Dual sport ride June 28-29

[GSL]

Anyone up for a dual sport ride next weekend? About 270 each day, Saturday and Sunday, spending the night in the Lake City area. There is a high potential for getting lost at least a couple times on the route I'm working on. :D

Black Mountain, Marshall Pass, Waunita Hot Springs, Slumgullin Pass, Cinnamon Pass, Engineer Pass, Taylor Park. I'll be on my 1150GS and the wife on her DR650, so it'll never get down to pure single track, mostly fire roads.

[Harry Biker]

If you're talking about the 28th/29th-I may be interested. No 1088 for me this year.

Tell me more about lodging/camping, meeting place/time etc.

How much pavement would I need to be on before hitting the dirt as I'd likely take the DRZ. I'm North of you in Douglas County.

[GSL]

Well, we'd like to leave the house Saturday morning by 8-ish. It's about 20 miles of asphalt over to Lake George, then dirt all the way over Black Mountain and into Salida. I've ridden this section already. Then, there's about 10 miles of asphalt before the turn off to Marshal Pass. I've never been on Marshall Pass so I can't tell you what to expect. That road dumps us out at Sargeant, that little gas station of a town at the bottom of the hill on the west side on Monarch Pass. Cross the road there and dirt track it all the way to Waunita Hot Springs. More dirt road down to Doyleville, a mile or two of asphalt, then dirt roads all the way over to Slumgullin on 149. A dozen or so miles of asphalt into Lake City.

The 50 mile loop up over Cinnamon and Engineer and back into Lake City is dirt beyond Lake San Cristobal. I've done this loop before and, aside from a couple of rocky obstacles, we may get turned back by snow. I'm currently looking into hotels in Lake City, but camping is also an option.

Sunday - Head north on 149 for a couple miles until finding a dirt road that goes up over the Alpine Plateau. This leg is purely exploratory. No idea what to expect and it may just turn out to be ho-hum. The Alpine road dumps onto Highway 50 just west of Blue Mesa Reservoir. Ride about 30 miles of asphalt into Gunnison, then take 135 north towards Crested Butte and try to cross the Spring Creek road over to Taylor reservoir. If that doesn't work, will back track a couple miles and take the paved road to Taylor, then cross Cottonwood Pass into Buena Vista.

From Buena Vista, head north on Highway 24 about 30 miles and take the drit pass road (I believe it's Weston) over to Fairplay. Mixed dirt and paved backroads thru southpark, past Tarryall Reservoir and back into the Woodland Park area.

As for Friday night, you're welcome to crash at our place in Woodland Park.

Go run to a meeting. More later...

[rocktboy]

i am interested.....i have a dr 350 that doesn't like 70+mph cruising too much. i have street tires on them, is that going to be adequate on the dirt roads we'll be on?
i've never done an overnight trip on my bike. how do you carry gear on bikes like dr's?

[GSL]

Street tires "should" be fine, but a little bit of knobby might be nice. I'll be on my 1150GS with TKC80's and Jen will be on her DR650 with MT21's. Both of those tires are street legal, with small knobbies.

Does your DR350 have a rear rack? If so, a waterproof rucksack (or a river backpack like those sold at REI) could easily be bungied on.

I don't see a need to get the bikes over 65-70 mph.

:)

[Harry Biker]

GSL,
Ever enjoy the pancakes in Woodland Park,(w/ the bears)? Don't kow the name of that joint, but I bet you know it. Assuming I go, (I'll know by next Wednesday) would that be a good meeting place?(I appreciate the opportunity to crash @ your house-btw) If this works for you, I'd be their 8am.

lodging...are you just going to get a room "on the fly"or do you already have a reservation?

Harry

[GSL]

Currently just playing it by ear on the lodging. The long range forecast looks good for weather, so camping might be nice. But I'm gonna dig more into plans over the weekend. Gonna look up a couple hotels/B&B's and see if they're full or not and what their cancellation policies are. We should prolly decide something early next week and I should have all the facts by then. But, I'm thinking, generally, that since the route will be so exploratory, shedding the weight of tents and sleeping bags might be a good thing. Dunno...

Yep, yep, the place in Woodland Park is called the Hungry Bear. We usually eat breakfast there every other Sunday or so, so that might be a good meeting place on Saturday morning unless you wanna shack up at our place Friday night. We live about 3 blocks away from the Hungry Bear.

