Summer is upon us! That means it's time for another CSC Durango trip!
My goal this season is 1 over night trip per month. So far it's Devil Spine in May, Durango in June and Looks like Yellow Stone on the July 4th weekend.
When: *updated date!* June 21/22 - depending on weather. Other options are the weekend before or the weekend after.
(Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict I need move the date one week back)
Where to meet: Jan's Restaurant in Buena Vista.
Jan's is a nice local restaurant with the world's best (and huge) breakfast burritos!
For your total mileage, check the route from your starting location to Buena Vista and add that to the maps.
Jan's Restaurant
304 U.S. 24, Buena Vista, CO 81211
719-395-6940
Meet up at 8AM if you want Breakfast. On the road by 9AM
Route:
The complete route, Buena Vista to Buena Vista can be found here: http://goo.gl/maps/NfxzW
Hard core version (includes Indie Pass, Aspen, McClure, Black Canyon - aka some of the most fun motorcycle roads in Colorado on BOTH days!) - 796 miles plus the ride to and from Buena Vista - figure right around 1000 miles total for the weekend: http://goo.gl/maps/4OxM6.
Day 1 (400 mile version) to Durango: http://goo.gl/maps/HJijN (311 miles from Buena Vista)
Day 1 (550 mile hardcore version) to Durango: http://goo.gl/maps/ZmBfI (444 miles from Buena Vista)
I would only do the "hardcore" version with a small group of 4 riders. This route is 444 miles from Buena Vista which should be 9 hours and 10 hours with lunch. This means getting into Durango around 7PM that evening unless we want to aim to be done with breakfast and on the road by 8am.
Day 2: (352 miles from Durango to Buena Vista. : http://goo.gl/maps/cKQjw
352 miles from Durango to Buena Vista)
Total mileage is roughly 860 to 1000 miles depending on which route we take day 1 and where "home" is for you.
Difficulty level: Intermediate. This ride is fun, fast paced and features more speedy sweepers than hair pin curves. I did this ride for the first time way back in 2007 when I had been riding for a whole (almost) 2 months. I was the slowest of the group. With that said, you need to be able to keep up and able to cover 400-550 miles in a single day with a set amount of day light. My rules for riding are "out of the mountains by dark" and idealy at home or the hotel by dark. Remember, around 6pm is when the wild life starts coming out onto the roads and you don't want to hit a deer.
The ride features some of the best riding SW Colorado has to offer and the following note worthy roads and passes:
Million Dollar Highway
Independence Pass
Black Canyon
Monarch Pass
Slumgullion Pass
Spring Creek Pass
Wolfe Creek Pass
McClure Pass
Engineers Pass / Engineer Mountain
Highway 133 (From Paonia to Carbondale) Quite possibly SW Colorado's best motorcycle road and my personal favorite.
Rio Grande National Forest
San Juan National Forest
San Juan Mountains
Estimated Cost: $200 -- as a general rule of thumb, an overnight will cost $100 per day between gas, food and lodging.
Where will we stay in Durango? Why, the venerable IRON HORSE INN of course! I love this family owned hotel and they just completed their renovations. Party at the Iron Horse!
http://www.ironhorseinndurango.com/
Maximum group size: 10 bikes -- 4 is perfect, will accept up to 10.
Want to go? Interested? You won't be disappointed! Reply to this thread or PM me.
Clovis
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