Durango and its People

Before I left Pagosa Springs there was something I needed to do. The previous evening I had gone to a restaurant / bar called Kips on the recommendation of the receptionist at the hotel I was staying at. I sat at the bar and within a few minutes a guy came and sat next to me with a familiar accent. He was from Wales (just to the west of England) and his name was Bob. With a friend called Doug, who arrived slightly later, the two of them had rented bikes in Tuscon and had been riding around the area.

Now, when I say they had rented bikes, these were a little different from most rentals you see. Bob was on a 1981 Honda Gold Wing and Doug was riding a 1981 Honda CB900. When they picked these up “through somebody they knew”, they had to spend a week fixing them up the bikes so they could ride them!

We had a fun time at the bar comparing notes and they had been to some of the areas I was about to ride to myself. I hadn’t taken my camera with me to the bar, so I had arranged to meet them the next morning for a photo. Here are the two of them on their ancient bikes....

Doug on his rented CB900....

Bob on the Gold Wing of the same year....

Here are the two of them as they rode off.....

It was good to meet them and engaged in some friendly banter!

My destination for today was not very far – just about 70 miles west to Durango. On the way I passed by Chimney Rock....

As it was only a short ride today, I was going to arrive early and just on the outskirts of the town I saw a Harley-Davidson dealership, so I went and had a look. They had a back-rest for my bike, so I decided to go ahead and get one. They were able to fit this using my existing seat so it didn’t cost as much as I thought it would. Due to the limited tools I am carrying, I had then fit it and so I had to hang around for an hour or so while they did that....

The staff in this dealership were very friendly and after helping myself to a cup of their coffee and looking at what they had for sale, I got chatting to the staff about hotels in Durango. They suggested the Strater Hotel was very good and even telephoned the hotel for me and negotiated a price for the only available room and got me their special H-D corporate discount, which was quite a saving considering I was going to be there for 3 nights! So, I would like to thank Danette, Christine and Kirstyne (I hope I have got their names right) for being so friendly and helping me with their unique hotel finding service!

The hotel was only a few miles away so I will on how I got on with the backrest in a few days time.

It was easy to find the hotel and I can see why they call it the “Historic” Strater Hotel. It was built in 1887 after becoming the dream of 20 year old Henry H. Strater who wanted to build the best and biggest hotel in the west. Since 1926 the hotel has been run by the Barker family and although updated and modernised over the years, it maintains a style all of its own. It is very charming and I can see why the place is so popular and often full.

This is the outside of the hotel.....

Part of the lobby....

Some shots of the room I am staying in.... it’s fabulous.....

The Diamond Belle bar where great food is served and music is played in a ragtime style very evening....

It is great fun and having eaten in there for two nights, Johnny Maddox, the piano player now recognised me and played a fine melody of English songs in his own style for me....

The waitresses dress up in an 1800’s style....

.... and each evening, there is a mock gunfight in the bar and on the street. It is a silly stuff, but it was great fun for the tourists. Oh, I am one of them!

Whilst I was in Durango, I went on the train to Silverton and back. I have never been on a train pulled by a steam locomotive before and so I was looking forward to this a great deal. This will be the subject of a seperate post, probably tomorrow.

On Saturday morning I went for a walk in the town which was very quiet, got a haircut and drank coffee while I talked to Al, who was originally from New Hampshire but decided to go for a ride on his Honda motorbike in 2008 and rode for 15,000miles before arriving in Durango where he has mainly stayed since. It was good to chat with Al and of course, we compared road stories and talked about what we had seen on our rides, Sturgis, bikes, bison.......

As I walked around Durango, I spotted this very old sign, painted on a brick wall....

My regular readers may remember that I met John and Diana in Gunnison. They live in Durango where I am at the moment and this evening the three of us went to dinner at one of their favourite places which is located in a converted boathouse on an island in a reservoir. It was a very unusual place to say the least and the food was very good and the company excellent. Thank you to you both for choosing such a unique place to take me to.

Here are John and Diana just before dinner....

And here I am in my smartest shirt that I have with me!....

The boathouse, now a restaurant....

I am beginning to like Durango and its people!

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Maps Don’t Tell the Truth.....

I have been getting behind in my blog posts recently and I don’t like that. I like to keep up-to-date as then it seems easier to just write about one day at a time. Therefore I left Gunnison promising myself not to take too many photos on day 85 so I would give myself a chance to catch up.

I failed.

The trouble with having a plan to not take many pictures is when I ride through such wonderful scenery, I just have to stop and record what I am seeing. The map intimated there would not be much to see today, but the map is just lines on paper. It doesn’t really tell you what is out there. Maps don’t tell you the truth.

First of all, a map doesn’t tell you that I would see the beginning of the autumn (US = Fall) and that there would be some wonderful colours to tempt me to stop and try to capture the yellows I was seeing....

A map doesn’t tell you there will be many shades of green....

A map shows you big rivers, but doesn’t tell you about the small ones with wonderfully clear water....

