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It was a warm Friday evening… I'd had the day
off to go over my bike, and make sure I had the new
style voltage regulator shipped in from the coast (those
with VFR's know that you carry spares). I wasn't the
first to roll into the designated dinner meeting spot
but I wasn't the last either. Everyone filed in over
the next few minutes, and headed inside and found our
table.
Brian had the whole thing planned out really well.
The shirts were really nice even if they were black…
but as Brian says "fat people look thinner in black".
The information packets were complete including a "ticket"
for the BBQ on Sunday. The route was incredible and
he had even taken the time to highlight the entire route
on each map. Every turn was marked and each mandatory
gas stop was listed out on an additional sheet. All
we had to do was ride the route, pick up the mandatory
gas receipts and bring them back. He even had little
notebooks, pens and zip-lock baggies to keep everything
dry and in one place.
One of the first things we learned: A good receipt
is one that includes the # of gallons, the price, a
time and date stamp and location. Bonus if it has your
name on it. If your receipt doesn't have any one of
these items, you need to into the place and get it documented.
This is why you want a pay at the pump location and
you want to use a credit card if at all possible. It
both saves time and makes your documentation easier.
Friday night -
Jim (Aprilia Pegaso), Ken (Triumph Daytona) and I ('97
Honda VFR) spent a few hours going over the information
packet, packing the bikes, and kicking tires after getting
back from signing our lives away and committing to this
insane adventure. I discovered that if I folded one
page in half (the map) and had the other page (with
all the mandatory stops) showing from underneath, I
had all the information I needed right on top of my
tank-bag without having to move anything during the
whole trip. Of course, I had discovered Brian's hidden
web page with the highlighted map earlier in the day
and had it memorized… This proved to keep me up
for hours running the route in my mind. We agree to
get up at 5:00 a.m. and head over to the starting point,
and I head off to bed. Jim slept on the couch in the
family room with Ken on an air mattress not far from
him. Here I was about to go out on a 1000-mile ride
and I haven't done more than 450 miles since the previous
November. On top of that, my wife is on a trip to Detroit,
and is unreachable while I'm gone, and I can't sleep.
Saturday morning - 05:00
I woke up, hopped in the shower, got dressed and made
sure the other guys were up. Jim & Ken got themselves
together and we headed over to the Amoco in Golden.
We got to the Amoco to find Brian waiting for us, asking
where we had been… See, we were allowed to start
as early as 5:00 a.m., and we didn't get there 'till
around 05:20. We got our witness papers signed by our
rally master, said our good-byes and started off. Jim
got off ahead of us, with Ken and I telling him to go
ahead, we'll catch up to him.
June 8th
Golden - 05:33 - 0.0 miles
At 05:33 I topped off my tank and was ready to go. Ken
was almost ready at the same time so I figured we'd
stick together for a bit and see if we can ride together.
He needed to figure out how to get over to CO-285, and
I was his source of directions.
Turns out Ken & I kept pretty much the same pace
and never really did separate. Well, not until way at
the end anyway. This is a group attempt at riding 1000
miles, but being motorcyclists, and each having different
styles and experience would keep most of us apart. We
weren't the only ones to hook up either… Jim and
John found each other around the first gas stop, and
Tom V. and Pete J. hooked up during the ride too. The
only two who planned to be together were Bill (Buell),
and Charlie (Pegaso).
So, off we go. It's barely light, the sun isn't quite
up yet. This is pretty close to the longest day of the
year light wise, so we should be in good shape. Ken
and I headed out around C-470 to CO-285 then south per
the route… First stop Saguache, Co.
Somewhere South of Baily we see Jim in the distance...
Ohhhh…. A target. Here we go. Once we catch Jim
we follow for a few seconds and since this now feels
so slow compared to how we have been traveling, we go
on by.
Somewhere in here we passed Bill & Charlie, then
John as we were getting close to Saguache. I could see
John's Jesse bags gleaming in the morning sun for miles
as we approached… This wouldn't be the last time
I'd be starring at his bags either. It seemed to take
forever to catch him, but we did just outside of town.
