Day 3 HOG Touring Rally Gunnison, CO
It is starting to feel more and more like the Colorado I have come to known. This morning when I woke up it was 43°. However the high is supposed to be 83°, but not until 3-4 PM. I will be heading to Gunnison, whose current temp is at 30° with a high of 74° around 5 PM. Looks like I will be bundled up!
Even though it said 43°, I passed some farm land with the sprinklers on and it was a winter wonderland of ICE...last I checked it does not do that at 43°.
Today had some good scenery, but bad luck. One of the pull offs that I stopped at, I dropped the bike. I bought it with damage on the guards on that side, so don't know that any more has been done but honestly haven't looked it over much. Next I noticed a couple of nice scratches on the tank, don't know where they came from and doesn't look like I could just buff them out. Leaving Black Canyon, the GoPro memory was full and got to see my first actual wildlife. There was a herd of about 12 Elk, assuming, they weren't cow, horse, or deer. And the final stoke of luck was making it to the hotel about 6:30 PM, worn out from walking and riding all day, and being told they gave away everyone's room. They had us setup at a different hotel...in a different city. It was already close to dark and I had seen 2 groups of Elk by this time and the new hotel was about an hour and fifteen minutes East. Upon exiting Gunnison, there is a nice storm cell in the distance, with the temperature dropping. On the up side, unlike Arkansas, when you see a storm here it could be miles away. I am also that much closer to Denver for my final ride tomorrow, which still needs to be replanned. And the low for tonight here is 44, I like that much better than 30's!
As many of you have probably seen, drivers are crazy and stupid. You see them swerve for nothing, or brake and do weird things because they weren't paying attention or simply just because. On the way leaving the Canyon there was a Wrangler about 1/4 mile up that I had been keeping up with. The speed limit was 65 mph on a 2 lane. The road widened to add a left turn to go on an adjoining highway. The Wrangler tapped his brakes, swerved a little like, do I want this turn...is this the turn I need...maybe not and continues on. Again he was a good ways in front of me, and while I'm gaining on him I'm trying to decide what is this idiot doing, make up your mind turn or go. I let off the gas and down shift and he figures it out and continues on. About the time I get where he was, that second group of Elk step up to the road. The thing I would like to mention about the wildlife in Colorado, are not like anything I have seen in Arkansas. The Deer/Elk here will casually walk out and just stare you down, as if to try and figure out what you are doing. As many of you know, Arkansas critters will bolt in the stupidest direction possible, as if their end goal is mass chaos. As I abruptly hit my brakes the back tire lets out a screech and they all turn and focus their attention to me. I slowed down and the just watched as I slowly drove by.
With this to close for comfort call, I was glad I had made it to the hotel only to find that I would be driving further in the dark. During this white knuckle drive I saw deer/elk no less than 10 different times. Upon reaching my final destination I felt Harry & Lloyd after their freezing motorcycle ride. Not due to cold but the stiffness. My neck, down to my shoulders, to my elbow, and into my wrist and hand were frozen, into that death grip praying everything stayed on the side of the road and watched from a safe distance.
So the North Rim Road and Ranger Station in Black Canyon of the Gunnison is dirt, about 5 or 6 miles of dirt. I had already driven about 30 minutes or so that way, so I was completing this journey. I parked and continued on foot to see the sites and it was wonderful, and upon my return there was another. By the time I had put on my gear to hit the road 5 more had appeared, I wasn't the only one unaware of the dirt and unwilling to turn back.
I hope to post more pictures and links to the video I took but it is closing in on 10 PM here and I'm done! I drove much more than I wanted to and had it not been dark filled with deer/elk, I feel I would have had more energy.
Even though it said 43°, I passed some farm land with the sprinklers on and it was a winter wonderland of ICE...last I checked it does not do that at 43°.
Today had some good scenery, but bad luck. One of the pull offs that I stopped at, I dropped the bike. I bought it with damage on the guards on that side, so don't know that any more has been done but honestly haven't looked it over much. Next I noticed a couple of nice scratches on the tank, don't know where they came from and doesn't look like I could just buff them out. Leaving Black Canyon, the GoPro memory was full and got to see my first actual wildlife. There was a herd of about 12 Elk, assuming, they weren't cow, horse, or deer. And the final stoke of luck was making it to the hotel about 6:30 PM, worn out from walking and riding all day, and being told they gave away everyone's room. They had us setup at a different hotel...in a different city. It was already close to dark and I had seen 2 groups of Elk by this time and the new hotel was about an hour and fifteen minutes East. Upon exiting Gunnison, there is a nice storm cell in the distance, with the temperature dropping. On the up side, unlike Arkansas, when you see a storm here it could be miles away. I am also that much closer to Denver for my final ride tomorrow, which still needs to be replanned. And the low for tonight here is 44, I like that much better than 30's!
As many of you have probably seen, drivers are crazy and stupid. You see them swerve for nothing, or brake and do weird things because they weren't paying attention or simply just because. On the way leaving the Canyon there was a Wrangler about 1/4 mile up that I had been keeping up with. The speed limit was 65 mph on a 2 lane. The road widened to add a left turn to go on an adjoining highway. The Wrangler tapped his brakes, swerved a little like, do I want this turn...is this the turn I need...maybe not and continues on. Again he was a good ways in front of me, and while I'm gaining on him I'm trying to decide what is this idiot doing, make up your mind turn or go. I let off the gas and down shift and he figures it out and continues on. About the time I get where he was, that second group of Elk step up to the road. The thing I would like to mention about the wildlife in Colorado, are not like anything I have seen in Arkansas. The Deer/Elk here will casually walk out and just stare you down, as if to try and figure out what you are doing. As many of you know, Arkansas critters will bolt in the stupidest direction possible, as if their end goal is mass chaos. As I abruptly hit my brakes the back tire lets out a screech and they all turn and focus their attention to me. I slowed down and the just watched as I slowly drove by.
With this to close for comfort call, I was glad I had made it to the hotel only to find that I would be driving further in the dark. During this white knuckle drive I saw deer/elk no less than 10 different times. Upon reaching my final destination I felt Harry & Lloyd after their freezing motorcycle ride. Not due to cold but the stiffness. My neck, down to my shoulders, to my elbow, and into my wrist and hand were frozen, into that death grip praying everything stayed on the side of the road and watched from a safe distance.
So the North Rim Road and Ranger Station in Black Canyon of the Gunnison is dirt, about 5 or 6 miles of dirt. I had already driven about 30 minutes or so that way, so I was completing this journey. I parked and continued on foot to see the sites and it was wonderful, and upon my return there was another. By the time I had put on my gear to hit the road 5 more had appeared, I wasn't the only one unaware of the dirt and unwilling to turn back.
I hope to post more pictures and links to the video I took but it is closing in on 10 PM here and I'm done! I drove much more than I wanted to and had it not been dark filled with deer/elk, I feel I would have had more energy.
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