I THOUGHT, ‘NAAHH, GONNA DOZE FOR A BIT’.

I GOT UP JUST BEFORE 0700 AND DECIDED THAT I WAS GOING TO WEAR MY THICK HELLY HANSEN SHIRT UNDER THE MESH JACKET AS IT WAS STILL RATHER CHILLY.

I JOINED I-25 SOUTH UNTIL I REACHED ROUTE 34 WEST, STRAIGHT TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.

Press PLAY for accompanying music – John Denver – ‘Rocky Mountain High’

THE ROAD STARTED TO CLIMB AND IT GOT COLDER AND COLDER, SO JUST BEFORE I GOT TO THE ENTRANCE TO THE PARK, I PULLED OVER BY ONE OF THOSE COUNTRY STORES TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE. WELL THEY HAD WATERPROOF WINDBREAKERS ON SALE AT $25, SO I BOUGHT AN XXL, AND IT WENT OVER THE MESH JACKET LIKE A GLOVE. BRILLIANT.

SHORTLY AFTER ENTERING THE PARK, I SAW A FLOCK OF WHAT I THINK, ARE YOUNG BIG HORN SHEEP, SINCE THEIR HORNS WERE NOT SO BIG…YET.

THE RIDE WENT FROM ONE FANTASTIC OVERLOOK TO THE NEXT.

TOWARDS MID-AFTERNOON,I NOTICED THAT CLOUDS WERE GATHERING. I LEFT THE PARK AREA, AND FILLED UP & HAD A COFFEE, IN GRANBY. BACK ON THE ROAD, I HEADED NORTH BACK ON 1-25, AND, SURE ENOUGH, IT STARTED TO RAIN A BIT.

I CROSSED THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BUT BECAUSE OF THE RAIN, I DIDN’T STOP TO GET A PHOTO. THIS WAS IN THE ARAPAHO WILDLIFE PRESERVE.

ON THE PLAIN, I COULD SEE RAIN ON ALL THE PEAKS, ON BOTH SIDES OF ME. SURE ENOUGH, THE ROAD TURNED TOWARDS THE RAINCLOUDS AND THE BAND OF BLUE SKY GOT NARROWER AND NARROWER UNTIL, FINALLY, I WAS RIDING JUST BEHIND A WALL OF RAIN. I HOPED IT WOULD PASS AHEAD OF ME,  BUT NO, THE ROAD CURVED RIGHT INTO IT.

SHORTLY AFTER ENTERING THE BAND OF RAIN, A PARK LODGE APPEARED. SO I PULLED OVER AND GOT A PICCY OF A STUFFED MOOSE AND A METAL MOOSE.

BY THE TIME I HAD FINISHED THERE, THE RAIN HAD DRIFTED ON, AND THE SUN WAS COMING OUT.

ONCE I GOT TO WALDEN, I TURNED ON TO 14 EAST, AND WENT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE CACHE DE POUDRE CANYON, BACK TO MY MOTEL. I ONLY SAW A SMALL PART OF THE CACHE DE POUDRE, THE OTHER DAY, DUE TO THE THREATENING ASPECT OF THE CLOUDS, SO IT WAS NICE TO SEE ALL OF IT, AFTER THE RAIN HAD PASSED TODAY.

DAYS RUN 271 MILES ON THE BMW. IT IS A NICE BIKE, BUT I WISH IT HAD STREET TYRES.

TAKE CARE OUT THERE.