Saguache - 08:03 - 179 miles
First stop. Bad receipt. We did exactly what Brian told
us not to do… We stopped at the first station in
front of the grocery store. I was so happy to see the
stop, I wasn't thinking about good receipt/bad receipt.
We end up having to go into the store, drain our bladders,
and buy something (Fig Newtons and water) just to get
the cashier to sign, date, and put the location on the
receipt. What a PITA this is… and it won't be the
last.
The run from Saguache up to Gunnison is a neat road.
I've never been up this way and it was quite an experience.
Ken was leading and we are moving. All the sudden I
see a "Road Damage Ahead" as we are headed
into a turn. We slow down to cruise through the turn.
The "damage" (a chunk of the road bed (10ft
wide by 20 ft) is missing, it's a good 3 inch drop to
gravel) is on the other side of the road. Ummm…
OK, we know what that means now. So, we crank it back
up. A few miles later we see the same "Road Damage"
sign again. It's the same sort of thing, construction
on the other side of the road and all. We turn it back
up again. A few miles later it's the same "Road
Damage" sign again… well, we don't really
slow down for this one… Bad call. Mind you these
are blind corners and we are traveling to make up for
all the time we lost at the last gas/grocery stop. Well…
there is the same big rectangle strip of gravel/dirt
only this time it is across both lanes. Both of us hammer
the brakes with me running wide almost climbing up Ken's
back. We cruise into Gunnison having learned our lesson…
that we forget later in the day.
Gunnison - 09:20 - 251 miles.
We stop for gas where we see the rest of the guys…
Ken and I spend the rest of the day taking pretty long
breaks, but catching up to or passing most folks before
each stop. We end up meeting Eric (on his DRZ650) and/or
Bill (on the '93 VFR) at almost every stop; they are
ahead of us. We are passing John and Jim before most
stops, and wait for them to arrive… well, really
is more like we are taking so much time at each stop,
they have no choice but to catch up and usually leave
before we do. ;-) We don't see Charlie (the other Pegaso)
and Bill (Buell X-1) for the rest of today. This time
no receipt printed from the pump for either Ken or me.
We go inside to drain and get the correct documentation.
Off we go.
The Gunnison south to Lake City/South Fork run is pretty
well known in this group. In fact, if you ask a few
local riders, they know their best time from Lake City
to the Blue Mesa Lake. It is a really nice piece of
road and great fun. I don't really remember much of
the scenery, but that isn't new. I've been thru much
of Colorado, I just can't tell you what it looks like
since I'm watching the road. In Lake City we came to
a grinding halt. There was a cop car parked on side
the road, cones marking a stop point, and a cop in the
road flagging us down... "who did we piss off"
is running thru my head. We stop and I can barely hear
him with my earplugs in, but it turns out to be a walk/run
charity event going thru town. Whew.
Leaving town Ken is backing way off… I slow down
enough to keep him in sight, but still want to make
time. Turns out he was running low on sugar, and couldn't
concentrate. We don't pass anyone on this stint, but
we do meet up with everyone at the next stop.
South Fork - 11:30 - 382 miles.
Good receipt. There will be few of these. By this time
it was getting pretty warm and I still had my heated
jacket on (just not turned on) under my 'stitch. I took
that off and ate a protein bar and a Gatorade, while
waiting for Ken to eat a Pizza. Several of us were here
at this point, and we kind of congregated in the shade
of the building.
Next was Wolf Creek Pass and Pagosa Springs on the
way to Durango. Wolf Creek Pass was cool since I took
off the heated jacket, but not bad, and a welcome change
from the heat in the valley. Pagosa Springs was hot
and there wasn't much relief between there and Durango.
It was somewhere during this run that I remember the
construction, and being stopped… Ken remembered
it being after Durango.
Durango - 13:52 - 487 miles.