A map doesn’t tell you the reflection from the sky makes rivers shimmer....

And it doesn’t say where you can get your boots wet by wading out into a river to get a picture....

A map certainly doesn’t tell you that there might be an excavator and a truck standing in a river!.... (no, I don’t know what they were doing either).... this was in the south fork of the Gunnison river....

Also, a map just gives the name of a town, but they don’t tell you just how picturesque a place can be, like Silver Street in Lake City....

They give no indication that houses in that city can be charming....

Nor that churches can be small and beautiful at the same time....

Nor that shops can look totally different from their big brothers in large cities....

Maps give no indication that a building, despite being 119 years old, can just draw you to it....

Maps also don’t tell the truth that little streams....

.... can turn into something magnificent, just because of gravity....

Maps don’t give anything away about how stunning the views can be....

Nor do they say you might meet Moo and Mini Moo.....

A map might indicate that a road is maybe not paved, but it won’t say that riding up such a road is challenging, but turning around and then riding back down it, might be very risky and will make you sweat!.... This is next to Creede in Colorado and oh boy, was it hard to ride down again without locking the wheels of my bike.... (Redlegs and Natasha would love this road)....

Yes, this gravel road really is as steep as it looks....

A map will tell you that you will cross the Rio Grande, but fails to mention the scenery....

Some maps tell you the contours of the ground and indicate that you can expect spectacular views from high up. Mine didn’t....

Maps tell you the name of places like Pagosa Springs, but it is really left to you to wonder if the springs will be good.... (they were)....

So you see, maps mainly just get you travelling in the right direction, but they certainly don’t scream out at you that yes, YOU WILL need your camera today!

Despite their shortcomings, I love maps!

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Yet More Great Roads, that Probably Few Have Ridden.

Day 84 saw me doing a 242 mile round trip ride to see both sides of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

I had read that the south rim had the best views, but I had heard from the receptionist at the Water Wheel Inn that the north side of the canyon had a great road, but the views were not as good of the canyon. I couldn’t decide which to go see, so I took the easy option and did both.

It was a cold crisp morning and on the way I stopped to look at a butte along the bank of the Gunnison River....

The evening before, John and Diane had suggested something to me that I am more than happy to pass on, because not only were they right, but they had suggested a stunning road to me that a lot of people miss. The south rim of the Black Canyon is a National Park and as soon as you had gone through the entry gate you should turn right onto the “River Access Road”. It is right next to the gate, so many people miss it. Well, hold on for the ride of your life as you drop down 1834 feet in 2.7 miles. Wow, that is a gradient of 16%. I stopped to get just one photo on the way down.... this is part of the road I was riding down....

If you ride this road, you just the most stunning views of the river and canyon – I think this is far better than the views from the main overlook positions on from the top of the canyon.

At the bottom, down at river level you are rewarded with some spectacular views....

Riding back up was going to be fun, so I just had to make a video.... hold tight.....



The views from the various overlooks into the canyon are spectacular and these pictures don’t really do them justice....

This short video helps with understanding the scale of the Black Canyon....



After seeing the south rim of the canyon, I decided to loop around and ride along the north rim. It is a long way around, but worth it. I went via Montrose, Delta and Crawford. In Montrose, I saw old cars for sale....

I also saw some entertainment on offer, but alas it was mid-week....

From Crawford, Highway 92 first goes south and then east along the northern edge of the Black Canyon. I can thoroughly recommend this road and I judge it one of the best I have ridden. Okay, it doesn’t have the thrill or the views of say the Beartooth Pass, but it sweeps along the side of a mountain, with great bends that you can take quite fast, with great views both into the canyon and upwards to the mountain.

I enjoyed riding this road so much I forgot to take many pictures, but I concentrated on a few showing the tress beginning to turn colour....

This stand of what I think are birch trees made a great backdrop for the bend in the road....

At one stage I decided to ignore my gps/sat nav and take to some quiet back roads. I went through some very rural areas where horses are more common than cars. Just about every time I saw somebody in a car or walking they waved at me. He ere I was, a stranger on a motorcycle in their community and I must have stuck out like a sore thumb, but all the same, they all greeted me with a smile and a cheerful wave. That felt really good. We just don’t do that sort of thing in the UK much and having now experienced it many times in the US, I wish we did. When I get home, I am going to wave more often at people!

When I found my way back onto highway 92, my gps / sat nav said to turn left in 36 miles, so I just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet road. I reached civilisation when 92 joins the main road at the Blue Mesa Dam and the road gets more busy as it head east back towards Gunnison.

As I arrived back at the same point I started from that morning, I was able to reflect on a great days riding.

I did wonder about something though that I cannot think of what the answer must be. I have seen many signs in Colorado that say “No Snowplowing 7pm to 5am”. These have been in places where there are no houses, so this cannot be a noise issue. I suspect it might simply be because it is dark and that means it is more dangerous? That would seem to make sense, but there is a flaw – it gets dark before 7pm and it remains dark until well after 5am, so what is the reason?

I am sure one of my Colorado readers will know!

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