Now that i am at a computer it is easier to type up how the trip was! There will be a video but that will be later this week as i have a ton of footage to sift through.
The trip there was pretty bland albeit the fact we took 25 all the way to Pueblo and hoped right onto HWY 50. We stopped in Canon City and grabbed some lunch at a small family run Hamburger place. Once we got past Royal Gorge park the fun started in the twisties. I had mounted my GPS unit to my right mirror just in case I made a wrong turn or got too excited and missed a turn however once we hit the fun roads hit we were in a nice little left hand sweeper when out of the corner I see the GPS unit fall off the mirror, I point it out to the wife start laughing and just continue on. I figure its old, if someone finds it they can have it if it still works after plummeting to the ground at 75MPH.
Once we hit Salida we stopped and got some gas before Monarch Pass so far the roads had been great! No sand, Gravel, Animals and being that it was a Friday afternoon there was barely any traffic at all, couldn't have asked for more. Once we hit Monarch pass the roads were just as clear, the temps dropped pretty quick but fortunately it was a comfortable temperature. We blasted through the pass pretty quickly as there were no cars and the roads were great. I did pass a Sheriff going the other direction as we were in a turn and I noticed him hit the brakes but I think he decided not to try as we had a pretty good pace going. Once we got off the pass I stopped and told the wife to get ready for a lot of boring.
We were cruising along at about 73MPH on the way to Gunnison, we were about 5 miles east of Gunnison when I spotted a state trooper going the other direction, he must have hit the radar when he saw me cause he pulled over to the side pretty damn fast and the first thing that popped in my head was "fuck". At first i figured he was going to get me because of a report from the Sheriff on Monarch pass but that did not end up being the case and it turned out to be nothing short of an interesting interaction with the trooper.
He walks up and says "I pulled you over because you were doing 73 and that juncture is a 55MPH zone". "Oh man I thought it was 65 but either way I was speeding so that is my fault" Mind you I am still sitting on the bike and the wife has gotten off to stretch her legs. The trooper walks over to the back of the bike and says: "Son where is your License plate"?
"ummmm what"? Trooper: "Your plate...its not there" "WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE THE HELL IS MY PLATE"" holy shit i swear it was there when we left sir I have no idea when in fell off". Trooper as he is laughing: "Well as long as your paper work matches up then its ok, go ahead and give me all your information, with a bike like this i am sure you know the process" "What no officer I never speed you just caught me on an awkward day"
He runs all my stuff and comes out with that wonderful piece of paper I get to sign saying I like to speed and give money to the state. Trooper: "Here is the deal son, since your birthday is in a few days here I am going to cut you a break I put down that you were going 73 in a 65 so that means instead of paying $185 and it being a 4 point ticket it is now a $85 and a 1 point ticket". I was more than grateful and said "I will take it, but what about my plate, we are 4 hours from home and have 2 more hours to our destination plus another day of travel to get back" Trooper: "well since i already know about it and i am a State Trooper if you get pulled over for your plate just show them the ticket that has my number and tell them I know all about it and it has been run so there is no issue" I sad thanks and we went on about our way. Nice guy great encounter and I wish they all were like that!!!!!!!
We continue on and get to Ouray finally at about 5pm it was a little later than i wanted but getting pulled over and having to go the speed limit for awhile tends to screw that up.
As i remember the town was amazing and the wife loved every single minute we were there, there were waterfalls everywhere you looked as there was still a lot of snow on the peaks that was melting. We stayed at the Hot Springs inn which was awesome as our room had a nice balcony that was right next to the river. We enjoyed the town walked around met some very nice people and got plenty of peaceful rest to get ready for the trip back.
We woke up at about 8 enjoyed a nice free breakfast and headed to one of the waterfalls, took some pics and headed back. Unfortunately as i monitered the weather it appeared that Black canyon was going to see some snow, and my entire route was getting hit with snow, so to avoid being cold,wet and riding slow I decided we got to our destination and had a blast ti would be ok to just take 50 to 285 and go home that way. No need to put ourselves in any uncomfortable riding situations and yes I know normally i could give two shits about riding in snow but when the wife is on the back my brain switched from "Whatever" to "Precious cargo on board".
We had to hit Monarch pass again to get to 285 and all I can say is that while it was still clear with no rain or snow, it was freaking cold Saturday and made for a much much less pleasurable experience. I could not get us off that damn mountain fast enough! We stopped in Buena Vista to get some lunch and so i could see if my balls had dropped back out from my stomach from the cold. As I was looking North and East it looked as though no matter what we were bound to hit some rain, it was very very dark in every direction and it almost seemed impossible to avoid rain, with that in mind we went ahead and put our rain gear on just in case, as well as Bailey was reading at about 51 degrees in the Temps. Sure enough we hit Bailey which was a bit cold and it started to snow a little. We did not hit any major rain storms which was pure dumb luck as the entire time we were riding we were surrounded by some nasty clouds where you could easily see it was raining and the roads were wet as it had rained before. Some how we managed to stay in the center of this storm where it was clear and not raining.
From there out was the normal ride on 285 and there were more than plenty State troopers and Sheriff's out. The trip in itself was awesome the wife had a great time, other than the comical issues and Performance award it went off without a single issue. We spent a total of $260 in gas, hotel, and food which is pretty good IMO.
Pics below
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Originally Posted by UHATEIT