Man is it hot! We pulled into town at 8 hours and 19
minutes. Brian said we HAD to be here by 12 hours to
make the 24, and if you take the highway (higher speeds)
into account though this is less than 500 miles, it's
pretty much the halfway point for time. COOL!!! We'll
be home before 23:00 tonight. I can do that.
We took another nice long break at Durango. Our third
long stop… Only Gunnison was short in comparison.
I checked the map, calculated time, drank some water
and tried to cool off. Did I say it was HOT?
We headed North up 550 toward Silverton, Ouray and
Ridgway. This is the first time I've been on this road…
It's really cool. I need to bring my wife June back
here. Ken was dinking around with something by the time
the rest of us were ready to leave, so he just waved
us on, he'd catch up. We got tied up in traffic so it
wasn't long before he did catch up and we were a group
again. The twisties tightened up and Ken & I took
off. VERY COOL ROAD.
Heading into Silverton the road turns into this goat
trail with no guard rails… Very un-nerving. (Like
a guardrail will stop you from going over the edge,
or feel less painful?) Brian and I have talked about
this before… We can hammer along in the trees all
day long… But put me on the side of a mountain
with sheer cliffs, and I can't do it. Fear of heights,
fear of falling, whatever… it's just not fun.
The road we are on turns before you get into Silverton
proper… Going thru the intersection, a car decides
to merge into my rear quarter and Ken's right leg. I
saw Ken kick at his door, I waved a hand gesture and
we kept going.
Next was Ouray then a nice relaxed stretch through
the shade of some over hanging trees. For the last 10
miles into Ridgway, the wind started picking up. Must
be afternoon on the Western Slope.
Ridgway - 15:43 - 570 miles.
Ned was all set up for us. He had Gatorade, water, bread,
cheese, meat, fruit, and warm soft cookies from being
in the sun. We were here for a long time too… I
was starting to get tired, but still felt like finishing
was no problem. All we had to do was get to I-70, and
we'd be home free. I changed my socks, to get dry feet
again, and we took some pictures here. It was the only
place I even thought of it.
Off to Naturita. Ken took the lead and we proceeded
to hammer this section of curves. I had just been here
two weeks before working a fire in Naturita. I knew
the road and we made pretty good time. Once we go up
Norwood Hill and onto the mesa it was windy as hell.
It was difficult to hold a line. The bike would pull
a major line change when the big (60-70mph) gusts hit
you.
Naturita - 17:46 - 632 miles.
Part of these 2 hours from our last stop was 35-45 minutes
eating and resting in Ridgway with Ned. All of these
long stops are eating time… time we can't get back,
and will bite us all in the end. Naturita is hot like
the sun... and windy. Another bad receipt, and the gas
station has the wrong time by an hour. Enter bikini
girls (see Ned's comments). These two girls really wanted
to hook up with Ken and I ;-)… All we could think
about was "keep on moving, you still have 400 miles
to go."
We stood around a bit drinking Gatorade and trying
to cool off in the bathroom. I wet my face & shirt
down and walked out to finish my Gatorade. Before I
could get back on the bike I was dry. How can anyone
live here? It's like Tucson in August. And Ken really
appreciated when I told him "this isn't even the
hot city yet. Wait 'till Moab."
Next was the Paradox Valley, where the river runs South/North
(what's left of the river) and the Valley runs East/West.
Get it? That's the Paradox. Figure that one out. This
is the place where Jim Young ran off the road during
the 2001 TATT and wasn't seen for more than a week.
The tar snakes are scary here since it's so damn hot
and we pretty much creep up the other side of the valley
hoping it will cool off. It's was like 110 degrees,
with 50 mph wind gusts, sand in the turns and blowing
in clouds, fresh tar snakes, and the cliff dives 300
feet off the road. This is just what you want to do
700 miles into a ride.
