After a few days away from Blogging, I am back! If you were wondering where I had got to, I have been meeting a few people in and around the Denver area for a number of days and it is difficult to make videos, sort pictures and write your blog, when there are fun people to meet!
One of the blogs I have followed and admired for some time is Redleg's Rides written by Charlie6. Some time ago, when I knew I was going to be very close to where Charlie6 lives, we had been exchanging e-mails about meeting up and possibly riding together. Well, a few days ago, we did just that and Oh Boy, it was a great ride!
We had arranged to meet at the Red Rocks Amphitheater on the west side of Denver. You can ride to the top or the bottom of the amphitheatre and I chose to ride to the top, passing some terrific views of the red rocks (hence the name) on the way up....
The road passes through a short tunnel. You can tell the size of this rock by how small the Leading Ladies look in this picture....
There were a large number of people using the steps to do some very rigorous training. Quite what they were training for, I do not know, but I imagine it was an iron-man event. That is a strange name really, as both men and women take part....
Soon Charlie6 rode into the car park with a friend called Oscar. Charlie6 was on his BMW called Brigitta and Oscar on an older Honda. Not only did Oscar come along for the ride, but it seemed his whole family had made the trip as well in a jeep that they followed along behind in for a while! It was good fun meeting them all.
We stood at the top of the Amphitheater looking down at the many people using it for training of one sort or another. The steps make a great training facility....
We had a long way to travel today, so soon we headed out to ride Mount Evans, which has the honour of having the highest road in the United States. Before getting to the main purpose of our ride, we rode along Bear Creek Road and then over Squaw Pass and while these were good roads in their own right, they were but a warm up for Mt Evans! The main Mt Evans road begins at a place called Echo Lake, which itself is quite high at 10,600 feet above sea level.
However, the next 14 miles were going to be one of the most exciting roads I had ever been on. Before we started though, Oscar had recently been working on his old Honda to get it running after a period of, well, “resting” and it wasn’t running as well as it might. Oscar had needed to slip the clutch on some of the steeper climbs so he wisely decided not to risk his bike by riding it up the mountain.
This was one of those occasions where I just had to make a video of the ride and so I fixed a camera to my bike....
Here is the resulting video of riding up the mountain. Enjoy....
For those of you that noticed the squeaking or “chirping” noise coming from my bike, this is a well-known problem that Harley-Davidsons have where the exhausts are rubber mounted and the rubber begins to squeak after time. It can be remedied by lubricating the mount with silicone, but I don’t have any with me. I will find a H-D dealer and have them do it!
On the way up, there were a few stops for photos....
There is a lake between mileposts 8 and 9 ....
One of the spectacular views of the road below....
It was a very clear day and you could see for miles....
The Leading Ladies and Brigitta standing side by side....
Charlie6 at the high point of the road....
And yours truly at the same place....
I had to laugh at the long queue for the toilets at the top....
We stopped a few times on the way down for pictures....
“Charlie, back a bit, back a bit”....(Just kidding)....
What a stunning view....
The two bikes on the mountain road....
Charlie6 taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him....
More wonderful views....
The bikes with the road we just rode along in the background....
More views of the bikes....
Of course, the camera was still running for the ride down....
Overall it was a fantastic ride and one that I would thoroughly recommend. At times it was exciting and took your breath away. It was cold (85 ish at the bottom, 41F at the top) and the cold wind did bite as we rode around some of the bends. This was Labor day Weekend in the US and on the Monday night the road up My Evans closed, so the traffic was quite busy.
After getting back down we rode to Charlie6’s house where I was lucky enough to meet Charlie6’s family and to spent the night. More on that and the famous Natasha tomorrow....
One of the blogs I have followed and admired for some time is Redleg's Rides written by Charlie6. Some time ago, when I knew I was going to be very close to where Charlie6 lives, we had been exchanging e-mails about meeting up and possibly riding together. Well, a few days ago, we did just that and Oh Boy, it was a great ride!
We had arranged to meet at the Red Rocks Amphitheater on the west side of Denver. You can ride to the top or the bottom of the amphitheatre and I chose to ride to the top, passing some terrific views of the red rocks (hence the name) on the way up....
The road passes through a short tunnel. You can tell the size of this rock by how small the Leading Ladies look in this picture....
There were a large number of people using the steps to do some very rigorous training. Quite what they were training for, I do not know, but I imagine it was an iron-man event. That is a strange name really, as both men and women take part....
Soon Charlie6 rode into the car park with a friend called Oscar. Charlie6 was on his BMW called Brigitta and Oscar on an older Honda. Not only did Oscar come along for the ride, but it seemed his whole family had made the trip as well in a jeep that they followed along behind in for a while! It was good fun meeting them all.
We stood at the top of the Amphitheater looking down at the many people using it for training of one sort or another. The steps make a great training facility....
We had a long way to travel today, so soon we headed out to ride Mount Evans, which has the honour of having the highest road in the United States. Before getting to the main purpose of our ride, we rode along Bear Creek Road and then over Squaw Pass and while these were good roads in their own right, they were but a warm up for Mt Evans! The main Mt Evans road begins at a place called Echo Lake, which itself is quite high at 10,600 feet above sea level.
However, the next 14 miles were going to be one of the most exciting roads I had ever been on. Before we started though, Oscar had recently been working on his old Honda to get it running after a period of, well, “resting” and it wasn’t running as well as it might. Oscar had needed to slip the clutch on some of the steeper climbs so he wisely decided not to risk his bike by riding it up the mountain.
This was one of those occasions where I just had to make a video of the ride and so I fixed a camera to my bike....
Here is the resulting video of riding up the mountain. Enjoy....
For those of you that noticed the squeaking or “chirping” noise coming from my bike, this is a well-known problem that Harley-Davidsons have where the exhausts are rubber mounted and the rubber begins to squeak after time. It can be remedied by lubricating the mount with silicone, but I don’t have any with me. I will find a H-D dealer and have them do it!
On the way up, there were a few stops for photos....
There is a lake between mileposts 8 and 9 ....
One of the spectacular views of the road below....
It was a very clear day and you could see for miles....
The Leading Ladies and Brigitta standing side by side....
Charlie6 at the high point of the road....
And yours truly at the same place....
I had to laugh at the long queue for the toilets at the top....
We stopped a few times on the way down for pictures....
“Charlie, back a bit, back a bit”....(Just kidding)....
What a stunning view....
The two bikes on the mountain road....
Charlie6 taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him....
More wonderful views....
The bikes with the road we just rode along in the background....
More views of the bikes....
Of course, the camera was still running for the ride down....
Overall it was a fantastic ride and one that I would thoroughly recommend. At times it was exciting and took your breath away. It was cold (85 ish at the bottom, 41F at the top) and the cold wind did bite as we rode around some of the bends. This was Labor day Weekend in the US and on the Monday night the road up My Evans closed, so the traffic was quite busy.
After getting back down we rode to Charlie6’s house where I was lucky enough to meet Charlie6’s family and to spent the night. More on that and the famous Natasha tomorrow....