[Harry Biker]

Ahh yes the Hungry Bear!! I think even If I don't ride,(I likely will) I'll show for breakfast and be ready to roll @ 8am.

[GSL]

Ok, here's the latest.

Marshall Pass is open
Los Pinos Pass is open
Cinnamon Pass is open - Yeah!
Engineer Pass is open - Double Yeah!! :D

Webster Pass is still closed

So Saturday looks perfect, with all passes open to Lake City. I went ahead and reserved a room at the Matterhorn Motel. It's got two queen beds, and Jen and I will take one.

If both of you guys go, you can work out the other bed/floor space/cot/sleeping pad/etc. Or if just one of you go, you get the bed. The room is $79 and we can all divide up evenly. Jen and I are going regardless but hope to have some company. This would also be a good chance to meet and talk/dream about New Year's in Mexico. ;)

I'm still working on the Sunday route since Webster Pass is closed.

[GSL]

Will be needing some feedback if anyone wants to claim other bed. Got one other guy from Nebraska that will be joining us on a KLR650.

[Harry Biker]

I'm in!!

Slammed as I was off work until now. I'll get back to you in a little bit. Oh, I'll take the bed for $20 right?

[GSL]

You got it!

Looks like the weather is gonna be on the cool (and possibly damp) side, east of the divide, but VERY nice over in the Lake City area.

8)

[Harry Biker]

Will we be doing a loop or will we be 300 or so miles West-ish from our departure?

I'm thinking about "queening" the DRZ to your house in the F-250. Would I be able to park my truck @ your place early Saturday morning? Either way, I'll still plan on being @ the HB around 7-7:15 AM.

Your KLR buddy-does he/she have 1st dibs on the bed? If so, I'll be needing to bring a sleeping bag as I don't wish to share the bed w/ a dude. If you're not sure about that, can you please check that out as my sleeping bag will take up a lot of room on my bike.

[GSL]

I haven't heard back from the KLR guy. He sounded definite but also sounded like he was making his own hotel plans (his wife may meet us in Lake City on her RT). So, the bed is yours. ;)

Yep, yep, no problem leaving the truck at my house.

Email me at eurobikedenver@yahoo.com as I would like to keep my phone number and address off-line.

Will

Edit: Scratch that - You've got a PM

[Harry Biker]

Thoughts on gas needs? I have the stock tank and that puts me ~ 115 miles/tank. I will carry a little extra fuel and perhaps a siphon hose??

The route...are we looping back towards your home town or will we be 300-500 miles from WP.

How cool,(temps) are we expecting?

[GSL]

The route is a loop, back to my place. Saturday is around 260 out to Lake City. Sunday is about 300 miles back to my place. Gas stops will be about every 100 miles, but one leg came out to be about 120 miles.

Bring the syphon. I've got the 8 gal. tank on my GS Adventure. :)

[GSL]

Hey Harry,

If we don't see ya at the house by 7, we'll probably head on down to the HB. Jen and I are pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. LOL I'm a 6' 2" redhead and she's a 4' 10" redhead. George (on the KLR) will be with us as well. He's coming in from Nebraska tonight and only going to ride with us on Saturday, until about mid-afternoon. There may be one other GSer, doing the same thing.

Feel free to park the truck in the driveway and unload or just drive on down to the HB and we can unload after breakfast. Whatever works best for ya.

8)

[Harry Biker]

Will,
I'll be leaving H-Ranch @ 6am. and would anticipate getting to WP by 7am or just shortly afterwards. If I make good time, I'll unload @ your house 1st as I'll assume you're going to ride to the restaurant,(although you may be close enough to walk)?

Don't know what happend to Rocket Boy, but if you're still thinking of going & want a ride down to WP in a truck- as I'm sure your seat is as comfy as mine is on the DRZ..leave a post or PM me and I'll check this board later on this evening.

[Harry Biker]

Will/Jenna-

Thanks for the AWESOME adventure! You too likely could quit your day jobs and give guided tours of the back country via dirt machines!!

Also, thanks for keeping me arse where it belongs and not battererd/tattered on the rocks & dirt. Amazing how you handled the 600lb beast!!!

Sure enjoyed getting spanked by yer girl :lol:

[GSL]

Will/Jenna-

Sure enjoyed getting spanked by yer girl :lol:

Yep, she's getting quite the reputation for spankings... :twisted:

Hey man, thanks for coming along. We had a blast and it's always more fun to find new people to ride with. Seriously looking forward to our next adventure! 8)

...and researching Baja... :D