Into Utah and on to Moab. This is the only stretch
where we left Colorado. We got back onto the flats and
open it back up. We make the right onto the road that
will take us into Moab and about 2 miles later we meet
5-6 semis with a trooper behind them. We were moving,
catching up to these guys and they were hauling. We
notice the cop and start to back down… Just then,
he pulls way into the oncoming lane then around the
rear semi and disappears! He took all five at once.
After he is no longer in sight, we pass the trucks too
and never saw the cop again.
We got through Moab without much trouble but it must
have been over 120. Heading north to Crescent Junction
it started to get windy again. Sometimes it's amusing…
after hours of 50-70 mph gusts, and a good steady 40
mph wind, 30 mph winds don't feel so bad.
I was excited the whole way north to CJ. Just knowing
we'd have a huge tail wind and only 300 miles to Denver.
What a relief that will be. Wrong.
Crescent Junction - 19:58 - 747 miles.
We filled up with gas, drained our bladders and were
headed back toward the bikes... when we mention to the
clerk which way we were going. He says something about
construction (which we knew about) and then he said
something about the road being closed. Huh?
Meanwhile Ken is checking his phone and he's got 7
missed calls and 5 voice mail messages. And his battery
is dying. None of the rest of us had the same phone/battery.
We figured someone had gone down or something... He
tried calling the voice mail and got through 2.5 messages.
1. "Hi Ken, this is Kristen. The freeway is on
fire at Glenwood. Call
Brian."
2. "Hi Ken, this is Brian. There's a huge ass
fire in Glenwood. Call
Kristen. You're screwed."
3. "Hi Ken. (Kristen) They're evacuating town."
Beep.
Frick!!! In unison, FRICK!!!
So now we can't get through to Denver on I-70 and Ken's
house could probably be on fire. Great.
We spent the next 40 minutes trying to get info and
figure out what we were going to do. I got on my phone
and called Brian… Long story short, we figured
we'd hammer to Grand Junction. That would get us another
80 miles closer to home and Brian could figure out our
shortest route home from there.
Ken drew a detour on his map for the 3 guys behind
us (little did we know), explained things to the gas
station attendant, and off we went.
I spent the next 80 miles wondering what we were going
to do, and started to get depressed… I'd worked
myself up thinking we only had 300 miles to get home,
and we'd be home by 11 p.m. I-70 was now closed for
about 30 miles around Glenwood Springs because part
of Glenwood was on fire. The fire had crossed the road,
and was burning on both sides. I was also wondering
if the fire team I worked on was being called up, or
since this was so close to town would it be type 1 fire
right off. I kept thinking how this was going to be
such a bad fire season, and how I wasn't going to be
home much between now and September. The more I thought,
the more frustrated I got. I mean, we were 825 miles
toward 1000, and our route is blocked. I was getting
pissed, and feeling like I just wanted to stop for the
night. I was feeling defeated, but pissed for wanting
to give up after putting so much into this. By the time
we got to Grand Junction we were 15 hours and 40 some
odd minutes into this. I know I'm not going to do this
again… Do I suck up and finish, or admit defeat
and quit?
Grand Junction - 21:16 - 825 miles.
Ken and I stop at the exit and he tells me to go to
the gas station, call Brian, he'll wait for Jim and
John (who we picked up again at CJ). Jim comes by 10
minutes later. No KTM... No KTM... $hit. Finally he
shows up and we head down to the gas station. Turns
out the KTM got too hot at 90 with a tail wind and he
had to pull over. But John is (mentally) done and ready
to stop. It's dark. It's around 9:30 p.m. at this point
and Brian's solution is to send us to Montrose, back
to Gunnison then home… great. I'm pretty tired
after loosing my adrenaline sitting here for this long,
and frustrated… Jim is not voicing too much of
an opinion, like he's already gone to sleep. Great.
Ken finds out Kristen is OK, and is staying at a friend's
house… She convinces him to continue since there
is nothing he can do if he does go home.
Ken talks us into following him to Montrose and we'll
re-evaluate from there. The plan is to go over to Gunnison,
over and up to Buena Vista where the 1000-mile mark
is. We can do the 1000 and forget getting back to Golden.
Brian reminds us we still need to make sure we get good
receipts to mark our corners.
So off we go… Ken leads, with Jim then John then
me in tow. Ken is leading because he is the most awake,
John is almost asleep, and I was convinced I was awake
when we left, but it wasn't so. I start to hallucinate
about halfway to Montrose… The Jesse bags on John's
KTM look just like the back of a flat bed semi trailer.
I snap out of it fairly often, but I'm having real trouble
maintaining a steady speed.
Montrose - 22:52 - 892 miles.
We stop in Montrose for gas, drain our bladders and
to document the turn. There is some moron at the station
talking to us about God knows what... Our speed is dropping
greatly since it is so dark and we are tired.
John is looking at his GPS unit while I'm trying to
wake up and he finally says, "Buena Vista. That's
like 6 hours away... We'll never make it." (Mind
you it's really only 152 miles, but at night, closing
on midnight and having been on the bike for the last
17 and a half hours, it really feels like it will be
6 hours.) Ken yells at him to "Stop looking at
that GDamn GPS." And no one take caffeine. Caffeine
is supposed to be bad in that it makes you need to pee,
which means more stops, which slows you down.
Next is on to Gunnison. About 10 miles down the road
Ken is pulling over and I'm not sure why… He was
stopping to put on some more layers... I hadn't notice
I was getting cold. We looked at each other in this
restaurant parking lot noticing how dark it really was.
No moon at all tonight. Great, I thought this was to
be one of the longest days, and with a full moon.
I spent the next 70 miles dozing in and out and starring
at the back of John's Jesse bags. It seemed like everything
was in slow motion and every once in a while I'd wake
up and feel I was closing fast on this semi... Then
I'd realize it was just my headlight shining off John's
aluminum bags.
June 9th
Gunnison - 00:42 - 960 miles.
We fill up with gas and I call Brian. (If I'm up, he
needs to be up too) He wasn't happy… ;-) Ken gets
on the phone and chats for a minute. It is then that
I really wanted to kill Ken for being so perky. I'm
still tired, and Brian has tried to convince me that
I need to lie down on a picnic table and sleep for a
few. I know if I did, I'd be out 'till daybreak and
I'd loose out, I do have my entry fee riding on this.
I'm pissed and I want it to be over, but I don't want
to go any further either. I should have been home by
now. My brain has shut down. It's like being stuck in
a meeting or training session hours after you were told
it would be over. Jim looks OK I think, but John (KTM)
is in a daze. I'm about as asleep as I can be, so who
am I to judge? We've got 80 miles to go and Ken spends
the next 10 minutes convincing us to follow him to the
next town… Doylesville. Doylesville isn't even
a town. It's a farm. But, he figured if he could get
me there, he could talk me into going over Monarch Pass.
Then it's only 25 miles to Buena Vista and we are done.
I get back on the bike and follow.
We stop on the side of the road at Doylesville and
I'm feeling much better. We "putter" over
Monarch pass. Jim says we did about 75mph, but it felt
like 50. I was totally intent on following John. Normally
I would be using this two lane (on our side) as my personal
racetrack… Not tonight. Ken stayed in front 'till
we get to Poncha Springs and he started to take off.
We met back up with him at Buena Vista.
Buena Vista - 02:43 - 1044 miles.
Ken was done getting gas by the time we got there, had
the station attendant sign his form and was talking
about finishing all the way to Golden! NO WAY!!! I'm
done. I made 1000 mile and I figure we can all share
a room for the night. I, and the rest of the guys looked
at him like he was nutz. We knew this before, but weren't
awake enough to tell him so.
In a second, Ken was gone and we were left to our own
devices. At this point Bill on the Buell X-1 shows up…
He tells us his riding partner Charlie (on the other
Pegaso) broke down in Naturita, and he was on his own…
so we adopted him. He was the only rider left behind
us that we knew about, as we never did catch up to Eric
(on his DRZ650) or Bill (on the '93 VFR) after Crescent
Junction. Everyone else was in front of us except Steve
(ST1100) who we never saw. We all agreed that we would
look for a hotel and sleep on the floor if necessary.
Now Ken had headed off up CO-285, but Buena Vista is
up 9, the other way… IOW, CO-285 has no hotels,
and CO-9 gets us past several hotels and to I-70, where
we can make better time if we have to. So, the 4 of
us head up CO-9 and begin our quest for a room. 3 hotels
later there are no rooms left in Buena Vista… Seems
there is a Gold-Wing convention going on. Damn motorcyclists.
Failing to get a room, and it's too cold to sleep outside
(it's 3 a.m. by now), we just need to keep going. I'm
waking up at this point since what I had to do is over,
and I can go to sleep. Go figure. I take point with
Jim, John and Bill in tow. There is this nice curvy
section between Buena Vista and Twin Lakes that was
just chock-full of deer. We pretty much tootled along
trying not to outride my headlight, and keep everyone
with us. We pulled over at a convenience store in Leadville
and grabbed something to chew on and some hot chocolate.
I know, I know, we weren't supposed to have caffeine
but I needed something warm. I can't tell you how much
I appreciated my electric grips and heated jacket in
June… Back east you would not have even packed
it, but here it was your survival. While we were stopped,
we also got a chance to talk to one of the State's finest…
He chuckled when we told him we were on the last leg
of 1000+ mile 24 hour ride. I don't think he believed
us, other than John being a total zombie and the rest
of us sagging in spots that aren't supposed to sag.
He did tell us that where we were headed was his territory,
and he had just come from there… "watch out
for the deer, it's getting early." It's pushing
4:00 a.m. and I start thinking I can make it. Tennessee
Pass and I-70 was all that stood between a warm bed
and us. That also meant the finish line. I know this
section REALLY well, I like the road and can jam here.
This is where we make a mistake… If we had gotten
receipts in Leadville or at the base of Copper Mountain,
we could have been credited with 49 more miles. Turns
out this is a longer route than up CO-285.
Jim and I get to the I-70 turn off, and I hadn't realized
we had gotten away from John and Bill (Bill behind John
keeping an eye on him). We only wait for a few minutes
and here they come down the mountain… I explain
to them that I have realized we can make it in time,
I really want to make it, and they are welcome to join,
but it's gonna be a little more than +5 over to get
it done. I am wide-awake at this point and Jim is looking
good too. They beg off, and Jim and I take off. Jim
later told me he had his Pagaso pinned in 5th and 6th
trying to keep up. It's a little more than 70 miles
for this stretch and we only had 45 minutes to do it
in. The long and short of it is:
Golden - 05:27 - 1178 miles.
Jim and I both clock in, him with 4 minutes to spare
me with 6. We run by Brian's house and all the lights
are off, but we see Ken's bike around back. Cool he
made it. Jim and I head back to my house, put the bikes
away and head into the house for some shut-eye. I set
the alarm and collapse.
Sunday - 11:30.
We are back up at 11:30, 'cause the celebration lunch
starts at noon. I take a shower (can't remember if Jim
did, I must have been tired.) and we hop back on the
bikes (just where I want to be again, but I wouldn't
put up with any harassment for showing up in a car)
and go to lunch. The food was great, the smack talk
was fun, and I won a $25.00 gift cert to T-Fog…
Cool. June showed up for the ceremonial handing out
of the certificates, and we head home for me to sleep.
I slept into the next day… I had the forethought
to take Monday off too. I was pretty worthless.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ken Kralick
for helping me finish. Had it been up to me, I'd have
stayed the night in Grand Junction. Thinking back, it
might have been safer for me. I am very proud of finishing
this route. It is SO much more than 500 miles out and
500 miles back on a highway. I'd also like to thank
Ken for his write-up… It reminded me of things
I forgot, and honestly I stole some of his in places
'cause I couldn't say it any better. Thanks Ken.
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